The German parliament will for the first time next year commemorate victims of the Nazi regime, who were persecuted and killed for their sexual or gender identity, the Bundestag president said on Friday.
On January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, German parliamentarians will place these victims “at the center of the commemoration ceremony,” Baerbel Bas told the newspaper. Tagesspiegel.
Germany has celebrated Holocaust Remembrance Day every January 27 since 1996 with a solemn ceremony in the Bundestag, featuring a speech by a survivor and commemorations across the country.
“Unfortunately, there are no more survivors” for the LGBT victims’ memorial, Baerbel Bas said, adding that parliamentary authorities were in close discussion with the German Lesbian and Gay Federation (LSVD).
There is no memorial for these victims
Activists have worked for years to obtain official parliamentary commemoration of victims persecuted by the Nazis because of their sexual or gender identity. A petition, signed by victims’ organizations, academics, and other civil society figures, was submitted in support of this request in 2018.
While former German President Roman Herzog cited homosexuals among the victims of the Nazis at the first event in 1996, “these victims have not yet had their own memorial,” said Henny Engels, a member of the LSVD’s board of directors.
The group “welcomed” the decision of the President of the Bundestag. “In order to learn the right lessons from all its different facets, history must be kept alive in its entirety,” said Henny Engels.
Source: BFM TV
