Karel Brady-Metzl

Karel Brady-Metzl ( May 28, 1898 in Třeboň - July 14, 1942 in Auschwitz ) was a Czech businessman and victim of the Holocaust . He was the father of Hana Brady (1931–1944), whose fate was dealt with in the novel Hana's suitcase and in a film.

Life

Stumbling block for Karel Brady-Metzl

Karel Brady-Metzl was the son of Emilie and Ludwig Metzl. He had six siblings. Since his uncle and aunt, Adolf and Karoline Brady, remained childless, they adopted two children from Karoline's sister Emilie, Karel and Hedvika. Karel played in amateur theater, was a member of the Sokol gymnastics association , the volunteer fire brigade, active soccer player and “commentator” on the track at ski races. He also supported the boy scouts financially and materially and a children's home. In 1927 he married Markéta Dubská, who was ten years his junior. The couple had a retail store in Nové Město na Moravě and lived above the store. The family were the only Jewish people in town. They built the city's first petrol station in front of their business, were one of the first businesses to sell coal in retail outlets and were the first family to have a telephone: their phone number was originally 1, it was later changed to 11 so that Gendarmerie could be reached at number 1. The couple also supported artists such as avant-garde sculptor Vincenc Makovsky , a former classmate of Karel's.

Karel and Markéta Brady-Metzl had two children - Jiří (born February 9, 1928) and Hana (born May 16, 1931). In 1939 Karel was denounced, arrested by the Gestapo and sent to prison in Jihlava for two months . The exclusion laws that came into force in 1939 hit this family, as the only Jews in town, particularly hard - especially the two children who were no longer allowed to attend school. In March 1941, Markéta was arrested and deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp - her brother had fled to Belgium and sent her and her husband money. After the occupation of Belgium, helpers were arrested. Her brother had a list of donors and recipients, on which her name appeared. On November 23, 1941, Karel was arrested too and was again taken to the Jihlava prison. A few hours after his arrest, Karel's brother-in-law, Ludvík, took the children to his home. He was a Catholic and had married Karel's sister. The children were to go into hiding with him and his family in the country. This did not succeed; according to a Nazi order, Hana and Jiří had to be taken to the Třebíč deportation center on May 14, 1942 . Four days later the children were taken to the Theresienstadt ghetto . Meanwhile, Karel Brady-Metzl had to polish parquet floors while in prison. However, he enjoyed relative freedom in Jihlava prison and was allowed to go shopping himself, but did not dare to flee because he feared that his children would be held hostage. He was finally transferred to Brno first. From there he was transferred to Auschwitz on June 11, 1942 , where he was murdered on July 14, 1942. His wife Markéta was murdered in Ravensbrück concentration camp on October 29, 1942.

His children were later also deported to Auschwitz. Jiří arrived in Auschwitz on September 28, 1944, Hana on October 23, 1944. Hana was gassed by SS men immediately after her arrival . Jiří, who was 16 when he arrived, survived the concentration camp by pretending to be 18 and therefore considered fit for work. On January 17, 1945, the evacuation from Auschwitz began and Jiří managed to escape. He survived the Holocaust.

Commemoration

2010 was in his hometown Třeboň in the Masarykovo nám. 96 / I Gunter Demnig laid a stumbling block for him.

literature

• Karen Levine: Hana's suitcase , ISBN 978-3-473-52308-5

Web links

• Yad Vashem , Database of Holocaust Victims
• Kameny zmizelých ( Memento from July 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Czech stumbling block project
• Jewish Museum Prague , biography of the Brady family (Czech)

• Short biography of Karel Brady. anassuitcase.ca; Official site for the book by Karen Levine

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entry: Brady-Metzl, Karl in: Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau (Hrsg.): Auschwitz death books . tape 2/3 : Directory of names AZ . De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 1995, ISBN 978-3-11-097409-6 , pp. 125 (reprinted 2012).