The rainbow wreath that is laid tonight during the commemoration at the Kamp Westerbork memorial center is a recognition for the fact that LGBTI+people have also become victims of the Nazis. Henk Nijmeijer says that. He is rainbow ambassador of our province.
That has several causes, according to Nijmeijer. For example, in Germany the article of law 175 was in force. That law prohibited sexual traffic between two men. “Homosexuals in Germany were continued on that. We didn’t have that in the Netherlands,” he says. “But here too the police and the government did participate in the detection of homosexuals.”
Why it is exactly forbidden? “Homosexuals could not contribute to the strengthening of the Aryan race,” says Nijmeijer. “That was that simple. Homosexuality was seen as something weak. It was not male.”
Men who were openly gay or were suspected of that were punished in the same way as other victims. They were also put on transport and ended up in criminal camps, Nijmeijer explains. According to a Swiss study, 100,000 arrests were carried out during the Nazi regime. About 50,000 men were sentenced to prison sentences, improvement foundations and labor camps. Between 5,000 and 10,000 men ended up in concentration camps because of their orientation. According to the investigation, a considerable part of the homosexuals was forced to be incorporated by the Wehrmacht or special SS bataljons.
After the war, the homosexual victims remained unseen for a long time, according to Nijmeijer. “Because of course they kept silent. Talking openly about homosexuality was not accepted socially even after the war.” There was therefore also a wreath during the commemoration. “It was considered inappropriate. That was just very difficult at the time.”
There is still no wreath on Dam Square, which is specifically intended for the LGBTI+victims during the war. Nijmeijer thinks that this has to do with the creation of the special gay monument in Amsterdam. “There is now also a commemoration. That is also getting bigger.”
So not yet on Dam Square, but in Drenthe. “It is very nice that the remembrance center wants us to do this and just let us put a wreath just like everyone else is allowed to put a wreath,” says Nijmeijer. “For us it is important to remember the people who had to remain silent and in resistance and should remember the LGBTI persons and we are doing that. In silence, in color, with pride.”