Pierre Seel passed away due to cancer on November 15 in his home in Toulouse, France. He was 82. If you were unaware of this, or of Mssr. Seel entirely, it is not entirely surprising. Pierre Seel kept to himself for most of his life, only grabbing a small amount of the limelight when he came out in 1982 as a survivor of the German persecution of homosexuals during World War II. At the age of seventeen, Pierre fell in love with an eighteen year old boy named "Jo". Very soon afterward, the Germans took France and Seel was ordered by the Gestapo to report to the local police station. He did so, largely to protect his family from possible reprisals. When he arrived at the station, he found that the local police had put him on a list of suspected homosexuals, and because of this he and a number of other young men were arrested and savagely beaten. The details of the torture, degradation, and depravity that was inflicted on these boys are too graphic and disturbing to recount here. Information is widely available online for the morbidly curious. Pierre was sent to a concentration camp in Schirmeck. If you have read about conditions in the camps then little of his story will be new to you. A few months after he was arrested, the loudspeakers summoned all inmates to a roll-call. At this gathering, they were forced to watch the execution of a fellow homosexual. To his horror, Seel saw that the man who was brought before them was his love, Jo. Jo was stripped naked and the guards ordered their German Shepherds to tear him to pieces in front of the assembled camp. Pierre's horror was so great that he never even heard what crime Jo had been accused of. In later years, Pierre wrote: "Since then I sometimes wake up howling in the middle of the night. For fifty years now that scene has kept ceaselessly passing and re-passing though my mind. I will never forget the barbaric murder of my love - before my very eyes, before our eyes, for there were hundreds of witnesses. Why are they still silent today? Have they all died? It's true that we were among the youngest in the camp and that a lot of time has gone by. But I suspect that some people prefer to remain silent forever, afraid to stir up memories, like that one among so many others. "As for myself, after decades of silence I have made up my mind to speak, to accuse, to bear witness." (from Pierre Seel: I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual: A Memoir of Nazi Terror, pp. 42-44) After his release from the camp, Pierre refused to talk about his ordeal for many years. He denied being a homosexual, even marrying and having children. However, in 1982 the Bishop of Strasbourg began very publicly railing against homosexuals, and Seel felt that he could no longer remain silent. Seel wrote an autobiography that detailed his horrific treatment at the hands of the Nazis and began to position himself as a representative of all the homosexuals who had suffered as he had but had been shamed into silence following the war. He was often interviewed on television and radio, and even appeared in a documentary film called "Paragraph 175" after the section of the German penal code which forbade homosexuality. Though Seel and his wife had already separated in 1978, she and his children stood by him throughout this often painful process. Seel never became a household name in this, or any, country. He was, at best, a peculiarity in the news. His story was taken seriously, but it was not topical or popular enough to make a large impact on the audiences who listened to his words. However, he began a crucial process of recognition for a silent multitude, and forced many people to confront the results of classifying a large segment of humanity as "deviant" or "sick." In today's political climate, when otherwise intelligent people are trying to spread the Naziesque idea that love between homosexuals is somehow less deserving of recognition than love between "normal" heterosexuals, Pierre Seel's message is one that is particularly important. No, it is not particularly surprising if you had not heard of Mssr. Seel before you read this blog. There is no reason to feel ashamed if his name was new to you. Just do me a favor. Now that you have heard of him, try not to forget. Thanks, -Marc "When I am overcome with rage, I take my hat and coat and defiantly walk the streets. I picture myself strolling through cemeteries that do not exist, the resting places of all the dead who barely ruffle the consciences of the living. And I feel like screaming. When will I succeed in having the overall Nazi deportation of homosexuals recognized? In my apartment house and throughout my neighborhood, many people greet me, politely listen to my news, and inquire about the progress of my case. I'm grateful to them and appreciate their support. But what can I say to them? "When I have finished wandering, I go home. Then I light the candle that burns permanently in my kitchen when I am alone. That frail flame is my memory of Jo." (Ibid., p. 140)
You scored as Capt. Mal Reynolds. The Captain. You are the captain of the ship, so the crew are your responsibility. You just want to do the job, get paid and keep flying. Why is that always so hard?
Log in to comment