Gay Pride Testimony Series
Susan Dregely on Coming Out
Susan discusses coming to terms with her identity as a lesbian, and knowing she didn't have to change who she was even while lacking support and resources.
Eva Heymann on working with gay men in her AIDS work
Language: English
Eva Heymann, Holocaust survivor and Catholic nun, describes her experience working with the gay community through her AIDS work and how that exposure enabled her to understand her own sexuality in a more complex way than what she was taught in the Catholic Church.
Marion Pritchard on her early attitude regarding homosexuality
Language: English
Marion Pritchard recalls bringing up the topic of homosexuality at the dinner table and how her father took her aside to discuss the importance of tolerance.
She passed away in 2016 at the age of 96. Read our tribute to her.
Susan Dregely on Coming Out
Language: English
Susan discusses coming to terms with her identity as a lesbian, and knowing she didn't have to change who she was even while lacking support and resources.
Gad Beck on rescuing his lover Manfred Lewin
Language: German
Hearing that his lover, Manfred Lewin, has been taken with his family to a transit camp, Gad Beck makes the dangerous choice to go undercover as a Hitler Youth to break Manfred out.
Albrecht Becker on gay life in 1934 Germany
Language: German
Albrecht Becker recounts the atmosphere for gays in Nazi Germany while Röhm was still in charge of the SA and how the relative freedom he enjoyed during that time changed dramatically after Röhm's assassination in June 1934.
Gad Beck on coming out to his family
Language: German
In this clip, Gad Beck recalls the day he ran in to tell his mother that he "had his first man" and her surprising reaction. It is a sweet story of family acceptance and support.
Bertram Schaffner on helping gay soldiers during World War 2
Language: English
Dr. Bertram Schaffner, who served as a military psychiatrist during World War 2, recounts how he dealt with the military's anti-gay policy while evaluating draftees.
Kitty Fischer on her rescue by a gay male prisoner
Language: English
100 Days to Inspire Respect
Kitty Fischer recounts her time in Auschwitz-II Birkenau when as a young girl she encounters for the first time a gay male prisoner who will turn out to save her life.
Douglas Fox recalls a narrow escape
Language: English
Thanks to the quick response of a homosexual prisoner at the Oranienburg-Heinkelwerke labor camp (a subcamp of Sachsenhausen), Douglas Fox escaped from a line of transferred prisoners who were unknowingly being given a lethal injection upon their arrival.
Stefan Kosinski on meeting Willi G.
Language: English
Stefan recalls the evening of November 4, 1941, when leaving the theater where he worked in Torun, Poland, he encounters a German soldier who turns out to be a man named Willi, his first real romance.
Foreign words in this video clip:
- Ersatzkaffee (German): substitute coffee
Johan Klisser on hiding
Language: English
In this video clip, Johan Klisser recalls when he was 16 years old and separated from his parents in Amsterdam. At one point during his attempt at hiding from the Nazis, he stayed with a gay couple who were part of the Dutch resistance.