Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism — Attraction in Berlin

Very moving memorial. The memorial is to the gays "persecuted by the Nazis". It doesn't mention the extermination though in its name, like the Roma and Sinti memorial but that is what it was--a genocide of a minority. I liked the simple concept of it's video messaging: gay couples kissing (a male couple then a female couple) against a backdrop of persecution and fight for rights in silence, housed in a stark, drab immoveable monument. The video is viewed through a window in the side of the monument and it loops for about two minutes. Something so simple and intimate yet basic and human, set against images of persecution, murder, stigma and people fighting for acceptance. The images cross into modern time. The image of the gay man being hung is a reminder people are still persecuted and killed today...

The Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted Under the National Socialist Regime is an intriguing monument located at Tiergarten just opposite the Holocaust Memorial.

Designed by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset and unveiled in 2008, the memorial is a concrete cube which is slightly tilted or sagging towards one side. This creates an awkward shape and appearance that has the ability to make you stop and think about what you ar looking at. There is a window into the cube by which a film can be viewed. The film is of two kissing men.

Near the memorial there is signage which details the persecution of homosexual men and women during the previous century. This helps provide important context related to the memorial...

While I was happy to see that there is some recognition of LGBT people killed during the Nazi era. I was disappointed to notice how far and how hidden it was from the other monuments. It felt as if LGBT issues are still an embarrassment to hide away from sight. Also noticed a comment from another reviewer saying this was not for children.. Which seems ridiculous as the video was only of two men kissing and no different than what straight couples do in the streets regularly and is seen by children without anyone to bothered anymore. I give full marks to the monument but down a star due to...