By Felan Parker
Jennifer Evans, a professor of history at Carleton University, is in the process of writing a very important book. She is examining the history of the Holocaust, but her object of study is an aspect that has been overlooked almost entirely in academic work.
During the Holocaust, between ten and fifteen thousand homosexual men were persecuted much in the same manner as the Jews. They were arrested, jailed, put in concentration camps and killed.
After the war, according to Evans’ research, homosexual German men continued to be persecuted, often based on the same case files used by the Nazi Gestapo. Evans has been inspecting police and court papers, prosecutor’s notes, interrogation records and other similar documents to piece together the human side of these events. She has visited Germany and plans to return.
With her research, Evans aims to expand our understanding of the Holocaust. The experience of homosexual men in Germany during this time is a small but significant part of one of the pivotal moments in modern history. Her work is also important for our understanding of human rights, she says.
The pink triangle comes from this period, as it was used to identify these men. Now the pink triangle has become a symbol of pride and respect for homosexuals, and Evans feels that this history must be known.