Nazi Atrocities In Austria: A Historical Overview

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945. During this period, known as the Anschluss, the country was fully integrated into the Third Reich, with 700,000 people, or 10% of the population, joining the Nazi Party. The Wehrmacht drafted more than 1.3 million Austrians between 1938 and 1945, and Austrians served loyally as soldiers, fighting for the Nazi German armed forces. Austrians also served in the SS, the elite military corps of the Nazi Party, and played a central role in Nazi crimes. Although Austrians comprised only 8% of the Third Reich's population, over 13% of the SS were Austrian, and many of the key figures in the extermination project of the Third Reich were Austrian.

The Nazis received the support of most Austrians

Several factors may have contributed to this strong support for the Nazis in Austria. One factor was the intense Nazi propaganda inside Austria in the preceding years, which helped to shape public opinion and create a favourable climate for the Nazi regime. Additionally, there was a high level of antisemitism in Austria, which may have made Austrians more receptive to the Nazi ideology. This is supported by the fact that, immediately following the Anschluss, the Germans extended anti-Jewish legislation to Austria, and the subsequent brutal persecution of Austrian Jews during the Kristallnacht pogroms. The fact that many Austrians joined the Nazi Party and fought as soldiers for Nazi Germany also indicates a level of support for, or at least acquiescence to, the Nazi regime.

Furthermore, the Austrian population may have been motivated by a desire to unite with Germany, as Austria had a significant German-speaking population and cultural ties to Germany. This is reflected in the slogan "German Austria must return to the great German motherland", which was used by the Nazis to justify the annexation.

The support for the Nazis in Austria had significant consequences. Austrians were overrepresented in the Nazi regime, particularly in the SS and the death camps. They also actively participated in the Holocaust, with the majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution being Austrian. This collaboration continued throughout World War II, with hundreds of thousands of Austrians fighting as German soldiers and committing atrocities on the Eastern Front.

The Nazis annexed Austria

The Nazis' annexation of Austria was the result of a series of political and military maneuvers. On March 11, 1938, two peremptory demands were made for the postponement of a plebiscite on Austrian independence and for the resignation of Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg. Schuschnigg conceded, and the following day, German troops, accompanied by Hitler himself, entered Austria. A Nazi government in Austria was established, headed by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who collaborated with Hitler in proclaiming the annexation.

The Anschluss had significant consequences for Austria and its people. Austria was completely absorbed into Germany, with any official memory of Austrian existence destroyed and suppressed. Austria was renamed Ostmark (Eastern March), and Upper and Lower Austria became Upper and Lower Danube. The Nazis arrested many leaders of anti-Nazi Austrian political parties and political opponents, particularly communists and socialists. Additionally, many Austrians, especially those of Jewish origin, were forced into exile. The Mauthausen concentration camp, established near Linz, became the main Nazi camp in Austria, and thousands of prisoners were worked to death.

The annexation of Austria was met with protests from France, Great Britain, and the United States, who accepted the fait accompli. However, the Soviet Union demanded that the West should stop further German aggression, and the government of Mexico lodged a futile protest with the League of Nations. Despite these objections, a plebiscite on April 10, 1938, recorded a vote of more than 99% in favor of Hitler.

The Nazis' annexation of Austria was a pivotal event, solidifying Hitler's control over the region and paving the way for the expansion of Nazi influence and the implementation of discriminatory policies and human rights abuses.

The Nazis committed atrocities against Austrian Jews

During World War II, 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, and thousands of prisoners were worked to death.

The November 1938 Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogroms were particularly brutal in Austria. Most of the synagogues in Vienna were destroyed, burned in full view of fire departments and the public. Jewish businesses were also vandalised and ransacked. Thousands of Jews were arrested and deported to the Dachau or Buchenwald concentration camps.

Between 1938 and 1940, 117,000 Jews left Austria. During World War II, German policy 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. By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in Austria, mostly those married to non-Jews. Some Jews remained in hiding.

The Nazis set up concentration camps in Austria

The Mauthausen concentration camp was established in the summer of 1938, after the German annexation of Austria. Mauthausen became the main Nazi camp in Austria. It was built near an abandoned stone quarry, along the Danube River, about 12.5 miles southeast of Linz. The Mauthausen camp was a category III camp, indicating that it was a special penal camp with a harsh regimen.

The camp was founded by a private company as an economic enterprise, but it was controlled by the German state from the beginning. The site was chosen because of the nearby granite quarry and its proximity to Linz. The granite mined in the quarries was used to pave the streets of Vienna, but the Nazis also envisioned a complete reconstruction of major German towns, for which large quantities of granite were needed.

The Mauthausen camp was initially a strictly-run prison camp for common criminals, prostitutes, and other categories of "incorrigible law offenders". On 8 May 1939, it was converted into a labour camp for political prisoners. During the war, forced labour using concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production. Mauthausen and its sub-camps included quarries, munitions factories, mines, arms factories, and plants assembling Me 262 fighter aircraft.

The conditions at Mauthausen were even more severe than at most other Nazi concentration camps. Half of the 190,000 inmates died at Mauthausen or its sub-camps. The inmates suffered from malnutrition, overcrowded huts, and constant abuse and beatings by the guards and kapos. They were also forced to perform exceptionally hard labour, such as carrying heavy stone blocks up 186 steps from the camp quarry. These steps became known as the "Stairway of Death".

In addition to Mauthausen, there were other camps in Austria, extending from Lochau in the west to Strasshof in the east. The largest concentration camp in Austria was the Mauthausen-Gusen complex, with more than 50 sub-camps. Mass murder was practised at Hartheim Castle near Linz, where the killing programme Action T4 (involuntary euthanasia) took place, and in the Am Spiegelgrund clinic in Vienna, where more than 700 handicapped children were murdered.

The Nazis forced Austrian Jews to emigrate

SS 2nd Lieutenant Adolf Eichmann established a system to solve "the Jewish problem": evict the Jews and keep as much of their assets as possible. He set up a Central Office of Jewish Emigration in Vienna, from which he demanded an emigration figure of 20,000 Jews without means for the period from 1 April 1938 to 1 May 1939. Eichmann's system saw Jews stripped of their property, rights, and privileges, leaving them with only a passport and a fortnight to leave the country, otherwise facing internment in a concentration camp.

By May 1939, more than 50% of Austrian Jews had left the country. Many Austrian Jews fled to the UK, Switzerland, France, Czechoslovakia, the USA, Shanghai, Argentina, Bolivia, and South Africa. However, it was difficult to find countries that would accept Jewish refugees. The Evian Conference was held in France to explore emigration options, but it ultimately proved that forced emigration would not solve the problem.

The Nazis' forced emigration of Austrian Jews was part of a wider exodus of Jews from Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe between 1933 and 1945. This exodus was triggered by the Nazis' militaristic antisemitism and discriminatory practices, ultimately culminating in the Holocaust.

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