Gays Prosecuted by Nazis to Be Pardoned
Germany’s Parliament passed legislation allowing about 50,000 gay men prosecuted by the Nazis because of their sexuality to be pardoned, even posthumously.
The legislation also amended a 1998 law to make it easier to quash convictions against deserters from the German army between 1933 and 1945.
Anti-gay measures passed in 1935 formed part of a Nazi philosophy that deemed homosexuals alien to the state’s aim to create a “super-race.” Those convicted faced up to 10 years in prison or concentration camps, where thousands died.
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