Austria's Role In World War Ii: An Overview

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945, when Allied-occupied Austria declared independence. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Austrians fought as German soldiers, and many others served in the SS. After the war, Austria was divided into four occupation zones and jointly occupied by the UK, the Soviet Union, the US, and France.

The Anschluss

In the 1920s, the idea of the Anschluss had strong support in both Austria and Germany, particularly among Austrian citizens of the political left and center. However, support for unification faded over time, and by the early 1930s, the Austrian government withdrew from economic ties with Germany.

When Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933, the desire for unification became associated with the Nazis, for whom it was an integral part of their ideology. Hitler himself was Austrian and had expressed his desire for a union between the two countries in his earliest writings and speeches. In 1931, he gained the support of the bulk of Austrian Nazis, and his popularity in Germany increased support for unification in Austria.

In 1934, Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated by Austrian Nazis in a failed coup. His successor, Kurt Schuschnigg, continued Dollfuss's policies and attempted to maintain Austrian independence. However, he faced increasing pressure from pro-unification activists, and in early 1938, he announced a referendum on a possible union with Germany, to be held on March 13. Hitler, threatening an invasion, pressured Schuschnigg to resign, and on March 12, German troops crossed the border into Austria unopposed.

On March 13, Austrian Nazi Chancellor Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who had been appointed by Hitler, signed the "Reunification of Austria with Germany" law, formally incorporating Austria into Nazi Germany. A plebiscite held on April 10, in which the ballot was not secret and coercion was used, resulted in 99.7% approval for the Anschluss.

Austrian involvement in the Holocaust

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945. During this time, Austrians were complicit in the Holocaust, with many participating in the persecution of Jews.

Antisemitism in Austria

Austria had a powerful legacy of antisemitism, which was fully expressed by Adolf Hitler. In 1895, the Austrian anti-Semite Karl Lueger won the majority of the seats in the Vienna municipality and was appointed mayor of the Austrian capital. In 1922, Hugo Bettauer, an Austrian, wrote a novel entitled 'The City Without Jews' to mock vicious antisemitism in Vienna, where Jewish university students were routinely attacked.

The Holocaust in Austria

The Holocaust in Austria was the systematic persecution, plunder and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945. This was part of the wider Holocaust, and the persecution of Jews was immediate and violent after the German annexation of Austria, known as the Anschluss.

The Anschluss

After a prolonged period of economic stagnation, political dictatorship, and intense Nazi propaganda inside Austria, German troops entered the country on 12 March 1938. They received the enthusiastic support of most of the population. Austria was incorporated into Germany the next day. In April, this German annexation was approved in a plebiscite that was manipulated to indicate that about 99% of the Austrian people wanted the union with Germany.

The Mauthausen Concentration Camp

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 built near an abandoned stone quarry, about 12.5 miles southeast of Linz. The Mauthausen concentration camp was a special penal camp with a harsh regimen. Thousands of prisoners were worked to death.

Kristallnacht Pogroms

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 vandalised and ransacked.

Deportations from Austria

During World War II, German policy regarding the Jewish population shifted from one of expropriation and Jewish emigration to one of forced deportation. The Nazis deported thousands of Jews from Austria to occupied Poland and elsewhere in occupied eastern Europe. Systematic mass deportations from Vienna began in October 1941. About 35,000 Jews were deported from Vienna to ghettos in eastern Europe, and thousands of Jews were also sent to concentration camps in Germany.

Austrian Perpetrators of the Holocaust

Many Austrian Nazis escaped prosecution. Franz Josef Huber, the Gestapo chief responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Austrian Jews, worked for German intelligence after the war and was shielded from prosecution. However, the Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who was briefly Chancellor of Austria, was condemned to death at the Nuremberg Trials and executed in 1946.

Austrian resistance to Nazism

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945, when Allied-occupied Austria declared independence from Nazi Germany. During this time, 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces, and many others participated in the Nazi administration, from death camp personnel to senior Nazi leadership. However, a small minority of Austrians actively resisted Nazism and the Nazi regime.

The Austrian resistance was launched in response to the rise of fascism across Europe and, more specifically, to the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938. An estimated 100,000 people participated in this resistance, with thousands subsequently imprisoned or executed for their anti-Nazi activities. The main cipher of the Austrian resistance was O5, which may be seen at the Stephansdom in Vienna.

The Austrian resistance groups were often ideologically separated and reflected the spectrum of political parties before the war. In addition to armed resistance groups, there was a strong communist resistance group, groups close to the Catholic Church, Habsburg groups, and individual resistance groups in the German Wehrmacht. Most resistance groups were exposed by the Gestapo, and members were executed.

The most notable individual group of the Austrian resistance was the one led by the priest Heinrich Maier. This resistance group sought to re-establish a Habsburg monarchy after the war. It played a significant role in providing the Allies with information on the production sites of V-1, V-2 rockets, Tiger tanks, and aircraft. The intelligence they provided, later uncovered by the Gestapo, was necessary to enable the Allies to conduct precise airstrikes, minimizing civilian casualties. The group also maintained contact with Allen Dulles, head of the U.S. OSS in Switzerland, and their information contributed to key operations such as Operation Crossbow and Operation Hydra, both precursors to Operation Overlord. The Maier group was also one of the earliest to report the mass murder of Jews, utilizing contacts at the Semperit factory near Auschwitz.

In addition to armed resistance, numerous individuals provided support to Jewish families during the Holocaust. These efforts included hiding individuals, managing or exchanging their property to generate funds, and aiding their escape from Nazi persecution. These actions carried immense personal risk, as assisting Jews was punishable by imprisonment or death in Nazi concentration camps. Among these individuals were Rosa Stallbaumer and her husband, Anton. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1942, they were sent to a concentration camp, where Rosa Stallbaumer died.

Another notable resistance group was the Austrian Freedom Front, a partisan group led by the Communist leader Franz Honner and supported by the USSR. By the end of the war, the Austrian Freedom Front had become the only armed movement in Austria.

The symbol and voice of Austrian resistance was Crown Prince Otto von Habsburg, who would have been Kaiser of Austria had the monarchy been re-established. Otto von Habsburg denounced Nazism, stating:

> I absolutely reject [Nazi] Fascism for Austria ... This un-Austrian movement promises everything to everyone, but really intends the most ruthless subjugation of the Austrian people ... The people of Austria will never tolerate that our beautiful fatherland should become an exploited colony, and that the Austrian should become a man of second category.

Otto von Habsburg strongly opposed the annexation of Austria by Germany and requested Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg to resist Nazi Germany and supported an international intervention. He even offered to return from exile to take over the reins of the government to repel the Nazis. Following the German annexation of Austria, Otto was sentenced to death by the Nazi regime.

Soviet occupation of Austria

Austria was occupied by the Allies and declared independent from Nazi Germany on April 27, 1945, as a result of the Vienna offensive. The country was divided into four occupation zones and jointly occupied by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France. Vienna was similarly subdivided, with the central district under the collective administration of the Allied Control Council.

The Soviet occupation of Austria lasted from 1945 to 1955. During this period, the Soviets engaged in economic exploitation, expropriating over 450 formerly German-owned businesses. By 1955, the majority of these companies were close to bankruptcy. The Soviets also engaged in the systematic sexual violence of Austrian women, and repression against civilians, which harmed the Red Army's reputation.

In 1946, the Soviets issued General Order 17, which placed all formerly German-owned properties under the management of the Administration of Soviet Properties in Austria (USIA). This move expropriated over 450 businesses and placed almost all Austrian oil fields under Soviet administration. Initially, the USIA controlled about 30% of the industrial output in the Soviet zone and employed about 50,000 people. However, by 1953, the value of these firms had dropped significantly due to a lack of investment and neglect.

The Soviet occupation of Austria ended in 1955 with the signing of the Austrian State Treaty. On May 15, 1955, all four occupying powers signed the treaty, which came into force on July 27, 1955, marking the end of the occupation and the restoration of Austria's full independence.

Austrian independence after WWII

Austria was a part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945, when Allied-occupied Austria declared independence. The country was then divided into four occupation zones, jointly occupied by the UK, the Soviet Union, the US, and France. Vienna was also subdivided, with the central district being collectively administered by the Allied Control Council.

In November 1943, the Allies agreed in the Declaration of Moscow that Austria would be regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression and treated as a liberated and independent country after the war. This was despite the fact that Austrians had enthusiastically supported the Anschluss and played an active role in the Nazi regime.

In the first year after the war, the Austrian government had to submit all draft laws to the Allied Control Council and only gained further powers in June 1946. The country remained under joint occupation until 1955, with its status becoming a controversial subject in the Cold War.

In 1947, the Austrian economy reached 61% of pre-war levels, but food shortages continued to be a problem. The country's infrastructure had been damaged, and Austria emerged from the war as one of the poorest countries in Europe.

The first allied talks on Austrian independence were held in January 1947 but deadlocked over the issue of "German assets" in Soviet possession. In 1948, the Soviets lifted most of their objections, and negotiations progressed. Austria promised perpetual neutrality, and on 15 May 1955, it was accorded full independence. The last occupation troops left on 25 October 1955.

Frequently asked questions