Paragraph 175

I'm pretty ashamed of myself for being a gay history student and never considering the lack of attention given to the suffering of homosexuals at the hands of the Nazi's before and during WW2. It never even crossed my mind till today when i watched this.

Narrated by Rupert Everett, but largely based on the memories of the few survivors willing to talk about their past, this documentary reveals one section of German society that has still not successfully received recognition of their persecution. In fact, neither of the German nations to emerge after WW2 repealed Paragraph 175 until, 1967 (East Germany) and 1968 (West Germany). Up until this period gay men still faced arrested and imprisonment albeit not to the same extent as during the Nazi era. Perhaps most shocking is that following the war, all those convicted under the legislation were classified as criminals, and have still not to this day had their names cleared or received any recognition of their status as victims of the Nazi party.

If these men can live through what they did, and still be proud to be themselves, then the narrow minded bigots we occasionally come across are little more than a blip on the radar.