Berlin yesterday unveiled a memorial to the thousands of Gay men that were criminalized and killed by the Nazis. 55,000 branded criminals and 15,000 deemed inferior and murdered en masse by their own country. Read more about it here.While it is true that this number is small compared to the suffering of the Jews, it is important to remember and memorialize all the victims of Nazi persecution. The Author was gratified to read about the new memorial. The story doesn't end there, however. Victims also include half-a-million Gypsies (source), almost the entire population of occupied Eastern Europe; as well as countless disabled and developmentally disabled individuals.
Sadly, Gypsies - or Rom as they preferred to be called - are still being persecuted in large swathes of Europe. Many have heard of the Slovak hatred for the Rom (source), but Italy has recently experienced a variety of what appear to be officially-sanctioned pogroms directed against Gypsy settlements. Read this alarming article for background. The far-Right government of Silvio Berlusconi, with established Fascist roots, appears to be stoking the flames of ethnic hatred. The lesson? Facists will be Facists.
LGBT
Germany
Gypsies
human rights
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