Branded by the Pink Triangle

Branded by the Pink Triangle

by Ken Setterington

Branded by the Pink Triangle is a gripping story about the struggle of gay men during the Holocaust. There is a perfect blend of facts, personal stories and photographs. There is very little information about the plight of homosexuals under the Hitler regime but this book gives a good overview without being too graphic. The target audience for the book is young adults so I think that the author took out some of the horrific details that regularly occurred in the concentration camps.

Learning about Nazi Germany has always been a struggle for me. On one hand, the suffering and the torture that occurred is just unfathomable and makes me disgusted in humanity. I cannot imagine what those people went through – I do not want to imagine the torture and pain that they endured not just during the war, but trying to pick up the pieces if they were fortunate enough to survive. On the other hand, we cannot forget what happened. As a society we must remember what happened and ensure that it does not happen again. We must protect the rights of everyone – in every culture, religion, faith, sexuality… everyone.

Ken Setterington has brought some much needed attention to the suffering of homosexual men during Nazi Germany. It has sparked my interest and I will be reading more of the books that he has listed in the bibliography. This is a must read for everyone and should be included in high-school history curriculums.