Germans want monument for gay victims of Nazis

By VANESSA GERA
Associated Press Writer

BERLIN (AP) - Homosexual activists called on the German government to recognize the thousands of long-overlooked gay victims of the Nazi regime with a monument in the heart of Berlin.

``Such a monument would be a lasting symbol against intolerance, hostility and exclusion aimed at gays and lesbians,'' activists for the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany said in a statement launching the initiative.

While a city spokeswoman said officials in principle agreed such a monument was needed, Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen has opposed creating a so-called Memorial Mile'' in the new capital commemorating various groups persecuted by the Nazis.

Besides gays, groups representing Gypsies, or Roma, murdered by the Nazis are also pressing for a monument in the center of Berlin - seeking equal prominence with a planned memorial for the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

A plot the size of two football fields near the Brandenburg Gate was dedicated in January 2000 for the planned Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, but work has been delayed by discussions over plans for an information center at the site.

The gay activists did not specify a site for a memorial to homosexual victims, but insist it should be near the Reichstag parliament building and not far from the planned Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

``We want a national monument similar to the Jewish monument,'' said Albert Eckert, a spokesman for the federation, adding that the Nazis' gay victims have for too long been overlooked.

The initiative has the backing of prominent Jewish leaders, including Paul Spiegel, the head of the Jewish community in Germany. A Berlin city spokeswoman for development, Petra Reetz, said she viewed the idea of such a monument positively, although no formal proposal has been made.

The initiator of the proposed Holocaust memorial, Lea Rosh, who joined the news conference, stressed that there should be a separate memorial for each group of Hitler's victims because each was persecuted for different reasons and did not share the same fate.

``A memorial to everyone is not specific enough. You understand too little about each group,'' Rosh said.

Few of the 15,000 gay men put in concentration camps survived, the federation said. The Nazi regime criminalized homosexuality among men, strengthening the legal code in 1935 and condemning thousands for homosexual acts.

Although there were exceptions, lesbians were not generally targeted by the Nazis.

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