For most of the medieval and early modern times death was the penalty for homosexual acts. Due to the impact of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, many German States, starting with Bavaria , decriminalized homosexuality. Prussia was the exception. It heightened legislation concerning this issue which eventually was carried over in 1871 on to the Reich as a whole. (Burleigh and Wipperman, 184). Homosexuals were never recognized as "victims" of Nazi persecution in either of the post-war German states. This is despite the fact that while the concentration camps they were branded with the pink triangle, signifying sexual preferenc