From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
pink triangle
is one of the two big
symbols
of the LGBT community. The other is the
rainbow flag
.
The pink triangle was first used in
Nazi Germany
to mark
homosexual
prisoners. There was also a
black triangle
that marked
anti-social women
. Many but not all of these women were
lesbians
.
Jews
wore the famous yellow
star of David
. If a prisoner was both Jewish and gay, he would wear a yellow triangle overlapped by a pink triangle, creating a star of David.
Homosexuality was illegal in Nazi Germany under a law called
Paragraph 175
, which made it a
felony
(a "very serious" crime). About 100,000 people were arrested, with about 50,000 sent to prison. Some were sent to mental hospitals. Some were castrated (had their
testicles
removed). Some homosexual men were also sent to
concentration camps
, especially Jewish homosexuals. Between 15,000 and 600,000 homosexual men were sent to concentration camps. Most of them died there. We are not sure of the real number. Prisoners who were Jewish and homosexual may not have been counted as homosexual.
Homosexual prisoners were treated worse than other prisoners. Their death rates were higher than other
anti-social
groups. One story by a gay man who lived in a concentration camp shows how it was. Pierre Seel was sent to the Schirmeck concentration camp. The Nazis said a public execution would happen. A man was brought out. Seel saw that the man was his 18 year old lover. The Nazis took all the clothes of Seel's lover and put a bucket over his head. Then Seel had to watch as the Nazis let German Shepherds (dogs) maul his lover to death.
After
World War II
, homosexual men were still not treated well in Germany. The law continued. It was used to hurt homosexuals and to put them in prison. Many spent years in prison.
The pink triangle observes the memory of the homosexual people who died in the
Holocaust
. It is important not to ignore these deaths. The killing of homosexuals both during WWII
and
after
WWII ended is the secret story of the Holocaust. Using the pink triangle symbol puts these victims in the public view. It is in respect for those who died.