Austria's Role In The Holocaust: Complicity And Crimes

Austria played a significant role in the Holocaust, which was the state-sponsored persecution and murder of millions of Jews, Romani people, the intellectually disabled, political dissidents, and homosexuals by the German Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945. The Holocaust in Austria specifically refers to the systematic persecution, plunder, and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945.

Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in March 1938, an event known as the Anschluss, and became a part of Nazi Germany until April 1945. This annexation was met with enthusiasm by most Austrians, and many actively participated in the Nazi regime and the Holocaust. The majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian, and Austrians comprised 13% of the SS and 40% of death camp personnel.

The Mauthausen concentration camp, established in 1938, became the main Nazi camp in Austria, and thousands of prisoners were worked to death. The Kristallnacht pogroms in November 1938 were particularly brutal in Austria, with most synagogues in Vienna destroyed and Jewish businesses vandalized and ransacked.

During the Holocaust, an estimated 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed, and 125,000 were forced to flee the country as refugees. The Austrian government has since acknowledged its role in the Holocaust and has implemented various restitution and compensation programs to address its wartime responsibility.

The Anschluss: German annexation of Austria

The Anschluss, or the German annexation of Austria, was a significant event in the lead-up to World War II and a key step in Adolf Hitler's plan to establish a Greater German Reich. Here is a detailed account of the annexation:

The Lead-up to the Anschluss

In the years preceding the Anschluss, Austria experienced a period of economic stagnation, political dictatorship, and intense Nazi propaganda. The idea of uniting with Germany (known as Anschluss) had been proposed by Austria as early as 1919 but gained traction in the 1930s, particularly among Austrian Social Democrats. However, after Hitler's rise to power in Germany in 1933, the prospect of annexation became less appealing to some Austrians.

In July 1934, Austrian and German Nazis attempted a coup, but it failed. This was followed by the establishment of an authoritarian right-wing government in Austria, which suppressed dissent. In February 1938, Hitler invited the Austrian Chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, to Germany and forced him to agree to give Austrian Nazis more power. Schuschnigg initially planned a plebiscite (a vote of all citizens) on the question of annexation but was bullied into cancelling it. He resigned on March 11, 1938, and urged Austrian forces not to resist a German invasion.

The German Invasion and Annexation

On March 12, 1938, German troops, accompanied by Hitler himself, marched into Austria. They were met with enthusiasm by many Austrians, who supported the idea of uniting with Germany. The next day, on March 13, the annexation was officially proclaimed, and Austria became a federal state of Germany.

The Plebiscite and its Aftermath

To give a veneer of legitimacy to the annexation, a controlled plebiscite was held on April 10, 1938. Neither Jews nor Roma were allowed to vote. The result showed an overwhelming approval of 99.7% for the union with Germany, though this was likely manipulated.

Following the annexation, anti-Jewish legislation was swiftly extended to Austria, and the persecution of Jews began in earnest. The Mauthausen concentration camp, the main Nazi camp in Austria, was established in the summer of 1938. The Kristallnacht riots and violence of November 9-10, 1938, marked a culmination of street violence against Jewish people and property in Vienna and other cities.

The End of the Annexation

The annexation lasted until the end of World War II, when Allied forces declared it void and reestablished an independent Austria. During the war, approximately 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces, and many others participated in the Nazi administration and death camp personnel.

The Mauthausen concentration camp

In December 1939, the SS ordered the construction of a second concentration camp just a few kilometres from Mauthausen. The Gusen branch camp officially went into operation in May 1940. Mauthausen and Gusen were the concentration camps with the harshest imprisonment conditions and the highest mortality rates. Prisoners at the bottom of the camp hierarchy had barely any chance of surviving for long.

During World War II, the prisoners, who now included women for the first time, were increasingly used as forced labourers in the arms industry. The SS established several subcamps to accommodate the prisoners where they worked. Newly arrived prisoners were transferred to these camps from the main camp. Mauthausen itself became a camp where the sick and weak were sent to die.

Mauthausen was one of the most brutal and severe of the Nazi concentration camps. The inmates suffered from malnutrition, overcrowded huts, constant abuse and beatings by the guards, and exceptionally hard labour. The work in the quarries, often in extreme temperatures, led to exceptionally high mortality rates. The food rations were limited, and during the 1940-1942 period, the average inmate weighed 40 kilograms.

The Mauthausen camp authorities killed specially targeted groups of persons sent to Mauthausen for that purpose. They also killed inmates deemed too weak or sick to work. Several methods of killing were used, including gassing, shooting, hanging, and mistreatment. Tens of thousands more died as a direct result of the harsh living conditions in the camp, succumbing to starvation, exposure, and disease.

An estimated 197,464 prisoners passed through the Mauthausen camp system between August 1938 and May 1945. At least 95,000 died there, more than 14,000 of whom were Jewish.

Anti-Semitic violence and persecution

Austria had a long history of anti-Semitism, which was embraced and exacerbated by the Nazi regime. The persecution of Jews was immediate and violent following the German annexation of Austria in 1938, known as the Anschluss.

