THE CONCENTRATION CAMPSIt is a well known fact that in every concentration camp in Germany at that time there were homosexual prisoners.
All prisoners in the camps wore marks and various colours to make them more easily identified by the camp guards and camp functionaries. It is known that homosexual prisoners in the camps wore a black dot and a large 175 drawn on the back of their jackets that they wore. Later on this mark and number became replaced with the Rosa Winkel (Pink Triangle) to be worn by homosexual prisoners of the camps. The conditions in the camps were harsh for the inmates many of whom perished from hunger, disease, exhaustion, cold and brutal treatment. On November 15th 1941 Adolf Hitler signed a order that gave the death sentence for homosexuals, and as a result of this in 1942 every homosexual prisoner in the Klinker-werk sub camp of Sachsenhausen concentration camp was murdered. One of the prisoners to be murdered on that day was Richard Barnack a famous dancer from the cabaret scene and a homosexual he like many of the other homosexual prisoners there died as a result of that decree. Survivors have testified that the homosexual prisoners who wore the pink triangle were treated particularly more severely by the SS guards and other inmates because of wide spread biases against homosexuality. There is a tour to Sachsenhausen concentration camp from the Zoologischer Garten in Berlin held year round every day except Mondays. In Buchenwald concentration camp it is known that there were homosexual prisoners there who were exposed to medical experiments by Dr Carl Vaernet and his dreadful conversion procedure that would supposedly turn homosexual men in to heterosexual men. There is a shrine in the shape of a pink triangle that is dedicated to the homosexual victims of Buchenwald and also there is a shrine in Berlin itself. The Schwules Museum in Mehringdamm Berlin holds an exhibition of german gay history spanning 200 years from 2pm until 6pm every week day except Tuesdays. |