On Holot Memorial Day, we take a look at the history of the pk triangle, the symbol that was ed to intify gay men the Holot.
Contents:
THE PK TRIANGLE: FROM NAZI LABEL TO SYMBOL OF GAY PRI
Pk triangl were origally ed ncentratn mps to intify gay men. * homosexual wearing pink *
Before the pk triangle beme a worldwi symbol of gay power and pri, was tend as a badge of shame. In Nazi Germany, a downward-potg pk triangle was sewn onto the shirts of gay men ncentratn mps—to intify and further humanize them.
GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
* homosexual wearing pink *
Homosexualy was technilly ma illegal Germany 1871, but was rarely enforced until the Nazi Party took power 1933. As part of their missn to racially and culturally “purify” Germany, the Nazis arrted thoands of LGBT dividuals, mostly gay men, whom they viewed as Uned Stat Holot Memorial Mm timat 100, 000 gay men were arrted and between 5, 000 and 15, 000 were placed ncentratn mps. Jt as Jews were forced to intify themselv wh yellow stars, gay men ncentratn mps had to wear a large pk triangle.
)At the mps, gay men were treated pecially harshly, by guards and fellow prisoners alike.
“There was no solidary for the homosexual prisoners; they belonged to the lowt ste, ” Pierre Seel, a gay Holot survivor, wrote his memoir I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual: A Memoir of Nazi ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, timated 65 percent of gay men ncentratn mps died between 1933 and 1945. Even after World War II, both East and Wt Germany upheld the untry’s anti-gay law, and many gays remaed rcerated until the early 1970s.