97 year-old Rudolf Brazda is probably the last surviving man to have been deported by the Nazis for being a homosexual. In a video interview for Yagg he remembers his years as a prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp. He had previously given his precise and moving testimony to Jean-Luc Schwab, of the French organization Les "Oublié(e)s" de la Mémoire (Forgotten from Memory), who turned it into a fascinating book: Itinéraire d'un Triangle rose (Itinerary of a Pink triangle).
The son of Czechoslovakian immigrants in Germany, Rudolf Brazda was 20 when Hitler rose to power. He had lived his homosexuality freely and openly until the law penalizing homosexuality, the notorious "Paragraph 175", was toughened by the Nazi regime. On August 8, 1942, after having gone to prison twice, he was sent to the concentration camp of Buchenwald, where he was given the number 7952, and a pink triangle.
Even though Buchenwald wasn't an extermination camp, an estimated 56.000 prisoners (out of the 238.000 who were incarcerated) died in the camp, either because they were executed or from exhaustion or illness.
Some 650 Pink Triangles were deported to Buchenwald. One of them is still alive, and this is his story.
Our recent Thursday night bash at the bar Les Souffleurs in the Marais district of Paris went over really well, with many of Yagg's resident bloggers et contributing writers in attendance. Many Yaggers came together to celebrate Yagg's continued success and mixed the drinking and the dancing with getting to know each other for the first time or picking up where they left off from the last social gatherings.
The evening was also an opportunity for Souffleurs regulars to get familar with Yagg- we had the bar all done up in our disctinct corporate déco, and the whole evening we showed some of the videos that we have produced and broadcast on the website. The posters that we made for our gay-bashing prevention video 'I fight against discrimination' were very well-received on the dancefloor.
A big shout-out is in order to The Souffleurs staff who prepared a very hearty welcome with a huge space dedicated for the hors-d'oeuvres and buffet that the guests brought for the evening.
The highlight of the evening was two of our favorite yaggers who gave a particularly scintillating rendition of Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' (see the video on la communauté Yagg). The third edition of the Yagg bar will be announced soon enough, and in the meantime, we will be anxious to hear your stories from the evening in the comments section and welcome any and all suggestions for the next party.
YAGG Editor Judith Silberfeld recently caught up in Paris with Paige Braddock, Charles Schultz creative director and creator of the sensational lesbian comic book series Jane's World. Braddock reveals that half of her comics' readership is heterosexual, discusses shortcomings of the hit tv show 'The L Word', and reports that gay males comprise the smallest % of the comic series' followers. Finally, Braddock she tells why she likes the comic strip format of story-telling.
A gay kiss-in was held in Paris in the shopping district (near the Printemps and Galeries Lafayette shopping center) on december 12. Other kiss-ins took place in a dozen cities, as well as in Belgium and Montréal, Canada. That was the fourth "kiss-in against homophobia" since the one held in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Liza Minnelli made an appearance at the Paris gay pride parade, where she was greated by openly gay Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. She proceeded to adress the crowd, talked about the events of Stonewall and her mother Judy Garland's death.
Two french students organized a kiss-in on the Trocadéro (Human rights plaza) in Paris. The slogan of the operation: "Kiss Wherever You Like". Yagg reports.
97 year-old Rudolf Brazda is probably the last surviving man to have been deported by the Nazis for being a homosexual. In a video interview for Yagg he remembers his years as a prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp. He had previously given his precise and moving testimony to Jean-Luc Schwab, of the French organization Les "Oublié(e)s" de la Mémoire (Forgotten from Memory), who turned it into a fascinating book: Itinéraire d'un Triangle rose (Itinerary of a Pink triangle).
