Friedrich von Groszheim

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Friedrich Paul von Groszheim , often from Großheim , (born April 27, 1906 in Lübeck , † January 6, 2006 in Hamburg ) was a German businessman . Along with Rudolf Brazda , he was one of the last remaining homosexual victims of the concentration camps in the 21st century and was persecuted politically and homosexually.

Life

Friedrich von Groszheim came from an upper-class Lübeck family. His father died in 1917 during the First World War , and his mother died some time later, so that he and his sister were raised by two aunts.

Von Groszheim trained as a wholesale merchant and was regularly active in the gay scene in his hometown as early as the 1920s.

In 1937 he was imprisoned for around ten months on the basis of Section 175 . He was imprisoned again in 1938, where he was humiliated, tortured and had to be castrated in order to escape deportation to Sachsenhausen concentration camp . He agreed to the castration. In 1940 he was retired due to his lack of fitness and declared unfit for military service.

In 1943 he was imprisoned again, this time in a satellite camp of Neuengamme concentration camp , because he had been a monarchist and supporter of Kaiser Wilhelm II .

After the war and the collapse of the Third Reich , he moved to Hamburg, where he worked as a hotel employee until his retirement.

He participated in some documentaries and made his first comment about 45 years after the end of the war about his homosexuality and the suffering of his imprisonment.

His imprisonment in prison and in Neuengamme concentration camp were not recognized by the FRG during his lifetime .

With his death in 2006, it was assumed that the last homosexual concentration camp survivor had died in Germany, until Rudolf Brazda was found, who died around seven years later.

Participation in documentation

  • We had a capital A on our legs , 1991, Germany.
  • Paragraph 175 , by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, 2000, USA.
  • The hidden guide , 2004, UK.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Groszheim, Friedrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Groszheim, Friedrich Paul von (full name); Großheim, from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German businessman
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Lübeck
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 2006
Place of death Hamburg