Series: Gay Men and Lesbians under the Nazi Regime

The Nazi regime harassed and targeted gay men and lesbians by banning their organizations, shuttering their presses, and raiding and closing their meeting places. The Nazi regime’s actions effectively destroyed the networks and communities that gay men and lesbians had established before the Nazis came to power. For gay men, harrassment worsened over the course of the 1930s, eventually turning into brutal persecution. Beginning in 1935, the Nazi regime used a revised version of Paragraph 175 to arrest large numbers of men accused of having sexual relations with other men. Some of these men were sent to concentration camps as “homosexual” (“homosexuell”). Learn more by exploring the articles in this series.