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| Before the Nazis came to power it appeared that progress was being made regarding the position of homosexuals within German society. In the cafes and bars of cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, homosexuals and lesbians were able to live a more open lifestyle. However, the relative freedom of the 1920s came to an end when Hitler became the leader of Germany. The Nazis systematically persecuted homosexual men and arrested a number of lesbians as 'asocials' and 'prostitutes'. Albrecht Becker, a designer, lived in Wurzburg with his partner Josef Abert, the Director of the Bavarian State Archive . They were arrested in 1935 after the Nazis discovered a photograph of Albrecht during a raid on the flat of homosexual businessman Leopold Obermayer. Albrecht, Josef and several others were put on trial and sent to prison. Obermayer was later murdered in a concentration camp, Homosexual and lesbian organisations were banned and thousands of homosexuals were imprisoned or sent to concentration camps where they were forced to wear pink triangles to identify them from the other inmates. Many suffered sterilisation or castration. Thousands died from the appalling conditions in the camps. Even after the war homosexuals were still classed as criminals and some were forced to complete the sentences that had been imposed on them by the Nazi courts. |
| VICTIM Albrecht Becker |
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