Karl Gorath | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1912-12-12)December 12, 1912 |
| Died | March 18, 2003(2003-03-18) (aged 90) Bremerhaven,Bremen, Germany |
| Criminal status | Freed by theRed Army in 1945 |
| Conviction | Homosexuality |
| Criminal penalty | Imprisoned atNeuengamme andAuschwitz |
Karl Gorath (12 December 1912,Bad Zwischenahn − 18 March 2003,Bremerhaven[1]) was agay man who was arrested in 1938 and imprisoned forhomosexuality atNeuengamme andAuschwitz. He was freed in 1945.
Gorath was training for a nursing career when, at 26, he was denounced as a homosexual by his "jealous lover" and arrested underParagraph 175 of the criminal code, which defined homosexuality as an "unnatural act".[2]
Gorath was imprisoned at Neuengamme nearHamburg, Germany, and was forced to wear apink triangle, identifying him as gay and atransvestite.
Because of his medical training, Gorath was transferred to work at a prisoner hospital in a sub-camp of Neuengamme. When he refused to decrease the bread ration for patients who werePoles, Gorath was transferred to Auschwitz. There he wore the red triangle of apolitical prisoner, which he believed spared him the brutality inflicted on inmates identified as gay. In January 1945, Gorath was freed when theRed Army liberated Auschwitz.
After the war, in 1947 he was sentenced again: “By the same Judge. Rabien his name was. He received me in the courtroom with the words: ‘You are here again!’”[3]
Gorath is one of six gay men who are the subject of adocumentary on gay men inNazi concentration camps. The film, by producersJeffrey Friedman andRob Epstein and narrated byRupert Everett, is calledParagraph 175.