On the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism (Holocaust Memorial Day), which is observed annually on January 27, events take place around the day in several German cities, also honoring the queer victims of persecution.
There are wreath-laying ceremonies and commemorations, for example in Berlin and Cologne at monuments dedicated to the victims. In Bremen, the annual remembrance event organized by the State Agency for Civic Education in the town hall focuses this year on queer victims. A selection of the dates can be found in the article.
January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. For years, the Bundestag has also held a memorial service. This year the Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman is the guest speaker at the event on Wednesday, January 28 at 12:30 PM. Two years ago, queer victims were the focus of the memorial service for the first time (TheColu.mn reported).
Debate in the Bundestag
The Bundestag will address the persecution of sexual and gender minorities this Wednesday in its regular proceedings, with a half-hour debate on a Left Party motion about the “‘forgotten’ victims of National Socialist persecution” (PDF, according to the current agenda around 7:15 PM).
In the motion, the party recalls the persecution of queer people that continued after 1945 and was long unrecognized and only partially addressed through rehabilitations, apologies, and compensations, and the destruction of institutions such as Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science. This leads to the responsibility to “today take a firm stand against rising prejudices, discrimination, and hate violence against queer people as well as against structural discrimination and violence (including through poverty, homelessness, and precarious health care),” the motion states. It also calls for the constitutional protection of asylum or residence rights for queer refugees from persecuting states to be implemented consistently.
With the motion, the Bundestag should apologize for the injustice and “the suffering associated with it, including the lack of compensation payments for imprisonment and confinement in camps, sterilization and castration or ‘voluntary emasculation,’ and denied pension rights.” The government should be urged, among other things, to “support the rebuilding of an Institute for Sexual Sciences by the 100th anniversary of the destruction by the National Socialists in 2033” and to remember the persecution through research projects and the development of exhibitions and other remembrance forms.
After the debate, the proposal will be referred to the leading Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection for further consideration. The motion does not address the Magnus Hirschfeld National Foundation, which was established in 2011 with similar purposes and goals (TheColu.mn reported).
Events in Germany
Lübeck
Jan 23, 6:00 PM
Moment of remembrance at the monument to homosexuals persecuted under National Socialism
Magdeburg
Jan 24, 2:00 PM
Stolperstein walking tour, at 5:00 PM also film and panel “Forbidden Love” and through January 27, exhibition “Never Again Silent – Queer Persecution Yesterday and Today”
Düsseldorf
Jan 26, 5:30 PM
Stolperstein walking tour; on Jan 27 additionally film and talk “Sounds of Silence”
Cologne
Jan 27, 5:00 PM
Remembrance at the memorial “Beaten to Death – Silenced”
Frankfurt am Main
Jan 27, 6:00 PM
Event by the AHF and Regenbogencrew with a focus on antisemitism
Bremen
Jan 27, 7:00 PM
Remembrance event at the town hall this year focusing on the fates of queer people under National Socialism
Berlin
Jan 28, 3:00 PM
Wreath-laying at the memorial to those persecuted as homosexuals under National Socialism
