Louis B. Brodsky

Brodsky resided at 169 Ocean Drive West in Stamford, Connecticut, in August 1952. On August 25, 1952, he was hit by a car outside the railroad station in Stamford. He sustained injuries to his head, left hand, and left leg but was reported to be in good condition.^[6]

Brodsky died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, on April 29, 1970, at the age of 86.^[2] He resided at 465 Park Avenue at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife, Rose, a daughter, Mrs. Janet G. Frumberg, and a grandson.

Brodsky dropped charges against Louise Wilson, 24, of 15 West 65th Street, Manhattan and Dorothy Sims, 22, of 450 West 150th Street, Manhattan. The two women were arrested by a policeman for indecency while performing before an audience of 101 men at a waiters' club at 80 Greenwich Street. Brodsky dismissed the women from court, saying "nudity is no longer considered indecent in uptown nightclubs and theaters." The women left the club without even a fan to cover them. Brodsky also released the 101 men who attended the performance who were detained at the police station overnight.^[7]

Brodsky's most noteworthy decision came in a case involving six men arrested during a riot which occurred on July 26, 1935. He freed five of the six individuals who tore the Nazi swastika from the SS Bremen on account that their actions were justified, as Brodsky compared the Nazi emblem to a "pirate flag".^[8] He refused an apology even though German newspapers and government officials demanded one.^[9][10] United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull sent to Nazi Germany a note of "regret" for Brodsky's decision.^[9]

Brodsky's verdict became a catalyst for the adoption of Nuremberg Laws, which made the Swastika Flag the national flag of Nazi Germany.^[10]