1933-1945
Nazi Persecution of LGBTQ+ People
Discrimination International
The Nazi regime targeted LGBTQ+ people—especially gay men—under Paragraph 175, resulting in thousands of arrests and deportations to concentration camps where they wore pink triangles.
Impact & Significance
A defining atrocity in queer history, with the pink triangle later reclaimed as a symbol of resilience and remembrance.
Reference Record
- Date
- 1933-1945
- Era
- 1900-1949
- Sources
- 2
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Questions This Event Helps Answer
Q How did UK law criminalise homosexuality before 1967? Before 1967, English and Welsh law criminalised male same-sex intimacy through buggery and gross indecency offences, with punishments ranging from execution to imprisonment. Q What happened to LGBTQ+ people under Nazi rule? Under Nazi rule, gay men and gender-nonconforming people were surveilled, prosecuted, imprisoned and in many cases sent to concentration camps under intensified Paragraph 175 enforcement.
