In 1730, the people of the Netherlands (then sometimes called the Dutch Republic) lost their damn minds, killing dozens of gay men. Nothing like it had yet happened in Europe, and nothing like it would happen again until the Nazis.

The Utrecht sodomy trials (Utrechtse sodomieprocessen) were a large-scale persecution of homosexuals that took place in the Dutch Republic, starting in the city of Utrecht in 1730. Over the following year, the persecution of "sodomites" spread to the rest of the nation, leading to some 250 to 300 trials, often ending in a death sentence. Read more via Daily Xtra