Perry Broad


Perry Broad, also Pery Broad was a Brazilian non-commissioned officer SS-Unterscharführer, active at Auschwitz from April 1942 to 1945 as a translator and stenographer at the Auschwitz headquarters.

Early life and World War II

Perry Broad, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1921, came to Berlin with his mother at the age of five. He studied at the Technical University of Berlin and joined the Waffen-SS in 1941 as a foreigner. Detached on duty to Auschwitz, he asked for transposition to the "Politische Abteilung" where he conducted interrogations. 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.

Post-war

Released in 1947, he again was arrested 12 years later, freed in December 1960 after the payment of DM 50,000 as surety and again arrested in November 1964 as a defendant in the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials. He was found guilty of supervising selections at Birkenau, as well as of participating in interrogations, tortures and executions, and was sentenced to four years in prison in 1965.