Rudolf Brazda Concentration camp prisoner Date of Birth: 26.06.1913 Country: Czech

1. Rudolf Brazda: A Survivor of Buchenwald Concentration Camp
2. A Life of Love and Persecution
3. A Witness to Atrocities
4. Remembering the Past

Rudolf Brazda: A Survivor of Buchenwald Concentration Camp

Rudolf Brazda was a prisoner of the Buchenwald concentration camp and a victim of the persecution of sexual minorities during the Nazi era. He was marked with a distinctive pink triangle as a symbol of his so-called "crime". Brazda was born in Meuselwitz, in what is now modern-day Germany, and was the youngest of eight children. He initially worked as an assistant in a local clothing store but later had to retrain as a roofer. In the early 1930s, just before the Nazis came to power, Rudolf stopped hiding his sexual orientation, as homosexuality was relatively tolerated in the country at that time.

A Life of Love and Persecution

In the summer of 1933, Brazda met Werner, and they rented a house together from a local Jehovah's Witness who was aware of their nonconformity. For almost two years, Rudolf and Werner lived quite happily, despite the growing influence of the Nazis. They traveled around the country and socialized with other gay men and lesbians.

In 1936, Werner was conscripted into the army, and Brazda found work in a hotel in Leipzig. As the situation in the country worsened, with the Nazis increasingly targeting homosexuals, Rudolf was arrested in 1937. He was sentenced to six months in prison for violating the anti-homosexuality laws. Sadly, he lost track of Werner during the chaos that followed, and it is presumed that Werner died in 1940 while fighting against the British.

After serving his sentence, Brazda was expelled from Germany. Although he technically held Czechoslovak citizenship, he had a criminal record and did not speak Czech. He lived for a time in the Sudetenland but was soon under German control when it became a German province. In April 1941, Rudolf was arrested again and brought before a court. In June 1942, towards the end of his second sentence, he was sentenced to be sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Brazda arrived at Buchenwald on August 8, 1942, and only managed to gain his freedom on April 11, 1945.

A Witness to Atrocities

While in the camp, Brazda worked as a roofer and witnessed the brutal treatment of not only homosexuals but also other prisoners. He believed that he, too, would meet a similar fate. As the Germans began to evacuate the camp in early April 1945, a friend helped Rudolf hide, saving him from being sent with the other prisoners. The conditions for the evacuees were harsh, and those who couldn't withstand them were shot on the spot.

After his liberation, Brazda settled in Alsace, in southern France, and formed relationships with local gay men. In the early 1950s, he met someone named Edi, and their passionate romance lasted nearly half a century. Their love story ended only with Edi's death in 2003.

Remembering the Past

Even in his old age, Rudolf Brazda closely followed the news. In 2008, he learned about the opening of a memorial dedicated to the LGBTQ+ victims of Nazi persecution. Although he couldn't attend the opening ceremony, he did attend subsequent events. Journalists were particularly intrigued by the fact that Brazda was the last surviving person who had worn the pink triangle. Rudolf Brazda passed away on August 3, 2011, at the age of 98, in a hospital in Bantzenheim, northeastern France. The news of his death was first announced by yagg.com, a popular French LGBTQ+ website.