Ruqayyah Snyder
Before the Holocaust, Austria had a thriving Jewish community of about 192,000 people, which was almost 4% of the country's total population. Jews in Austria enjoyed a period of prosperity from 1848 until the annexation of Austria to Germany by Nazi Germany in 1938, which marked the start of the Holocaust in Austria. Between 1938 and 1940, approximately 117,000 Jews fled Austria, while thousands more emigrated before 1938. Those who remained in Austria were subjected to persecution, plunder, and mass deportations to concentration camps in Eastern Europe, with an estimated 60,000-65,000 Austrian Jews losing their lives during the Holocaust.
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What You'll Learn
Austrian Jews were persecuted, plundered, and killed by Nazis
In the first week following the annexation, Jews were subjected to brutality and outright violence. Jewish women were forced to scrub political slogans from the sidewalks with their bare hands or toothbrushes, Jewish children were made to write "Jud" on shop windows, and Orthodox Jews were pulled around by their beards. Jews were also evicted from their homes, and their places of worship and businesses were damaged and looted.
The Austrian Nazi and Chancellor of Austria, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, was executed in 1946 for his role in the persecution and killing of Jews. Adolf Eichmann, an SS 2nd Lieutenant and native of Austria, established a system for solving "the Jewish problem": evict the Jews and keep as much of their assets as possible.
Systematic mass deportations from Vienna began in October 1941, with about 35,000 Jews deported to ghettos in Eastern Europe and concentration camps in Germany. By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in Austria, and by October 1942, this number had dropped to between 2,000 and 5,000. Approximately 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed during the Holocaust, with 62,000 known by name.
The Austrian government has since acknowledged its co-responsibility for the suffering inflicted on the country's Jewish community and has instituted several restitution and compensation programs.
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Many Austrian Jews emigrated before 1938
Before 1938, Jews in Austria enjoyed a period of prosperity. This began with the reign of Franz Joseph I as the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, during which Jews were granted equal rights. In 1849, the emperor cancelled the prohibition against Jews organising within the community, and in 1852, new regulations for the Jewish community were set. In 1867, Jews formally received full equal rights.
However, this prosperous period ended abruptly in 1938 with the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany (the "Anschluss"). The Jewish population in Austria at the time of annexation was about 190,000-192,000, and an estimated 117,000 Jews fled Austria between 1938 and 1940. The main emigration wave started in March 1938, with the Anschluss, and continued to November 1938, when nearly all synagogues in Austria were destroyed. By December 1939, the number of Jews in Austria had been reduced to 57,000, primarily due to emigration.
The emigration of Jews from Austria before 1938 was part of a larger wave of Jewish emigration from Germany between 1933 and 1939. During this time, increasing legal repression and physical violence against Jews in Germany led many to flee the country. By the end of June 1939, 309,000 German, Austrian, and Czech Jews had applied for the 27,000 places available under the quota. By September 1939, approximately 117,000 Jews had left Austria, with many emigrating to the United States, Palestine, Great Britain, and Central and South America.
The emigration of Austrian Jews before 1938 was also influenced by the establishment of the Central Office of Jewish Emigration in Vienna. This office, set up by SS 2nd Lieutenant Adolf Eichmann, was responsible for evicting Jews from Austria and seizing their assets. Eichmann's system served as a "model" for solving "the Jewish problem" in Austria.
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Jews were deported to concentration camps in Eastern Europe
The Holocaust saw the decimation of the Jewish community in Austria, which had a Jewish population of about 192,000 before 1938, representing almost 4% of the total population. The Austrian Jewish community had a long history, dating back to the 3rd century CE, and had enjoyed periods of prosperity and political equality. However, with the annexation of Austria to Germany by the Nazis, the situation for Jews rapidly deteriorated, and they became targets of persecution, deportations, and eventually, mass murder.
The Nazis began the systematic deportation of Jews from Austria to occupied Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe as early as 1941. These deportations were often portrayed as "resettlement" to labour camps, but in reality, they were part of the Nazis' ""Final Solution – the plan to kill the Jews of Europe. The Nazis established assembly points where Jews were gathered before being transported by rail to concentration and extermination camps.
One such assembly point was the Theresienstadt ghetto (Terezín) in what is now the Czech Republic, which served as a transit camp for Jews from Austria and Germany. From there, they were sent further east to extermination camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, which became a central killing centre for European Jews from 1943 onwards. Between 1942 and 1945, the majority of transports from across Europe went to Auschwitz.
