Gerhard "Gad" Beck

Gad Beck has been an inspiration to me since I began this project. His life and story embody extraordinary heroism. When I first started formulating this work, he had only recently passed away, and I deeply wished I had been able to meet or speak with him.

In every interview I’ve watched and in reading his book, his directness, willfulness, and sly smile stood out, a man who appreciated the joys of life no matter what hand he was dealt.

As a teenager, Gad worked in the Jewish underground resistance in Berlin, risking his life to keep Jews hidden, deliver supplies, and distribute fake identity documents. During this time, he met his first true love, Manfred Lewin.

When Manfred and his family were taken by the Nazis, Gad acted heroically. Disguised in a ill-fitting borrowed Hitler Youth uniform, he marched into the camp and demanded Manfred’s release from the commander, fabricating a story about how Manfred was needed by a business he used to work at. Through sheer will and cleverness, he succeeded and took Manfred out with him. Gad had set up a safe house with money and supplies for Manfred to run to. Sadly Manfred returned to his family in the camp, worried about the health of his ailing relatives. They were all murdered at a concentration camp.

Despite this heartbreak, Gad never stopped fighting. He remained a leader in the underground resistance, constantly on the move. Even when captured and interrogated in the final month of the war, he survived. Gad used his good looks and flirty ways to secure information, shelter, food, and supplies from men. 

Gad never hid who he was. He came out at age 12 and lived proudly as a gay man, refusing to let the world silence him. He was unquestionbably, always true to his queer identity even in the darkest moments of the war. The little things in life always mattered to him; even making love in a subway car in Berlin with his boyfriend while bombs fell around them was something he remembered fondly rather than with melancholy. His bravery and resilience will never be forgotten.