Austria's Complicity In Wwii Jewish Murders

The Holocaust in Austria was the systematic persecution, plunder and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945. Following the Anschluss, the Germans extended anti-Jewish legislation to Austria, and the Mauthausen concentration camp was established in the summer of 1938. During the November 1938 Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) pogroms, most of the synagogues in Vienna were destroyed, and Jewish businesses were vandalised and ransacked. Jews were forced to wear the yellow star and had to assume the first names Sara or Israel. Many shops and assets were expropriated (Aryanised), and those who could escape were left without a means to support themselves. Mass deportations of Viennese Jews started in October 1941, and by 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in the country. Approximately 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

The Holocaust in Austria

The Jewish Population in Austria

Before World War II, Jews played a significant role in Austria's economic and cultural life, with prominent figures in various fields, including the sciences, arts, business, and industry. In 1938, Austria had a Jewish population of about 192,000, with the overwhelming majority (176,034) living in Vienna, the country's capital and a significant centre of Jewish culture, Zionism, and education.

The Beginning of the Holocaust in Austria

The annexation of Austria was followed by an outburst of brutality and violence against the Jewish population. Jews were subjected to public humiliation, with women forced to scrub sidewalks and public toilets with their bare hands or toothbrushes, and Orthodox Jews being pulled by their beards. Jewish children were made to write "Jud" on their fathers' shop windows, and Jews at the Prater Stern were forced to lie down and eat grass.

Anti-Semitic Laws and Restrictions

The implementation of anti-Semitic laws and restrictions further targeted the Jewish community. Jews were no longer allowed on public transport, and Jewish students were excluded from universities. Jewish employees lost their jobs, and Jewish lawyers and physicians were prohibited from serving non-Jewish customers. The "Nuremberg Laws" expanded the definition of "racial Jews," resulting in the classification of 34,500 more people as Jews.

Kristallnacht Pogroms

In November 1938, during Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass"), anti-Jewish pogroms occurred throughout Austria. Synagogues were desecrated and destroyed, and Jewish-owned houses and shops were looted and vandalised. Thousands of Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps, such as Dachau and Buchenwald.

Emigration and Deportation

The violence and legal changes following the Anschluss made it clear to Austrian Jews that they needed to leave the country. Between 1938 and 1940, approximately 117,000 Jews fled Austria, with some finding refuge in countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, China, and Palestine. However, the outbreak of World War II and the German occupation of Central and Western European countries trapped some escapees in their countries of asylum.

The deportation of Austrian Jews to concentration camps and ghettos in Poland and other occupied territories began in October 1939. By 1942, almost all Austrian Jews had been forced to emigrate or had been deported to concentration camps. The Viennese Jewish community was officially liquidated on November 1, 1942, leaving approximately 7,000 Jews remaining in Austria.

Austrian Perpetrators and Collaborators

Austrians played a significant role in the planning and administration of the deportation and extermination of European Jews. Notable Austrian Nazis included Adolf Eichmann, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and Adolf Hitler himself. Austrians also constituted a significant percentage of the staff in death camps and the SS.

Holocaust Remembrance and Education

For many years, Austrian society promoted the First Victim narrative, portraying itself as a victim of Nazi Germany rather than an enthusiastic supporter. This hindered a critical examination of the country's role in the Holocaust. However, in the 1980s, a scandal involving the Nazi past of Kurt Waldheim, a candidate in the 1986 presidential elections, sparked a national debate and led to the establishment of the Historical Commission to investigate Nazi-era crimes.

Today, Austria has implemented various restitution and compensation programs to address its wartime responsibility. Holocaust education is now a part of school curricula, and there are remembrance projects and memorial sites throughout the country, including the former concentration camp Mauthausen in Upper Austria.

Austrian Jews forced to emigrate

Austrian Jews were forced to emigrate following the German annexation of Austria in 1938. This annexation, known as the Anschluss, was approved by 99% of the Austrian population in a manipulated plebiscite. The Nazis' anti-Jewish legislation was quickly extended to Austria, and the country became a place of extreme intimidation, violence, and expropriation of Jewish people and their property.

The Central Office of Jewish Emigration was established under the leadership of Adolf Eichmann, a native Austrian and SS 2nd Lieutenant. Eichmann set a target of 20,000 Jewish emigrations from April 1, 1938, to May 1, 1939. The emigration process was made extremely difficult for Jews, who were required to obtain numerous documents and pay large departure taxes. They were also forbidden from taking cash, stocks, valuable items, antiques, and most artwork with them.

Between 1938 and 1940, approximately 117,000 Jews fled Austria to other countries, some of which would later be occupied by Nazi Germany or were members of the Axis. By the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, as many as 126,445 Jews had left Austria. Emigration was banned in October 1941.

The majority of Austrian Jews who fled did so in 1938 and 1939, with 62,958 emigrating in the former year, and 54,451 in the latter. The first deportations of Austrian Jews began in October 1939, with about 1,500 Jews sent to Nisko, and 5,000 more deported to Poland between February and March 1941.

By the end of the war, approximately 65,000 Austrian Jews had been killed in the Holocaust, and only about 5,000 remained in the country.

