Pictures: 7 Gay Holocaust memorials around the world
For Holocaust Memorial Day , PinkNews looks at some of the monuments for gay and lesbian victims of the Holocaust that are in place across the world.
Earlier today, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg become the first party leader to back the inclusion of the symbols of gay oppression to be included in the National Holocaust Memorial.
“Any memorial remembering the Holocaust should recognise the persecution of non-Jewish victims whilst maintaining the centrality of the six million murdered Jews.”
Though the UK does not currently have a permanent memorial for gay Holocaust victims, there are currently a number of others around the world.
Tel Aviv, Israel
A concrete Pink Triangle monument was unveiled in Tel Aviv in 2014 – the first in Israel to mark gay victims of the Holocaust.
The memorial is to be completed in Meir Park, Tel Aviv later this year, and the first of its kind in Israel. Like other monuments around the world, it will feature a concrete pink triangle, the same symbol used by the Nazis to mark someone as gay.
Councillor Eran Lev said at the time: “As a cosmopolitan city and an international gay centre, Tel Aviv will offer a memorial site that is universal in its essence. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a monument, but a place — a place of quiet that will invite visitors to sit, contemplate, reflect and be in solitude.”
Berlin, Germany
Berlin’s ‘Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism’ was unveiled in 2008, next to the original Jewish Holocaust Memorial site.
It takes the form of a concrete cube with a slit on one side – through which visitors can see video of two men kissing.
Frankfurt, Germany
The Frankfurter Engel (Frankfurt Angel) is dedicated to gay people who were persecuted under both Nazi rule, and the country’s Penal Code after the end of World War II.
Unveiled in 1994, it reads: “Homosexual men and women were persecuted and murdered in Nazi Germany. The crimes were denied, the dead concealed, the survivors scorned and prosecuted.
“We remember this, in the awareness that men who love men and women who love women still face persecution.”
Sydney, Australia
A community-funded memorial to gay and lesbian victims of the Holocaust was opened in Sydney in 2001.
It is located in Darlinghurst – the city’s gay district – and is managed by the Sydney Pride Centre.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amsterdam was one of the first countries in the world to dedicate a memorial to gay victims of the Holocaust, with the 1987 Homomonument.
One corner of the triangle points towards the National War Memorial on Dam Square, one points to the house of Anne Frank, and the third to the headquarters of COC Nederland – a gay rights group founded in 1946.
San Francisco, California, United States
At the heart of the Castro District – where gay Jewish hero Harvey Milk was elected and assassinated, in 1978 – Pink Triangle Park sits as a memorial to the thousands of persecuted homosexuals in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
Fifteen granite columns stand in the park – one for every thousand gays and lesbians known to have died in the Holocaust.
Sitges, Catalonia, Spain
The town of Sitges unveiled a Pink Triangle monument in 2006, as a symbol of its stance against homophobia.
Though it takes the shape of a pink triangle, the inscription does not reference the Holocaust. It commemorates 10 years since the 1996 uprisings in the town, which saw bitter confrontations between gay activists and police.
