Elliott and Robin Broidy (above) purchased this architectural drawing of the crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Jews were killed and cremated as part of Nazi Germany’s ’final solution.’ This is one of only two known original drawings produced of the building. Photos provided
By Janis Fontaine
In November, Elliott and Robin Broidy of Boca Raton paid $1.5 million for an old drawing. Not a piece of fine art, but an architectural sketch drawn on cheap newsprint dated Oct. 24, 1941.
The landscape-oriented drawing, about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide, is sepia-toned with age and protected by plastic; it depicts a house of horrors: the crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where millions of Jews were systematically exterminated.
What the Broidys now own is one of only two known original drawings produced in preparation for meetings where the logistics of killing Jews on an industrial scale would be discussed.
“The drawing we have is clear proof of genocidal intent,” Elliott Broidy wrote in a Nov. 21 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. “To behold it is to confront the deliberate design of evil. My most sincere wish is for this whiteprint to be memorialized as part of an irrefutable body of evidence that negates Holocaust denial and helps to forever silence malevolent revisionists while also educating new generations about the lessons of the Holocaust.”
Robin Broidy recalled the first time she stood before the drawing: “It’s a horrible feeling. You’re standing so close to evil. These people created this document that you’re holding in your hands with the purpose of murdering, exterminating, terminating mass numbers of people. And you’re just, you’re sad.”
The document itself is nothing special: “The paper isn’t premium,” Robin Broidy said. In wartime paper is expensive. “They were doing as much as possible on very cheap paper, so all the blueprints are on low-quality paper.”
The significance of the document lies in the date. Drawn by SS architect Walter Dejaco under the authority of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, it’s the snapshot of the moment when the men who planned the execution of millions of Jews actually put pen to paper and drew up the plan for the place the extermination would happen. The whiteprint is stark and irrefutable proof that the Shoah, the Hebrew word for the Holocaust, was conceived months before the announcement of the “final solution” in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference.
The Broidys purchased the artifact from Rabbi David Baron of Temple of the Arts Synagogue in Beverly Hills, who had received it from a friend of a congregant who had bought it at a Nazi memorabilia auction in Germany. Neither the buyer nor seller was aware of its historical significance. According to journalist Benjamin Raziel of Forbes, the Nazis understood the power of documentation and they tried to destroy as many records as possible as the Allies approached, so finding artifacts of this import is rare.
Professor Robert Jan van Pelt, the foremost expert on Auschwitz architecture, authenticated the document, but when asked to place a value on it, Robin Broidy said, “He couldn’t. He said, ‘I can’t value it. It’s priceless.’”
In an act of remembrance and reverence, the Broidys agreed to pay $1.5 million to the Temple of the Arts for the drawing. The money would be earmarked for Baron to use to create a global early-childhood curriculum promoting empathy and altruism. The rabbi’s curriculum aims to reach children when they are young, long before extremist ideologies can take root.
“He has done research that indicates that children’s values are formed between zero to 5,” Robin said. “Therefore, if you can teach children altruism, empathy and listening to another person’s point of view then, they will be less likely to become an extremist and less likely to create hateful attitudes.”
That you become what you are taught isn’t a new idea, but Robin said, “Education is always the key. Education is the key to succeeding in life and to being a good person, getting your values straight.”
It’s also quite simple. Robin likes to tell the classic story of Rabbi Hillel, who was asked, “Can you teach the entire Torah standing on one foot?” Robin says his answer is the answer: “Sure I can. Whatever is hateful to you, do not do unto others. That’s what Jews are taught from their infancy.”
Baron told the Broidys how much money he would need to start his program, and they settled on a number. “It was a number that had some meaning,” Elliott said, “because out of the 6 million that died, 1.5 million were children.”
It’s not the first time the Broidys have stepped up like this. They’ve been actively fighting antisemitism and extremism for years. Their support turned “hell-on-earth” into a symbol of truth and light when the Counter Extremism Project transformed Rudolf Höss’ residence at 88 Legionow St. into the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88.
The lovely private villa with its gardens and swimming pool where the Höss family lived in comfort and affluence — Höss’ wife called it “paradise” — sits just outside the fence of Auschwitz. The Höss children played under skies darkened by the smoke rising from the crematoria next door. While they hosted lavish parties with decadent food, Jews starved just feet away.
Today the property has a mezuzah on its front door. ARCHER at House 88’s goal and message are to turn a site of mass murder into a global center dedicated to exposing the machinery of hate and educating the world. Education must begin with children, but it has to continue through adulthood. Truly, no dog is too old to learn.
Today’s battle is against misinformation and how easily it spreads. Researchers and educators, policymakers and activists work to prevent the spread of online extremism, promote safety on digital platforms and counter misinformation and radicalization.
“What ARCHER is fighting against is the mainstreaming of extremism — the same propaganda, the same misinformation, the same lies that enabled the Germans and the SS to be able to do this without a second thought, without remorse, without thinking,” Robin Broidy said. “That is the message that we are trying to send to today’s young people. Anytime somebody tries to tell you that the other someone else is less than human, don’t believe them.”
The fight continues right in our own backyard.
In January, several news agencies, including WPEC CBS12, reported that Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies had investigated a swastika and racial slurs painted on the pavement outside Florida Cancer Specialists, a medical office plaza in West Boca. An employee discovered the white lettering which targeted both Jewish and Black communities. A discarded paintbrush and empty paint can were recovered nearby but no usable fingerprints were found. The damage was estimated at about $500, and the graffiti was quickly removed. But the implications will last.
Antisemitism is part of being a Jew, but Jews don’t fight hate with hate, Robin says: “You move on, and you try to show the world that you’re decent, wonderful human beings. You try to be positive, try to educate.”
To that end, the Broidys plan to display the whiteprint at institutions and organizations dedicated to combating antisemitism and preserving the memory of the Holocaust, before making a long-term gift of it to one institution. “Probably the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum,” Elliott said.
The Broidys relocated to Boca Raton from Los Angeles to be closer to their children, grandchildren and about three dozen of Robin’s relatives. Elliott, chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Holdings, is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist with a career spanning four decades. Robin is a former film producer and movie executive who with Elliott has been devoted to the fight against antisemitism — they call it “our major fight” — for decades.
Philanthropically, the Broidys support organizations dedicated to countering antisemitism, hate and extremism, including the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (CELL), the George Washington University Program on Extremism, and StandWithUs.
“This document is our way of changing the world a little bit, if possible, and that’s no small feat,” Elliott said.
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com.
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