Bruno Balz

From the time he wrote the music for the first German sound film until his retirement in the 1960s, Balz was responsible for the lyrics to over a thousand popular hits.

Much of his output was in conjunction with the composer Michael Jary; their songs helped make the singer Zarah Leander popular.

He was released from imprisonment by the intervention of Jary, who persuaded officials that he could produce songs that would aid the war effort.

His film songs for Leander, a star of UFA musicals which were later criticised as having helped public and armed forces morale during the war, became anthems for homosexuals imprisoned in concentration camps.

[3] The fall of the Nazi regime did not spell an end to the persecution of Balz, as Paragraph 175, the law against homosexuality, continued in force.