On Saturday, the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation took part in Christopher Street Day protest/Pride in Celle. The slogan for this year’s Pride was “From history. For the future. Our diversity is not a trend!”, thereby referencing and criticzing the right-wing populist narrative that queerness would be a modern phenomenon. This deliberately renders queer people invisible and attacks the rights they have fought so hard for over centuries. By attending and taking part in the Pride programme, we wanted to send a strong message against these attacks on queer people, minorities as a whole and, ultimately, democracy itself. Because: No, diversity is not a trend. Diversity is a prerequisite for democracy, and the protection of minorities is a duty of democracy. The Foundation’s memorial sites commemorate the persecution and murder of queer people under National Socialism and, at the same time, serve as a reminder to protect the rights of minorities, to learn from history and to strengthen democracy.
Biographies of those persecuted under the Nazi regime
On Saturday, the march, attended by around 700 people, set off at 2 pm from Celle railway station and followed a route through Celle’s old town, passing the castle before the march ended in the afternoon at the square infront of the castle (Schlossplatz) in Celle. At Schlossplatz, the Foundation set up an information booth from 2 pm, providing information on the persecution of queer people under National Socialism in general, at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and at Wolfenbüttel Prison. Visitors to the information booth had the opportunity to read biographies of individual queer people persecuted under the Nazi regime and to discuss these with Foundation staff. The biographies on display, drawn from the archives of the Wolfenbüttel and Bergen-Belsen memorial sites, were those of Ernst Nobis (1899–1982), who was subjected to persecution as a homosexual man. Alfred Beichel (1932–1996), Gerhard Wiedemann (1916–2001), Ernst Mittag (1892–1951), Karl Geissler (1897–1955) and Willi Zimmt (1905–1944). Also included were: the biography of Elsa Conrad (1887–1963), who was persecuted as a homosexual and Jewish woman and was imprisoned in the Moringen concentration camp, and that of transgender-person Liddy Bacroff (1908–1943), persectued as a “homosexual man”, who was murdered at Mauthausen concentration camp.
Bergen-Belsen Memorial Bookshop during Pride Month
At the information booth, the Foundation also offered various books on the persecution of queer people under National Socialism. These books are now available, whilst stocks last, as part of Pride Month in the Bergen-Belsen Memorial bookshop – alongside the existing collection of books on the persecution of queer people.
Dr. Gryglewski on the podium
To conclude the official programme of CSD Celle, the Foundation’s Executive Director, Dr Elke Gryglewski, spoke on the podium about rising anti-queer sentiment, strengthening democracy, the persecution of queer people under National Socialism and right-wing narratives.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the organisers of “CSD Celle” for the opportunity to participate, and to everyone who took part and for being visible! The Christopher Street Day protest is an expression of diversity and empowerment, yet it is coming under increasing pressure from right-wing narratives, funding cuts and a lack of political support – so a special thank you to all the queer people who were loud and made their voices heard on Saturday.