Gay persecution and commemoration

WO II – Gay persecution

The German occupying forces were a great danger to Amsterdam and to the many Jews who lived in the city. The attention given to the massive persecution of the Jews after the war ended, is greater than that given to other persecuted minorities such as the disabled, gypsies and homosexuals. The cruel acts committed against these people are sometimes forgotten in the great, horrifying story.

Homosexual men who were arrested, were given an identifying mark: a pink triangle. Lesbian women were, remarkably enough, seen as political prisoners or as anti-socials and were given a red or alternatively a black triangle.

On May 4^th 1970, young people tried in vain to lay a memorial wreath for the homosexual victims of the Second World War. Those young people were almost immediately arrested by the police. Today, the police themselves lay a wreath every year at the Homo Monument. Together with the LGBTI community, they hold a commemoration there every year on the 4^th of May, the Dutch National Remembrance Day.

The Homo Monument, built in 1987, is made up of three salmon pink triangles that together form a single triangle. The three separate parts symbolize the present, the past and the future.

The Transgender communities in Amsterdam also feel connected to this place and organize their Transgender commemoration day here every year.

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Gay persecution and commemoration

WO II – Gay persecution

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