Austrian Soldiers In Wwii: Who Did They Fight For?

During World War II, around 950,000 Austrians fought for Nazi Germany. Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945, and Austrians served loyally as soldiers. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of Austrians who fought as German soldiers, a further 150,000 Austrians joined the Nazi party's military wing, the Waffen-SS.

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945

The Annexation

On 12 March 1938, German troops marched into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. The Austrian Nazis had conspired to seize the Austrian government and unite their nation with Nazi Germany. The Austrian Chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, met with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, hoping to reassert his country's independence. However, Hitler bullied Schuschnigg into naming several top Austrian Nazis to his cabinet.

On 9 March, Schuschnigg called for a national vote to resolve the question of the annexation once and for all. However, before the vote could take place, Schuschnigg gave in to pressure from Hitler and resigned on 11 March. In his resignation address, he pleaded with Austrian forces not to resist a German "advance" into the country.

Hitler accompanied German troops into Austria the following day, where they received the enthusiastic support of most of the Austrian population. Hitler appointed a new Nazi government, and on 13 March, the annexation was proclaimed. Austria existed as a federal state of Germany until the end of World War II.

The End of the Annexation

On 27 April 1945, Allied-occupied Austria declared independence from Nazi Germany.

Austrians in the Nazi Regime

During World War II, 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces. Austrians also participated in the Nazi administration, with many serving in death camps and in senior Nazi leadership positions. The majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian.

Post-War Austria

After World War II, many Austrians sought comfort in the myth of Austria as the first victim of the Nazis. The Nazi Party was banned in Austria, but the country did not undergo the same thorough process of denazification as post-war Germany. For almost half a century, the Austrian state denied any continuity of the political regime of 1938-1945, and veterans of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS took an honourable place in society.

It wasn't until the 1990s that the nation admitted its collective responsibility for the crimes committed during the Nazi occupation and officially abandoned the "victim theory".

950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces

During World War II, 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces. This was in addition to the 700,000 people, or 10% of the population, who joined the Nazi Party. The Wehrmacht drafted more than 1.3 million Austrians between 1938 and 1945, 242,000 of whom never returned home.

The annexation of Austria, known as the Anschluss, was the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by Nazi Germany. It was widely popular in both Germany and Austria, with Austrians enthusiastically welcoming German troops in 1938. The Anschluss was the fulfillment of a long-held desire by many Austrians to unite with Germany, and it was encouraged by Hitler, who was Austrian-born.

The integration of Austria into Nazi Germany was swift and comprehensive. Austrian civil servants, soldiers, and police officers took a new oath to Adolf Hitler, and various organizations and institutions adopted Nazi ideas and implemented Nazi policies. Many expelled their Jewish members and fired their Jewish employees.

Austrians not only fought for the Nazi German armed forces but also participated in the administration of Nazi death camps and the implementation of the Final Solution. According to some estimates, Austrians were overrepresented in the SS and among concentration camp personnel and commanders.

After World War II, many Austrians sought to distance themselves from responsibility for Nazi crimes, embracing the idea that Austria was the first victim of the Nazis. However, it was not until the 1990s that the nation officially abandoned this "victim theory" and acknowledged its collective responsibility for the crimes committed during the Nazi occupation.

Austrians also served in the SS, the elite military corps of the Nazi Party

Austrians served in the SS, the elite military corps of the Nazi Party. The Austrian SS was founded in 1930 and, by 1934, was acting as a covert force to bring about the annexation of Austria with Germany, which occurred in March 1938. Early Austrian SS leaders included Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Arthur Seyss-Inquart.

The Austrian SS was never officially recognised as a separate branch of the SS. However, they were organised in the same manner as the Allgemeine-SS and served in every branch of the SS, including concentration camps, Einsatzgruppen, and the Security Services. Austrians comprised 8% of the Third Reich's population and made up 13% of the SS.

Political scientist David Art of Tufts University states that 40% of the staff and 75% of the commanders at death camps were Austrian. Amon Goeth, the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, was an Austrian SS member. He was portrayed in the film Schindler's List by Ralph Fiennes.

In addition to serving in the SS, Austrians also fought as German soldiers during World War II. Hundreds of thousands of Austrians were drafted into the Wehrmacht, and approximately 250,000 Austrians were killed or went missing in action.

The majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian

During World War II, 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces. Other Austrians participated in the Nazi administration, from Nazi death camp personnel to senior Nazi leadership. The majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian.

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945. The annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, known as the Anschluss, was met with the enthusiastic support of most of the Austrian population. The Nazi Party had strong support in Austria, with 700,000 people, or 10% of the population, joining the party.

The Final Solution was the official code name for the murder of all Jews within reach, which was not restricted to the European continent. The term was a euphemism used by the Nazis to refer to their plan for the annihilation of the Jewish people. The Final Solution was formulated in procedural and geopolitical terms by Nazi leadership in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference held near Berlin. The Wannsee Conference was a high-level meeting of German officials to discuss and implement the so-called "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" (mass killing). The SS envisioned that some 11 million Jews, some of them not living on German-controlled territory, would be eradicated as part of the Nazi program.

According to Thomas Berger, professor of international relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, the people who were involved in the Final Solution were disproportionately Austrian. He states that Austria represented about 8% of the population of the Third Reich, but about 13% of the SS, about 40% of the concentration camp personnel, and as much as 70% of the people who headed the concentration camps were of Austrian background. Political scientist David Art of Tufts University supports this view, stating that Austrians comprised 8% of Nazi Germany's population, 13% of the SS, and 40% of the staff at death camps, with 75% of concentration camp commanders being Austrian.

The largest concentration camp in Austria was the Mauthausen-Gusen complex, with more than 50 subcamps. Mass murder was also practised in Hartheim Castle near Linz, where the killing programme Action T4 (involuntary euthanasia) took place, and in Am Spiegelgrund clinic in Vienna, where more than 700 handicapped children were murdered.

Austria was renamed Ostmark (Eastern March) after its annexation

Austria was renamed Ostmark, meaning Eastern March, after its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938. This event is known as the Anschluss, a German word that means "connection" or "joining". The annexation was the Nazi regime's first act of territorial aggression and expansion.

The Anschluss was the culmination of Hitler's desire for an Austro-German union, which he expressed in his earliest writings and speeches. On March 11, 1938, Hitler gave the Austrian government a series of ultimatums, demanding the postponement of a plebiscite on Austrian independence and the resignation of Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg. Schuschnigg conceded, and German troops entered Austria on March 12, accompanied by Hitler himself. A Nazi government was established in Austria, headed by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who collaborated with Hitler in proclaiming the Anschluss on March 13.

The name change to Ostmark was meant to refer to Austria as the new Eastern March of the Reich. This harkened back to the medieval Margraviate of Austria, a frontier march, and the 10th-century Marcha orientalis. The change aimed to erase any traces of a separate Austrian identity and demote Austria from an empire to a province of Nazi Germany.

The annexation of Austria was widely popular in both Germany and Austria. However, it also sparked an outburst of public violence against Austria's Jewish population and the implementation of Nazi policies. Many Austrians participated enthusiastically in the Nazification of their country, and Austrians also fought in World War II and took part in the mass murder of Europe's Jews.

The Anschluss violated the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which expressly forbade the unification of Austria and Germany. The international community did not intervene or punish Nazi Germany for this violation, which was a significant act of appeasement and enabled Hitler to continue his expansionary policies.

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