Other extermination camps that were part of the Nazi regime's "Final Solution" included Belzec, Sobibor, Chelmno, Majdanek, and Treblinka. These camps were located in semi-rural, isolated areas, hidden from public view but connected to major railroad lines. The majority of those deported to these camps were killed upon arrival, with the Germans employing methods such as poisonous gas and mass shootings.
By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in Austria, and by the end of the war, the Austrian Jewish community had been drastically reduced. The postwar community consisted of those who had survived the Holocaust, either by remaining in hiding or through emigration before and during the war.
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Austria's Jewish population was nearly 4% in 1938
Austria's Jewish population has a long history, dating back to the 3rd century CE. Over the centuries, the community's political status has fluctuated, with periods of prosperity and equality interspersed with times of persecution, deportations, and mass murder.
Before World War II, Jews played a significant role in Austria's economic and cultural life. In 1938, Austria's Jewish population stood at approximately 192,000, representing almost 4% of the total population. They had 34 Jewish communities across the country, with the overwhelming majority, about 176,000, living in Vienna. The capital city was a vibrant centre of Jewish culture, Zionism, and education, with 22 synagogues, over 50 prayer houses, a Jewish museum, libraries, schools, hospitals, orphanages, sports clubs, theatres, kosher kitchens, Zionist organisations, and more.
However, the prosperity of the Jewish community in Austria came to an abrupt end in 1938 with the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, known as the "Anschluss". The Nazis were welcomed by many Austrians, and their anti-Jewish measures were swiftly implemented. Jews were expelled from all aspects of cultural, economic, and social life, and their assets were looted. The November 1938 Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogroms were particularly brutal, with synagogues burned and Jewish businesses vandalised. Thousands of Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps.
The German racial Nuremberg Laws, applied immediately after the Anschluss, further exacerbated the situation. Under these laws, anyone with one Jewish grandparent was considered Jewish, even if they or their parents had converted to another faith. As a result, between 201,000 and 214,000 people fell under these anti-Jewish laws. The Jewish population in Austria was drastically reduced, with an estimated 117,000 Jews fleeing the country between 1938 and 1940.
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Austrian society adhered to the First Victim narrative post-war
Austrian society's adherence to the First Victim narrative post-war was a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon that had significant implications for the country's collective memory and self-perception. This narrative, known as the "victim theory" or "Austria - the Nazis' first victim," asserted that Austria and all Austrians were unwilling victims of Nazi aggression and, therefore, bore no responsibility for the crimes committed during the Holocaust.
The origins of this narrative can be traced back to the Moscow Declaration of 1943, where the wartime Allies identified Austria as the "first free country to fall" to Hitler's aggression. This idea was later reinforced at the Nuremberg trial in 1945, when American prosecutors argued that Austria was the first victim of Germany. The notion of Austria as a victim was convenient for the country's politicians, allowing them to avoid responsibility for the persecution and deportation of Jews that occurred between 1938 and 1945. Before World War II, Austria had a significant Jewish population, with about 192,000 Jews in 1938, representing almost 4% of the total population. During the Holocaust, thousands of Jews from Austria were deported to occupied Poland and elsewhere in occupied Eastern Europe. By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in Austria, mostly those married to non-Jews, and some in hiding.
Post-war Austria was characterized by competing political ideologies, with conservative and social-democratic groups each promoting their version of history. Both sides perpetuated the First Victim narrative, which allowed them to gloss over uncomfortable truths and assign blame elsewhere. For example, conservative historians hid Leopold Kunschak's antisemitism, while social democrats remained silent about Renner's sycophancy before Stalin and Hitler. This mutual respect for party legends and taboos lasted for three decades. The First Victim narrative also served as a unifying force for Austrians, fostering a sense of "'all-nation unity' in the challenging postwar conditions.
However, this narrative had detrimental effects on the reconstruction of Jewish identity in Austria. It minimized the suffering and loss endured by the Jewish community during the Holocaust and shifted the focus away from collective responsibility and atonement. As a result, the process of restitution and compensation for Jewish survivors was slow and difficult. The First Victim narrative remained the dominant master narrative until the 1980s when it began to be questioned and critically examined.
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Frequently asked questions
Before the Holocaust, Jews in Austria enjoyed a period of prosperity, contributing significantly to the country's economic and cultural life. In 1938, Austria's Jewish population was about 192,000, almost 4% of the total population.
During the Holocaust, Austrian Jews were systematically persecuted, plundered, and killed by German and Austrian Nazis. Between 60,000 and 65,500 Austrian Jews lost their lives, with approximately 117,000 fleeing the country between 1938 and 1940.
The Holocaust drastically reduced the Jewish community in Austria. By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in the country, and by December 1945, the Kultusgemeinde, the only remaining Jewish community in Austria, consisted of just under 4,000 members.