Austrian Jews murdered in concentration camps

The Holocaust in Austria saw the systematic persecution, plunder, and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945. The Austrian Jewish population in 1938 was approximately 192,000, mostly in Vienna. By December 1939, the number had been reduced to 57,000, primarily due to emigration. Between 1938 and 1940, approximately 117,000 Jews fled Austria to countries across the world, including some that would later be occupied by Nazi Germany or were members of the Axis.

The Mauthausen concentration camp was established in the summer of 1938, after the German incorporation of Austria. Mauthausen became the main Nazi camp in Austria. It was designated a category III camp, indicating that it was a special penal camp with a harsh regime. Inmates in the punishment detail, for example, were forced to carry heavy stone blocks up 186 steps from the camp quarry. These steps became known as the "Stairway of Death". During the war, forced labour using concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production. In the summer and fall of 1944, subcamps under the administration of Mauthausen were established near armaments factories throughout northern Austria. The staff at Mauthausen administered more than 60 subcamps, including Gusen, Gunskirchen, Melk, Ebensee, and Amstetten. Thousands of prisoners were worked to death.

In addition to Mauthausen and its subcamps, other camps in Austria extended from Lochau in the west to Strasshof in the east. The November 1938 Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogroms were particularly brutal in Austria. Most of the synagogues in Vienna were destroyed, and Jewish businesses were vandalized and ransacked. Thousands of Jews were arrested and deported to the Dachau or Buchenwald concentration camps.

As a result of the Holocaust, between 60,000 and 65,000 Austrian Jews lost their lives. Fewer than 800 Jews survived until the liberation of Vienna by Soviet troops on April 13, 1945. By 1950, the Jewish community in Austria numbered 13,396 people.

Anti-Semitic violence and persecution

The persecution of Jews in Austria was immediate and violent after the German annexation of Austria, known as the Anschluss. German racial laws were enacted, and Jews were disenfranchised. All Jewish organisations and newspapers were closed, and their leaders and management imprisoned. Jews were banned from public transport, and many regular Austrians joined the Nazis in terrorising Jews. In acts of public humiliation, Jews were forced to wash sidewalks and toilets, sometimes with toothbrushes or their bare hands. In one instance, a group of Jews was rounded up on the Sabbath and forced to eat grass in a Viennese amusement park.

During Kristallnacht in November 1938, anti-Jewish pogroms took place throughout Germany and Austria. Synagogues were desecrated and destroyed, and Jewish homes and shops were looted. In Vienna, all synagogues except one were destroyed. During that night, at least 27 Jews were murdered in Austria, and many others were beaten.

The Nazis established a system to evict Jews and keep as much of their assets as possible. Jews were expelled from all cultural, economic, and social life in Austria. Jewish businesses were 'aryanised' and either sold for a fraction of their value or seized outright. Jewish citizens were humiliated as they were commanded to perform menial tasks, regardless of age, social position, or sex.

The Austrian government's restitution efforts after the war were widely acknowledged as insufficient to address the country's wartime responsibility.

Austrian denial and restitution

Austria's role in the Holocaust has been a topic of much discussion and debate. For many years, the country adhered to the "First Victim" narrative, which portrayed Austria as a victim of Nazi Germany and side-stepped its responsibility for the crimes of the Third Reich. This narrative was bolstered by the Allied Powers' Joint Four-Nation Declaration from the Moscow Conference of October 1943, which included a declaration on Austria's annexation by Germany.

However, the country's role in the Holocaust was brought to light during the 1986 presidential elections, when the Nazi past of Kurt Waldheim, who served as president from 1986 to 1992, sparked a national debate. In 1991, Chancellor Franz Vranitzky acknowledged the co-responsibility of Austrians for the suffering inflicted on the country's Jewish community, marking a shift in Austria's stance.

Austria has since taken steps to address its role in the Holocaust and provide restitution to victims. In 1995, the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism was established to administer individual "gesture payments" of 5,087 euros to those persecuted by the Nazi regime. The Austrian government has also set up various other funds, such as the General Settlement Fund and the Reconciliation Fund, to compensate victims for losses of assets, including real estate, businesses, and personal valuables.

In addition to financial restitution, Austria has also made efforts to restitute artworks looted during the Nazi era. The 1998 Art Restitution Act established a Commission for Provenance Research to investigate the provenance of artworks in state collections. While this law has been praised as a model for other nations, it has also faced criticism for its limitations, particularly regarding the time frame for claims and the lack of transparency in the decision-making process.

Despite these efforts, Austria's restitution process has faced obstacles and controversies. The country's historical stance as a “first victim” removed the legal obligation to make reparations for a long time. Additionally, the arrest and imprisonment of Stephen Templ, who inventoried Nazi-looted property in Vienna, and the threat of a libel lawsuit against an American descendant of the Rothschild family by the City of Vienna in 2021, have been criticized.

Overall, while Austria has made strides in acknowledging its role in the Holocaust and providing restitution, the process has been complex and ongoing, with various challenges and criticisms along the way.

Frequently asked questions