Pink Triangle: Remembering Gay Victims and Survivors of the Holocaust

Three-part program educating the Jewish and GLBT communities about homosexual victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

Community Contact Information:
Chevrei Tikvah
Beachwood, OH
http://www.fairmounttemple.org/ChevreiTikvaChavurah.htm

Goals:

  • Educate the gay and Jewish communities about the gay victims of the Holocaust.
  • Teach the larger community about contemporary acts of hate against the GLBT and Jewish communities.
  • Engage the gay and Jewish communities in long-term community outreach.

Overview:
The congregation developed a three part program which outlines the suffering of gays in the Holocaust, including a documentary film presentation, a lecture by a renowned scholar on gays in the Holocaust, and a congregational trip to the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., using multiple media to deliver information to a wide audience, including the congregants, the local GLBT community, and the larger Jewish community.

Preparation and Implementation:

  • Lecture: The congregation invited Dr. Klaus Muller, a world-renowned scholar on anti-gay Nazi policies and persecution, to speak to the community. The congregation collected canned goods or small cash donations to a local food bank in lieu of an admission fee. The lecture drew over 260 people, the majority from outside of the congregation. Other potential speakers could include local history professors with foci in gay history or the Holocaust, local leaders in the gay community, among others.
  • Film: The congregation presented the documentary film "We were Marked with a Big 'A'," which features interviews with gay Holocaust survivors. Since the time of the original program, the film “Paragraph 175,” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0236576/) which Dr. Muller helped produce, has been released, featuring more interviews with gay survivors.
  • Museum trip: The synagogue co-sponsored an affordably-priced trip to the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., which was well attended by members of the congregation, as well as other members of the community.

Results:
The program placed the often forgotten story of lesbians and gays in the context of the Nazis’ vicious persecution. The congregation helped identify some of the victims and heroes of the Holocaust. Participants were also reminded of the continued persecution of lesbians and gays after the death camps were liberated and the continuing threat of intolerance by hate groups towards Jews, lesbians, and gay men.