Pierre Seel

French gay Holocaust survivor and the only French person to have testified openly about his experience of deportation during World War II due to his homosexuality.

On 3 May 1941, Seel was arrested in Mulhouse after police added his name to a list of known (or presumed) homosexuals. He was tortured and forcibly sodomized with a piece of wood. He was then sent to the city jail before being transferred on 13 May 1941 to the Schirmeck-Vorbrück camp, about 30 km west of Strasbourg. During his stay in the camp he also witnessed the execution of his eighteen-year-old lover, Jo, by means of assault from a pack of dogs.

On 6 November 1941, after months of starvation, ill treatment and forced labour, Seel was set free with no explanation and made a German citizen. He was sworn to secrecy about his experience by Karl Buck, the commander of the camp. He was made to report daily to the Gestapo offices.

During the rest of the war he was incorporated into the Wehrmacht and become one of the "malgré-nous" (despite ourselves), young men born in Alsace or Lorraine enrolled against their will into the German army who had to fight with their enemies against the people they supported.

After the end of the war, the Charles de Gaulle government cleaned up the French Penal Code, principally getting rid of the anti-Semitic laws. The article against homosexual relations between adults and minors, however, remained in force until 1982. The homophobic atmosphere of the 1940s-1960s meant that for the returning victims, the possibility of telling their story was thwarted by the fear of further stigmatisation.

In April 1982, in response to anti-gay declarations and actions by Léon Elchinger, the Bishop of Strasbourg, Seel spoke publicly and wrote an open letter to the Bishop on 18 November. The letter was published in Gai Pied Hebdo No 47 on 11 December. At the same time, he started the official process of getting compensation from the state.