Thomas Niederbühl, an openly gay Councillor for the Rosa List Party, in Munich, Germany has been working on a plan to build a monument to the memory of gay amd lesbian Holocaust victims since 2008. And now thnaks to him, Munich was the site of the beginning of the Nazis terrible persecutions against homosexuals in 1934 will have a highly symbolic memorial to homosexual victims of Nazism.
The memorial will form part of a new pedestrian development in the center of Munich and will be placed at the corner of Oberanger and Dultstrasse, outside what was the Scwharzfischer (The black fisherman), a famous gay bar in the 30s. On October 20th 1934, the Nazis conducted a major raid in the gay scene of Munich, including the Schwarzfischer. This was the beginning of Nazi persecution against homosexuals: it is estimated that more than fifty thousand people were eventually arrested and most were interned in concentration camps. Most of those who survived the war were kept in jails as homosexuality remained criminalized.
The sinister Paragraph 175 which criminalized homosexuality was in effect until 1969. In 1985, gays and lesbians had wanted to place a plaque in the camp at Dachau, but it was not until 10 years later, in 1995, that gays and lesbians have been recognized as a group of victims.
The project has broad political support: from both parties currently in power but (The Red and Green parties) but of course Christian Democrats oppose it. . Richard Quaas, spokesman for the Christian Democrats said: “Until now, there was a consensus not to establish differentiation of victims on monuments or monuments. Other groups of victims of Nazism have no specific memorial in the public arena in Munich.”