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The Story of Robert Bachrach and Leo Hochner
Robert Bachrach is a buttoned-up doctor and dedicated researcher. Leo Hochner is a bon-vivant and art connoisseur who breeds small dogs. Both bachelors, they are part of a close network of friends from Vienna who are scattered across the globe after the Nazis take power in Austria. When Robert takes his life in New York after a humiliating arrest under New York’s anti-gay laws, he directs his final words to Leo, who was still trapped in Nazi-occupied Budapest. We follow the traces they left in the LBI archives to uncover an incredible story of heartbreak and heroism. For Robert, escaping the Nazis didn’t mean an end to discrimination, persecution, or fear.
Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York and Antica Productions.
It’s narrated by Mandy Patinkin. This episode was produced by Nadia Medhi.
Our executive Producers are Laura Regehr, Rami Tzabar, Stuart Coxe, and Bernie Blum. Our associate producer is Emily Morantz. Research and translation by Isabella Kempf. Voice acting by Isabella Kempf, Cyrus Lane, and Manuel Mairhofer. Sound design and audio mix by Philip Wilson. Theme music by Oliver Wickham.
Special thanks to Anna Lvovsky, Brian Ferree, Hannes Sulzenbacher, Clarissa Hochner, and Diana Bulman. Thanks also to Victor Sattler, who wrote about Robert and Leo as part of the LBI’s literary project, “Stolpertexte”, and whose essay lent our episode its title and opening scene.
This episode of Exile is made possible in part by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.
The Elizabeth F. Gay and Joseph Gay Family Collection in the Leo Baeck Institute Archives houses a handful of letters from Robert Bachrach and Leo Hochner, including Robert’s suicide note addressed to Loni Feitler. You can view them online.
To learn more about the anti-gay persecution of the Nazi regime, Richard Plant's The Pink Triangle is an overview of anti-gay policies and life in the camps for those persecuted.
To learn more about the laws affecting the work of Jewish doctors (including Robert Bachrach), you can explore the resources of LBI's 1938Projekt.
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