GVSU Exhibit Explores Persecution of Homosexuals During Nazi Regime

The human atrocities of WWII are well documented in history. The persecution of the Jewish population was the primary focus of the Nazi regime. The haunting pictures and tales from the holocaust will stay with us forever. But there were other groups persecuted as well. Roma (Gypsies), Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses and those disabled during World War II were also targeted. And yet, there is another story.

The story of what happened to another targeted population, homosexuals in Nazi Germany, is the subject of the traveling exhibit, “Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945,” which is on display at Grand Valley State University in the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons on the Allendale Campus through February 18.

“The Holocaust was a catastrophe for humanity,” said Rob Franciosi, professor of English who helped bring the exhibit to Grand Valley. “The more we learn about the fate of many groups under the Nazis, the more we can understand why the Holocaust, even 70 years later, remains relevant to our times.”

The exhibition is free and open to the public. Various special programs and events will be held in conjunction with the exhibit.

This exhibit and related programs are supported in part by The Joseph Stevens Freedom Endowment, which was established by Grand Valley in 1990 to fund lectures to promote the understanding of issues related to human freedom, including a special focus on the history and consequences of the Holocaust.

For more information about this exhibit, visit www.gvsu.edu/holocausteducation.