It Gets Better

October 17, 2010 5:12 PM

Rudolf Brazda, one of the last surviving victims of violent persecution of GLBT people by the Nazi regime, and Adam and other deaf gays and lesbians relate their own kinds of It Gets Better stories.
posted by Blazecock Pileon (9 comments total)

My grandparents (who were on the run from the Soviets) were temporarily living in a hamlet right outside of Buchenwald when it was liberated by the Americans. People from the town went to see the camp that they thought was just a military outpost. It makes me wonder if they ever clapped eyes on Rudolph. Thanks for posting, BP!
posted by ikahime at 7:33 PM on October 17, 2010

Apparently the Soviets recommissioned Buchenwald and some other concentration camps. It's very likely that some people were in the same camp twice: once as an enemy of the Nazi state; once as an enemy of the Soviets.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:53 PM on October 17, 2010

The whole "It Gets Better" campaign has been such a great, life-affirming success.

If only the internet were always this good.
posted by bardic at 12:07 AM on October 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

(spoiler) After the war he hooked up with a Yugoslavian refugee named Edouard, a man half his age (just 18 years old). They shared a life together until death did them part in 2003. Even now, at his advanced age, he seems to be a charming man with a good sense of humour. He seems happy.

After living in a Nazi concentration camp, he could have said "it gets better" about almost anything. It's ungrammatical, but perhaps it would be better to say of his life that it got good.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:22 AM on October 18, 2010

Thank you so much for posting this. I feel so lucky to have seen this man's testimony.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 5:51 PM on October 18, 2010

So moving. The most powerful film I've seen in a very long time.
posted by imperium at 9:32 AM on October 19, 2010

It's interesting (and refreshing) to be shut out of the videos by the Deaf students because they are not captioned and I cannot sign. If non-signers do not caption, Deaf people are similarly shut out, and it's so easy.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:50 AM on October 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

It's funny but I think the thing that most strongly said "It gets better" for me was that he had this long, stable, "normal" relationship from 1945 until 2003 and that's something you don't hear about too much growing up gay. I was waiting the whole video to hear what happened when he got out of the camp to know if he settled down and to hear that he did, and he had this strong partnership for the rest of his life, helps me realize it's possible and it happens. And, of course, that it gets better.

Being a young person in the LGBTQ community can sometimes feel like you have lots and lots of parents and big brothers out there who are eager to offer their support.
posted by alon at 5:08 PM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

alona: "to hear that he did, and he had this strong partnership for the rest of his life, helps me realize it's possible and it happens."

FWIW my father has been with his partner for 35 years now. My uncle has been with his partner for 32. My aunt and her partner have been together for 20 years. It's very possible and normal and visible in the world I grew up in.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:42 PM on October 23, 2010