It’s well documented that gay people were singled out alongside Jews to be persecuted and sent by the Nazis to concentration camps in the 1930s and ’40s.
Less well known – certainly to me – was the fact that the so-called Pink Lists of such people compiled by the Nazis continued to be used as the basis for prosecutions in 1950s Germany.
That’s the true story that forms the basis of Michael Trauffer’s one-man monodrama The Pink List, now playing at Brighton Fringe.
Trauffer creates a fictional character Karl, but what happened to him in the camps and in post-war times, is based on historical documents.
We first see Karl on trial for “impulsive and irrational behaviour” – for loving another man in 1957.
Trauffer moves easily between dialogue and a style of singing reminiscent of the 1930s Weimar cabaret of Kurt Weill. He tells us: ”not for the first time, or the last time, I have to fight this fight, after the horrors we have been through.”
To protect his lover he tells the judge the man was a stranger – confiding in the audience that it’s a lie.
Trauffer structures the story so that the ’50s court case is alternated with scenes form Karl’s youth and his time in the concentration camps.
Given the subject matter, this show is a hard watch, but Trauffer manages to bring out the first sparks of gay teenage love, the humanity of his fellow inmates, and the almost comic nature of his subsequent trial.
But he constantly reminds us of the irony of the continued persecution of gays, using Nazi information, and the fact that in terms of compensation, gays in camps were not thought to be “victims” because of their unacceptable behaviour.
Trauffer has huge stage presence, and his slightly unassuming, slightly self-deprecating attitude is overlaid with a strong defiance and bravery.
It’s a 5-star must watch at the Fringe. It runs at The Actors until 9 May.
Footnote: It was not until 2022 that the German government agreed to pay gay survivors compensation.
