Last Living Gay Holocaust Survivor Dies

Details: Category: LGBT Issues; Published on Thursday, 04 August 2011 22:08; Written by Lara Tacita; Hits: 512

The last gay survivor of the Holocaust died. Rudolf Brazda passed away this Wednesday. He was sent to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, where he remained until the camp was liberated by the Allies in 1945, according to the GLAAD blog..

After the war, he moved to the Alsace Region of France where he was eventually inducted into the French Foreign Legion as an honorary member. He gained recognition as the last gay holocaust survivor after contacting the German organization LSVD.

His death has not gone unnoticed. Berlin's openly gay mayor said that he was an example of how remembering the past can affect the future. 50,000 people were convicted of the anti-gay laws of the Nazi regime. 15,000 people who were convicted were sent to the concentration camps. Gay prisoners were forced to wear a pink triangle that signified their perceived orientation.