Bent : Triangle

Please correct me If I am wrong, but to my understanding Horst wears the triangle upside down. The pink triangle was reclaimed in the 1970's from its use in Nazi concentration camps and inverted to show defiance. The current form of the pink triangle is how it appears in the film, therefore it is worn inaccurately in the movie. This may of course have been intentional.

I think you are right, the triangle was turned down to show defiance, although I think it is either naive or ignorant to use the nazi symbolic dezignation as a symbol of pride (I don't think you would ever see a Jewish person wearing a yellow star as a mark of honor), the rainbow is cool, no one ever had to wear a rainbow (that I am aware of).

I think that it was probably just an oversight by the filmmakers, but I don't know for sure.

No, the move is correct

"The prisoners' uniforms were marked with a colored cloth triangle to denote their offense or origin. Their prison number was sewn below the triangle. The triangle was about five centimeters across and placed point down, and was stitched onto the left breast of the jacket and coat and the outside trouser leg. The colors of the triangles were as follows: yellow for Jews, black for anti-socials, red for politicals, purple for Jehovah's Witnesses, green for criminals, blue for emigrants, pink for homosexuals, brown for Gypsies."
Heger, Heinz. The Men with the Pink Triangle. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 1980.

I have watched many Holocaust films and read many Holocaust books (many of which have upside down triangles on the cover and throughout) lately because I am taking a class on the Holocaust and film so I can confidently say that the movie did their research and got it right by placing the triangle upside down.

sweet..very nice explanation. Today, it is a symbol of Gay Pride, and is still worn point down but some will wear it point up, the correct way is to wear it point down..

Actually, the pink triangle didn't come about officially until later in the war. Originally, homosexuals had "175" or "HOMO" painted on the back of their jackets, and other inmates in the camps were encouraged to act with hostility towards them. They were the lowest in the food chain, below criminals.

"Originally, homosexuals had "175" or "HOMO" painted on the back of their jackets, and other inmates in the camps were encouraged to act with hostility towards them. They were the lowest in the food chain, below criminals."


Just like today

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Uh. Not really.

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Maybe you're right. When I came out to my family, my mother was consoled by the fact that at least I wasn't a criminal, lol! Ironically enough I was a criminal everytime I had sex with my boyfriend

Black for anti-socials? Are you kidding me?

"I've made a huge mistake"

Well, anti-socials were anyone who threatened the Nazi order, lesbians had to wear the black triangle.
Although 6 million Jews died, and G-d knows we should never EVER forget that, I think people see "and 50,000 homosexuals died" and think "Oh, well, only 50,000", but gays had such a worser time of it. I remember reading an account by one homosexual survivor about how they were treated worse than even the Jews; when everyone else used shovels to move snow, they had to use their hands. It sounds horrific.

The thing that people forget is that they used to combine the symbols is somone fitted two categories: woe betide the Queer Jew

to freakstorm, who thinks it ignorant or naive to use the triangle as opposition - did you ever hear "Yankee Doodle Dandy"? One of the most effective ways to disarm the 'enemy' is to dismantle their bigotry against something by co-opting it.

Someone early stated that the pink triangle prisoners were at the bottom of the pecking order, even below criminals. Actually the criminals (green triangle) were at the top of the pecking order serving as a kapo who had power over other prisoners and did a lot of the dirty work for the nazis of keeping the rest of the prisoners in line and receiving extra food, cigarettes, alcohol and other privileges in return.

"I don't think you would ever see a Jewish person wearing a yellow star as a mark of honor."

freakstorm - Jewish people have used the Star of David as a symbol of Jewish identity and honor since the middle ages. I still wear a Star of David necklace. It didn't originate with the holocaust like the triangles. But, yes, you would see a Jewish person wearing a star as a mark of honor. Maybe not the cloth kind, but still