Start of Main Content
Upcoming Events Calendar

Pride Month: Defying Nazi Persecution

Virtual Event
(Left) Portrait of Willem Arondeus, the leader of a gay resistance group in Amsterdam. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marco Entrop; (Right) Portrait of Frieda Belinfante after her return to the Netherlands from the refugee camp in Switzerland. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Frieda Belinfante

(Left) Portrait of Willem Arondeus, the leader of a gay resistance group in Amsterdam. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marco Entrop; (Right) Portrait of Frieda Belinfante after her return to the Netherlands from the refugee camp in Switzerland. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Frieda Belinfante

It was a daring and dangerous mission. To try to protect the true identities of Jews and resistance fighters hiding behind false ID cards, members of a Dutch resistance group knew they had to destroy the originals. Dressed as policemen, they entered the Amsterdam Registry and set off explosions that burned 800,000 identity cards. This Pride Month, learn about Frieda Belinfante, one of Europe’s first female conductors and a lesbian, and painter Willem Arondeus, a gay man and a leader of this group of artists turned resisters.

Speaker
Klaus Mueller, European Representative, Initiative on Holocaust Denial and Antisemitism, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on the Museum's Facebook and YouTube pages.

WATCH ON FACEBOOK

Related

  • Gay Men under the Nazi Regime

    The Nazi regime carried out a campaign against male homosexuality and persecuted gay men between 1933 and 1945. As part of this campaign, the Nazi regime closed gay bars and meeting places, dissolved gay associations, and shuttered gay presses. Uncovering the histories of gay men during the Nazi era was difficult for much of the twentieth century because of continued prejudice against same-sex sexuality and the postwar German enforcement of Paragraph 175.

    Learn More
  • Lesbians under the Nazi Regime

    Under the Nazi regime, there was no official law or policy prohibiting sexual relations between women. Nonetheless, beginning in 1933, the Nazi regime harassed and destroyed lesbian communities and networks that had developed during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933). This created a climate of restriction and fear for many lesbians.

    Learn More
  • Paragraph 175 and the Nazi Campaign against Homosexuality

    Paragraph 175 predated the Nazi regime. However, the Nazis revised Paragraph 175 in 1935 to make it broader and harsher. It was one of the main tools that the Nazis used to persecute gay men and men accused of sexual relations with other men.

    Learn More