The Nazi Era: Episode 5: Pierre Seel

The Nazi Era: Episode 5: Pierre Seel

Author: Eric Marcus February 20, 2025 Duration: 27:07
In 1939, French teenager Pierre Seel had his watch stolen at a cruising spot in his hometown. When he reported the crime to the police, he was placed on a list of suspected homosexuals. Two years later, with the city now under Nazi occupation, he was summoned by the Gestapo. A note about language: the person featured in this episode refers to Roma people by the now offensive term gypsies. To stay true to the original French testimony, we’ve not updated that term in our voiceover translation.  Visit our episode webpage for additional resources, archival photos, and a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. ——— -The first interview with Pierre Seel, conducted in 1993 by Daniel Mermet, is provided courtesy of Là-bas si j'y suis. -The second interview with Pierre Seel, conducted by Laurent Aknin, is from the archive of the USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, © 1996 USC Shoah Foundation. For more information about the USC Shoah Foundation, go here. ———

Eric Marcus brings voices out of the past and into the present with Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive. This isn't a dry historical lecture; it's a collection of intimate conversations, built from rare archival recordings that many thought were lost. Each episode feels like sitting down with someone who was there, offering a personal window into the pivotal moments and everyday struggles that have shaped the LGBTQ community. You'll hear from towering figures of the movement alongside people whose names you might not know-ordinary individuals who displayed extraordinary courage. These are the witnesses, the champions, and the quiet heroes whose stories form the bedrock of this history. Listening, you get the raw, unvarnished emotion in their own words, from the fear and defiance of early activism to the hard-won joys of living authentically. The podcast moves across decades, connecting personal diaries, long-shelved interviews, and firsthand accounts into a powerful, human tapestry. It’s about more than just events; it’s about the lived experience, the culture, and the personal health-both mental and physical-of a community fighting for its place. Through these oral histories, the archive becomes a living, breathing conversation, ensuring that this vital history is remembered not as abstract facts, but as the deeply personal stories it truly is.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive
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The Nazi Era: Episode 12: Epilogue [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:15
In this final episode, we reflect on why there are so few testimonies from LGBTQ people who survived the Nazi era and on the responsibility we have to honor the testimonies we do have in the face of the unfolding dark ti…