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1,000 to 2,500 Germans emigrate to Paraguay in South America every year. Olga Brodkorb, who lived in Hofbieber for a long time, is one of them. Now the 56-year-old has become the victim of a robbery-murder, as her daughter reports.
Planchada/Hofbieber – Not much is yet known about the drama that took place on Sunday (April 26) in the small town of Planchada, 200 kilometers east of the capital Asunción. According to local media reports, a man who Olga Brodkorb probably knew called her around 3 a.m. and lured her out of the house under the pretext that he needed gas.
When the 56-year-old returned to her small white bungalow, she was surprised by several burglars. The perpetrators are said to have killed her immediately with a shot in the head. They then stole the woman's white Chevrolet in order to escape, it is said. But because it had rained heavily beforehand, the men left the car behind and set it on fire – presumably to cover up their tracks. It is still unclear what the perpetrators were looking for and whether they took prey.
Robbery-murder victim: emigrant from the Rhön region shot dead in Paraguay
Olga Brodkorb's daughter Daniela sits visibly distraught in the editorial team Fulda newspaper. The 27-year-old found out about the crime from an acquaintance from Paraguay. “He called and said he heard my mother had been shot.” Until then, Daniela Brodkorb and her family hoped that it was just rumors. But the acquaintance drove to the mother's house and learned the sad news first hand. “Since then I've called my mother often. I still can't believe she's dead,” says the daughter. “I feel empty inside.”
Daniela Brodkorb is certain: “My mother paid for her good heart with her life.” The daughter has now contacted the local authorities herself and knows that one of the suspects is a former employee of her mother. “She fired him because he was getting paid for work he didn’t do.” He also stole items such as cash and car batteries. “He often came to my mother and asked to give him work again.” The motives for the murder were “revenge and greed”. She suspects that the perpetrators stole cash.
Daniela Brodkorb says she knows from the police in Paraguay that the former employee and another man have been arrested. “But they are at large again – the police say because they want to watch them.” That is incomprehensible to her. That's why she filed a complaint in Germany on Tuesday (April 28). “I hope for support.” She refers to the case of the German Bernard von Bredow and his daughter, who was killed in Paraguay in 2021 – at that time a German official was involved in the investigation.
Suspect released again – daughter files a complaint in Germany
Daniela Brodkorb is now looking for ways to deal with her grief. “My mother always said: 'If something were to happen to me, keep going.'” Daniela Brodkorb and her family decided to bury her mother “in their paradise”. “We are setting up a memorial for her at our home.”
The gap that the perpetrators so abruptly and cold-bloodedly tore into the family's life is huge. “I was in Paraguay in October last year and visited my mother. I never thought that would be the last time I hugged my mother,” says the mother of two. Tears build up in her eyes.
The victim is no stranger to the Fulda district: Olga Brodkorb worked as a waitress in the Lothar Mai Haus in Hofbieber-Steens for 17 years. More than 30 years ago she moved from the Czech Republic to Germany and built a new life for herself in the Rhön.
German fulfilled dream in South America and was murdered
The plans to emigrate to Paraguay came about ten years ago. “My parents got the idea from an acquaintance who emigrated there several years ago,” says Daniela Brodkorb, the daughter of the 56-year-old who was killed. “Since then, my parents have been to Paraguay again and again, vacationing there, dealing with the culture and people and looking for real estate. My father wanted to move in with her soon, the flight was already booked.” She was fascinated by the South American country between Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. Her daughter makes it clear: “Paraguay is considered a country where swearers and aluminum hat wearers emigrate. That's not my mother.”
Olga Brodkorb loved peace and nature. She found this in the small town of Planchada. “The nearest larger city is about an hour’s drive away.” Brodkorb fulfilled her dream there – she kept animals: cattle, ducks, rabbits and chickens. Selling the meat secured their existence.
“She lived modestly in her paradise and just wanted to be happy,” says the daughter, adding: “She was a happy person. People liked her open and cheeky nature.” She was also helpful. “She bought medicine for people who had little money. My mother bought baby clothes for the child of the man who allegedly killed her.”
Olga Brodkorb was the mother of three children and grandmother of nine grandchildren.
Tragic cases occur again and again – most recently the verdict against a driver who ran a stop sign and killed a cyclist.
