Heinz "Saddie" Dörmer's appearance in the documentary Paragraph 175 had a profound effect on me. To me, he embodies the broken life of gay victims of the Holocaust, a reminder of both the atrocities committed and the lingering injustice they endured.
He spent ten years in concentration camps and prisons. Many pink triangle prisoners were not freed when the Allies liberated the camps; instead, they were forced to complete their Nazi-imposed sentences in prison after the war.
Despite everything, Heinz bravely spoke out. In 1982, he applied for reparations, but was denied, like so many others. His haunting testimony in Paragraph 175 is a stark reminder of where we have been and where we could return if we do not continue to fight for Queer rights and representation.
I have returned to his face many times in my work. It serves as a painful yet necessary reflection of history’s darkest chapters.