Under German racial laws, Jews were disenfranchised and subjected to forced reorganization of their communities. All Jewish organizations and newspapers were closed, and their leaders imprisoned. Jews were banned from public transport, and many Austrians joined the Nazis in terrorizing them. Jews were forced to engage in humiliating acts, such as washing sidewalks and public toilets with toothbrushes or their bare hands. They were also forced to eat grass at the Prater, a popular Viennese amusement park.

During Kristallnacht in November 1938, anti-Jewish pogroms took place throughout Germany and Austria. Synagogues were desecrated and destroyed, and Jewish houses and shops were looted. The Kristallnacht pogroms were particularly brutal in Austria, with most synagogues in Vienna burned down in full view of the fire departments and the public.

The Mauthausen concentration camp, established in 1938, became the main Nazi camp in Austria. It was designated a special penal camp with a harsh regime, where inmates were forced to carry heavy stone blocks up 186 steps, known as the "Stairway of Death."

The plunder of Jewish property was also widespread during the Holocaust in Austria. There was a massive transfer of homes, businesses, real estate, financial assets, and artworks from Jews to non-Jews. This was facilitated by a well-organized network involving various institutions and individuals.

The Holocaust in Austria resulted in the murder of an estimated 70,000 Jews and the forced flight of 125,000 more as refugees. The Austrian population, which had enthusiastically supported the Nazis during the Anschluss, later sought comfort in the myth of Austria as the "first victim" of Nazi Germany. This narrative allowed Austrians to avoid responsibility for their active participation in the persecution and extermination of Jews during the Holocaust.

Plunder of Jewish property

The plunder of Jewish property in Austria was a key part of the Holocaust. There was a massive transfer of homes, businesses, real estate, financial assets, and artworks from Jews to non-Jews. A well-oiled machinery of plunder, storage, and resale, involving the Gestapo, the Vugesta, the Dorotheum auction house, various transporters, and museums in Vienna, moved artworks and other property seized from Jews into the hands of non-Jews.

The Aryanization of Jewish property in Austria began immediately after the annexation. Eager Austrians began ransacking and plundering Jewish property, despite explicit regulations against uncontrolled looting. During these unsanctioned Aryanizations, Jews were publicly degraded and humiliated, suggesting that property confiscations were closely tied to the stripping of Jews' identity as Austrians and human beings.

By May 1938, Nazi functionaries systematized the confiscation of property in Austria through an agency called the Vermögensverkehrstelle (Assets Transfer Office). The Austrian system, spearheaded by Nazi functionary Adolf Eichmann, became a model for a functioning, efficient mechanism designed to strip property from Jews in other occupied countries. According to the Decree on the Registration of Jewish Property passed in April 1938, Jews were required to register assets of more than RM 5,000 and pay hefty taxes. They were forced to compose detailed property declarations of all assets, including real estate, art, furniture, and household objects. In many cases, these items were later auctioned for sale.

The book Unser Wien (Our Vienna) by Tina Walzer and Stephan Templ details how hundreds of Jewish businesses in Vienna were seized by the Nazis and never returned after the war. The authors also note that the restitution of Jewish-owned property after World War II varied by country. In the case of Austria, the political decisions of the Allied forces played a significant role. The Moscow Declaration of 30 October 1943 declared that Austria should be considered a victim of Nazi aggression rather than a collaborator. This declaration made it easy for Austrians to ignore their role in aiding the persecution of Jews, including Aryanizing their property.

At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the US, UK, and USSR decided not to demand reparations from Austria. Thereafter, the Austrian government implemented an incomplete process of restituting Jewish property, passing seven laws between 1946 and 1949. Despite some resistance, a few Jews were able to reclaim their property, but many more were unable to do so. It was not until decades later that the Austrian government officially recognized the limitations of its early restitution laws and offered additional opportunities for Jews to reclaim their property or receive compensation.

Austrian Holocaust remembrance

In terms of remembrance initiatives, Austria has constructed memorials, such as the Monument to the Victims of the Holocaust in Vienna, and, more recently, the Shoah Wall of Names Memorial. This memorial, inaugurated on November 9, 2021, in Ostarrichi Park in central Vienna, is engraved with the names of approximately 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered during the Holocaust. It serves as a peaceful place for remembrance and pays tribute to the lives lost.

Austria has also engaged in educational efforts to promote Holocaust remembrance. Learning about the Holocaust is mandatory for students in certain grades, and educational materials such as textbooks, learning apps, and digital maps are provided to schools. Additionally, there are organizations like the Mauthausen Memorial, the House of Austrian History, and local memorial sites that offer teaching resources.

On the international stage, Austria is a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and has increased its activities within this organization. Austrian representatives have emphasized the relevance of Holocaust education in understanding the origins and threats of genocide and related issues such as antisemitism, religious intolerance, and xenophobia. The country has also committed to an active commemoration policy and combating antisemitism in education.

Despite these efforts, challenges persist. A 2019 study found that most Austrian adults lacked basic knowledge about the Holocaust, and certain victims' monuments have been vandalized. Additionally, Austria's record on restitution for Holocaust survivors has been criticized, and the country faced controversy over the arrest and imprisonment of Stephen Templ, who had documented Nazi-looted property in Vienna.

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