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Man Sent to Nazi Camp for Being Gay Dead at 98

Rudolf Brazda was last known survivor of persecution over homosexuality

By the Associated Press

Posted Aug 4, 2011 1:00 PM CDT

(AP) – Rudolf Brazda, believed to be the last surviving person who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp because of his homosexuality, died yesterday at age 98. Brazda was sent to Buchenwald in 1942 and held there until its liberation by US forces in 1945. Nazi Germany declared homosexuality an aberration that threatened the German race, and convicted some 50,000 homosexuals as criminals. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 gay men were deported to concentration camps, where few survived.

Brazda grew up in the eastern German town of Meuselwitz and repeatedly ran into trouble with Nazi authorities over his homosexuality before being sent to Buchenwald. He lived in the Alsace region of eastern France after World War II. Earlier this year, Brazda was named a knight in the country's Legion of Honor.

In this 2008 file photo, Rudolf Brazda stands in front of a monument for homosexuals hounded by Nazis in Berlin, Germany. (Ronny Hartmann)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 24 comments

plain_speaking

Aug 5, 2011 7:32 AM CDT

Such a long life for Mr. Brazda...what do they say...living well is the best revenge..I hope the misery he suffered served to enhance the joy through contrast....Bon Voyage

Cat-Lover

Aug 5, 2011 7:30 AM CDT

What the Nazi's did was nothing compared to what the religious right wants to do in the United States when they turn this country into an Iran-styled theocracy of self-sufficient armed camps.

freethemall

Aug 4, 2011 5:58 PM CDT

Now that's strange! According to Glen Beck and those of his ilk, it is the liberal Democrats who most resemble the Nazis. But it is also the liberal Democrats who stand for equal rights for homosexuals.

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Man Sent to Nazi Camp for Being Gay Dead at 98

Rudolf Brazda was last known survivor of persecution over homosexuality

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

gay rights • obituary • homosexuality • concentration camp • Nazi • Nazi Germany

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