He was one of 230 men arrested in Lübeck on suspicion of being homosexual in 1937 under paragraph 175. He was imprisoned in a cell with no heating very little food and no toilet facilities, also tortured for 10 months until he finally named other homosexuals. He had to wear a badge with the letter A for Arschficker (“Arse-Fucker”). He was re-arrested in 1938 tortured forcibly castrated before being re-release in 1940. In 1943 he was re-arrested again and was sent to Neuengamme concentration camp until the end of the war.