The first time it was reported that our friends were being butchered there was a cry of horror. Then a hundred were butchered. But when a thousand were butchered and there was no end to the butchery, a blanket of silence spread. When evil-doing comes like falling rain, nobody calls out "stop!" When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When sufferings become unendurable the cries are no longer heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer.

He did short sketches in which he played refractory employees orchestral musicians or photographers who hated their employers and made them look ridiculous. At school in Augsburg he met Caspar Neher with whom he formed a lifelong creative partnership Neher designing many of the sets for Brecht's dramas and helping to forge the distinctive visual iconography of their epic theatre. In 1930 Brecht married Weigel; their daughter Barbara Brecht was born soon after the wedding.

A theatre practitioner of the 20th century Brecht made contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production the latter through the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble – the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht and his wife long-time collaborator and actress Helene Weigel.