Pery Broad, also Perry Broad, (25 April 1921 – 28 November 1993) was a Brazilian-born German

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

in the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

'' (SS) active at

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

from April 1942 to 1945. He reached the rank of ''SS- Unterscharführer'' while working as a translator and stenographer in the camp headquarters. As a prisoner after the war, he wrote a historically valuable account of the camp's operation, dubbed the ''Broad Report''. Broad, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1921, came to Berlin with his mother at the age of five. He studied at the

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

in Charlottenburg (now

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

) and joined the ''

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

'' in 1941 as a foreigner. Detached on duty to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

, he requested a transfer to the '' Politische Abteilung'', where he conducted interrogations. According to Simon Laks, head of the prisoner's orchestra, Broad was a music lover who attended most of its performances, an exception being while choosing female prisoners for the camp brothel. He remained in Auschwitz until the dissolution of the camp in early 1945, and was captured by British armed forces. While a prisoner of war, he voluntarily wrote a report about his experiences in Auschwitz. Released in 1947, he again was arrested 12 years later, then freed in December 1960 after the payment of DM 50,000 as surety. He was arrested again in November 1964 as a defendant in the

Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials The Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, known in German language, German as , was a series of three trials running from 20 December 1963 to 14 June 1968, charging 25 defendants under German criminal law for their roles in the Holocaust as mid- to lower- ...

, where he was found guilty of supervising selections at

Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

, as well as participating in interrogations, tortures and executions. For these crimes, he was sentenced to four years in prison in 1965. In 1979 in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

, Broad was among those interviewed and secretly filmed by Claude Lanzmann for ''

Shoah The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

'', his Holocaust documentary released in 1985.

Published English translations of the ''Broad Report''

* ** republished in ** reprinted in the United States by Howard Fertig, *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broad, Pery 1921 births 1993 deaths SS non-commissioned officers Gestapo personnel Romani genocide perpetrators Waffen-SS personnel 20th-century Brazilian translators German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom People convicted in the Nazi concentration camp trials Foreign nationals imprisoned in Germany Brazilian emigrants to Germany People convicted in the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials