When the Nazi concentration camps were liberated by the Allies, it was a time of great jubilation for the tens of thousands of people incarcerated in them. But an often forgotten fact of this time is that prisoners who happened to be wearing the pink triangle (the Nazis’ way of marking and identifying homosexuals) were forced to serve out the rest of their sentence. This was due to a part of German law simply known as “Paragraph 175” which criminalized homosexuality. The law wasn’t repealed until 1969.
I once picked up a crumpled pack of cigarettes outside of an IKEA, and didn’t recognize the pack. Being as inquisitive as I am unfolded the pack, to see the brand, and found a $20 bill tucked inside the cellophane. Mother Gaia had thanked me.
