200 Years of LGBTQIA+ History

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Source Record

Gay Men under the Nazi Regime

Why this source is used

USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia article on Nazi persecution of gay men and the destruction of Hirschfeld's institute.

Start with the answer

Start with the answer 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. Read the topic guide Early Sexology and Nazi Persecution Early sexology and organised homosexual-rights advocacy in Germany were violently interrupted by Nazi persecution under Paragraph 175.

Source Status

Publisher
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Type
archive
Reliability
high
Cited by
3 pages

Source Links

Open original source https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gay-men-under-the-nazi-regime?series=200 Accessed 2 June 2026 Open archived copy https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gay-men-under-the-nazi-regime?series=200

Used by Topics

Early Sexology and Nazi Persecution

Used by Questions

What happened to LGBTQ+ people under Nazi rule?

Used by Timeline Events

1933-1945 DiscriminationInternational

Nazi Persecution of LGBTQ+ People

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.