TOULOUSE STREET IS NAMED AFTER GAY HOLOCAUST VICTIM PIERRE SEEL

I was born in Toulouse and have spent 18 years of my life in this town in the South of France, today the city honored the memory of Pierre Seel by renaming one of its streets.

According to the Nazi’s own archives, between 1933 and 1945 over 100,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were arrested under paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code. Back in 1940, Pierre Seel was among a number of people arrested at a drag show in Mulhouse. he was not the only French citizen deported on the basis of his sexuality to survive, but he was alone in speaking publicly about what he suffered. He fought to have the French authorities officially recognise the fact that he was deported for his homosexuality

During the Second World War, the French government at Vichy passed a law to criminalise homosexuality, and after the war under Charles De Gaulle, legislation classed homosexuality as a ‘social flaw’ it was not until 1981, when Francois Mitterand removed the legislative penalties, that the situation in this country improved. Read more ...

He published his memoirs in 1994 in a book called "I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual: A Memoir of Nazi Terror" that you can order in french here and in english here.

Pierre Seel, died pecefully in his sleep on December 3rd 2005 in Toulouse he was 83 years old. With Mr. Seel's death, researchers believe there are fewer than 10 homosexual survivors of Nazi internment camps still alive. The nameplaque reads "Rue Pierre Seel - Déporté français pour homosexualité - 1923-2005" and it located just blocks away from I grew up and right in front of the "Caserne des pompiers" ;-) R.IP. Pierre Seel !

Comments

[AMI SANZURI]

Thanks,for intrduce us to Pierre Seel, its show that the Nazy can maybe kill you but they canot killed your spirit.