The Forced Exile Of Austrian Jews: Understanding The Past

were jews deported from austria

The deportation of Jews from Austria was part of the wider Holocaust, which saw the systematic persecution, plunder, and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945. The Austrian Jewish population suffered greatly during this period, with many deported to ghettos, concentration camps, and death camps.

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The Holocaust in Austria

The Rise of Anti-Semitism in Austria

Before the Holocaust, Jews in Austria were flourishing, with leading figures in the sciences, the arts, business, industry, and trades of all kinds. However, Austria had a powerful legacy of anti-Semitism, which found its full expression in 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.

The Annexation of Austria

From 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany, the annexation of Austria became one of Germany's foreign policy goals. Austria was incorporated into the Third Reich on March 13, 1938, the day after German troops entered Austrian territory greeted by cheering Austrians with Nazi salutes and flags. A law was published, declaring Austria "one of the lands of the German Empire" under the name "Ostmark". On April 10, an annexation referendum was held in Austria, and according to official Reich data, 99.75% of the population approved the annexation.

Immediate Persecution of Jews

Persecution of Jews was immediate and violent after the annexation. German racial laws were enacted in Austria, under which Jews were disenfranchised. According to these laws, 220,000 people were now considered Jews, larger than the previously accepted figure of 182,000. A forced reorganization of Jewish communities was carried out, led by Adolf Eichmann. All Jewish organizations and newspapers were closed, and their leaders and management imprisoned. Jews were no longer allowed on public transport. Many regular Austrians joined the Nazis in terrorizing Jews, forcing them to perform humiliating and menial tasks.

Plunder of Jewish Property

There was a massive transfer of homes, businesses, real estate, financial assets, and artworks from Jews to non-Jews. A well-organized 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. Hundreds of Jewish businesses in Vienna were seized by the Nazis and never returned after the war.

Isolation, Deportation, and Extermination

In October 1939, the deportation of Austrian Jews to Poland began, as part of a larger plan to gather all of Europe's Jewish populace in one territory. The deportation of Jews to death camps began in February 1941, and after the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, this process was accelerated. The Viennese community was officially liquidated on November 1, 1942, and the deportations continued until March 1945.

The Holocaust's Impact on Austria's Jewish Population

As a result of the Holocaust, between 60,000 and 65,000 Austrian Jews lost their lives, and 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, with 12,450 living in Vienna.

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Anti-Semitic violence and persecution

In the 1930s, Jews in Austria flourished and held leading positions in the sciences, arts, business, industry, and trades. However, this prosperity ended abruptly in 1938 with the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, known as the Anschluss. This event marked the beginning of the Holocaust in Austria, which lasted from 1938 to 1945 and resulted in the systematic persecution, plunder, and extermination of Jews.

Persecution of Jews was immediate and violent after the Anschluss. German racial laws were enacted, and Jews were disenfranchised, no longer allowed on public transport, and subjected to public humiliation. They were forced to perform menial tasks, such as washing sidewalks and public toilets, sometimes with toothbrushes or their bare hands. Jewish faculty members of the Medical University of Vienna were dismissed, and Jewish organisations and newspapers were closed, with their leaders imprisoned.

During Kristallnacht in November 1938, anti-Jewish pogroms took place throughout Germany and Austria, resulting in the desecration and destruction of synagogues and the looting of Jewish homes and shops. The first Austrian concentration camp was established at Mauthausen in August 1938, and the deportation of Austrian Jews to Poland began in October 1939. The deportation of Jews to death camps began in February 1941 and was accelerated after the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. The Viennese Jewish community was officially liquidated on November 1, 1942, and deportations continued until March 1945.

As a result of the Holocaust in Austria, an estimated 70,000 Jews were murdered, and 125,000 were forced to flee as refugees. The Jewish community in Austria was drastically reduced, with only 8,140 Jews remaining according to the 2001 census. Today, Austria's Jewish population is estimated to be around 10,300, with a total of 33,000 when including those with at least one Jewish grandparent.

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Plunder of Jewish property

The plunder of Jewish property was a key part of the Holocaust. In Austria, the confiscation of Jewish property began immediately after the country's annexation in 1938. This process, known as 'Aryanization', involved the transfer of homes, businesses, real estate, financial assets, and artworks from Jews to non-Jews.

The process was highly organised, involving the Gestapo, the Vugesta, the Dorotheum auction house, various transporters, and museums in Vienna. One agency, the Vermögensverkehrstelle (Assets Transfer Office), was set up to systematise the confiscation of property. Jews were forced to register assets of more than RM 5000, and to pay large taxes on them. They were also compelled to create detailed declarations of all assets, including art, furniture, and household objects. These items were often later auctioned off.

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.

In addition to the seizure of physical property, the Nazis also stole Jewish books and writings. Their goal was to collect and burn all of Europe's Jewish books. In France, the Nazis raided several libraries and seminaries, confiscating thousands of books. They also stole 28,000 volumes from the Rothschild family's personal collection.

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Isolation, deportation and extermination

The isolation, deportation, and extermination of Jews in Austria were part of the wider Holocaust, which saw the persecution, plunder, and murder of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945.

Isolation

The Nuremberg Racial Laws, enacted by Hitler, stripped Austrian Jews of their property and civil rights. Jews were forced to wear yellow stars and adopt the first names "Sara" or "Israel". They were banned from public transport and prohibited from certain jobs. Many were publicly humiliated and forced to perform menial tasks such as cleaning sidewalks and toilets, sometimes with their bare hands or toothbrushes.

Deportation

The deportation of Austrian Jews to Poland began in October 1939 as part of a larger plan to gather all of Europe's Jewish population in one territory. 1,584 people were deported to the Lublin region. The deportation of Jews to death camps began in February 1941 and was accelerated after the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. The Viennese community was officially liquidated on November 1, 1942, with around 7,000 Jews remaining in Austria at that time. The deportations continued until March 1945.

Extermination

Over 65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered in concentration and extermination camps as part of the six million deaths of the Holocaust. They were deported to death camps such as Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, where they were killed. The Austrian Jewish community, which had flourished before the war, was effectively obliterated by the Nazis.

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Austrian perpetrators of the Holocaust

The Holocaust in Austria was the systematic persecution, plunder, and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945. The Austrian Nazi and briefly Chancellor of Austria, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, was one of the major perpetrators of the Holocaust. He was condemned to death at the Nuremberg Trials and executed in 1946. However, many Austrian Nazis escaped prosecution, including Franz Josef Huber, the Gestapo chief responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Austrian Jews.

The Holocaust in Austria was preceded by a powerful legacy of anti-Semitism, which found its full expression in Adolf Hitler. In 1895, the Austrian anti-Semite Karl Lueger won a 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 titled "The City Without Jews" to mock the vicious anti-Semitism in Vienna, where Jewish university students were routinely attacked. This novel turned out to be tragically prophetic. From 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany, the annexation of Austria became one of Germany's foreign policy goals. Austria was incorporated into the Third Reich on March 13, 1938, and a law was published, declaring Austria "one of the lands of the German Empire" under the name "Ostmark". The annexation was approved by 99.75% of the population in a referendum.

The persecution of Jews was immediate and violent after the annexation. German racial laws were enacted in Austria, and all Jewish organizations and newspapers were closed, with their leaders imprisoned. Jews were banned from public transport, and many regular Austrians joined the Nazis in terrorizing Jews, forcing them to wash sidewalks and public toilets, and even eat grass in public parks. During Kristallnacht in November 1938, anti-Jewish pogroms took place throughout Germany and Austria, with synagogues desecrated and destroyed, and Jewish homes and shops looted. The first Austrian concentration camp was established at Mauthausen in August 1938.

The plunder of Jewish property was also a significant aspect of the Holocaust in Austria. There was a massive transfer of homes, businesses, real estate, financial assets, and artworks from Jews to non-Jews, with the Gestapo, auction houses, transporters, and museums in Vienna complicit in the machinery of plunder and resale. Hundreds of Jewish businesses in Vienna were seized by the Nazis and never returned after the war.

The isolation, deportation, and extermination of Austrian Jews began in October 1939, with the deportation of Austrian Jews to Poland. The deportation of Jews to death camps started in February 1941 and was accelerated after the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. The Viennese Jewish community was officially liquidated on November 1, 1942, and the deportations continued until March 1945. As a result, between 60,000 and 65,000 Austrian Jews lost their lives, with fewer than 800 surviving until the liberation of Vienna in April 1945.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, Austrian Jews were deported to ghettos, concentration camps, and death camps during the Holocaust.

Mass deportations of Austrian Jews began in October 1941.

The deportations and subsequent murder of Austrian Jews obliterated the once-flourishing Jewish community in the country. By May 1939, roughly 130,000 people considered Jews under the Nuremberg Racial Laws had left Austria.

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