Leslie Massey
The history of Jews in Austria is a long and complex one, marked by periods of relative peace and tolerance, as well as intense persecution and violence. After the German annexation of Austria in 1938, known as the Anschluss, the country's Jewish population was subjected to extreme violence and persecution, with many fleeing the country or being deported to Nazi concentration camps. This marked a devastating shift for a community that had previously thrived in Austria, contributing significantly to various fields, including the sciences, arts, business, and industry.
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What You'll Learn
The Austrian Jewish community before 1938
Jewish life in Austria dates back to the times of the Roman Empire. The Jewish Community (Kultusgemeinde) was established as a result of a Habsburg statute of 1890, which granted Austrian Jews religious autonomy. The Kultusgemeinde was the only Jewish community remaining in Austria after the Holocaust.
Before 1938, there were 34 Jewish communities in Austria, with a population of about 190,000 Jews, representing almost 4% of the total population. The overwhelming majority of Austrian Jews lived in Vienna, the capital, where they comprised about 9% of the city's population. Vienna was an important centre of Jewish culture, Zionism, and education. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates 250,000 Jews in Austria in 1933.
In the mid-1930s, some 180,000 Jews lived in Vienna, and 20,000 more lived in other parts of Austria. While Austrian Jewry thrived in the Habsburg Empire’s final decades, antisemitism became an ever-growing presence. Adolf Hitler often referred to the avowedly antisemitic Karl Lueger, who served as mayor of Vienna from 1897 to 1910, as one of the personalities who influenced his views about Jews.
In 1936, the previously strong Austrian film industry, which had developed its own "emigrant-film" movement, had to accept German restrictions forbidding Jews from working in the film industry. Emigration among film artists then rose sharply with Los Angeles becoming the major destination.
Significant contributions to the health and welfare of the Austrian Jewish community in the years between 1933 and 1937 came from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in the area of aid for rehabilitation, reconstruction and refugees.
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The persecution of Jews after the Anschluss
The persecution of Jews in Austria began in earnest after the Anschluss in 1938, when Germany annexed Austria and the country fell under Nazi control. The annexation was presented to the world as a "merger" of the two countries, but in reality, it was a forced unification that subjected Austrians to Nazi rule. Under this regime, Jews in Austria faced severe persecution and their civil rights were systematically curtailed.
One of the earliest examples of persecution after the Anschluss was forcing Jewish men and women to scrub the streets with small brushes and their fur coats. This public humiliation was a form of punishment and degradation, stripping away the dignity of the Jewish community. It also served as a visual reminder of the new social order, with Jews being made to perform menial tasks for their Austrian oppressors.
The Nuremberg Laws, introduced in September 1935, played a significant role in the persecution of Jews in Austria. These laws, which applied to all Nazi-controlled territories, banned Jews from marrying non-Jews and removed their citizenship, including their right to vote. The laws also barred Jews from professional occupations, and Jewish children were prohibited from attending state schools. The Nuremberg Laws provided a legal framework for marginalising and discriminating against Jews, limiting their participation in economic and public life.
In addition to legal measures, the Nazis also employed economic tactics to persecute the Jewish community. A boycott of Jewish businesses was organised, and regulations were passed to sanction the "Aryanization" or confiscation of Jewish-owned shops and companies. The works of Jewish writers were burned publicly, and Jewish inventors, scientists, and soldiers who had served during World War I were denounced and forgotten. The Nazis sought to erase the contributions and presence of Jews in Austrian society, marginalising and impoverishing the community.
The persecution of Jews in Austria culminated in the Kristallnacht pogrom on November 9 and 10, 1938. During this violent outbreak, hundreds of synagogues were ransacked and torched, Jewish-owned shops and homes were looted and destroyed, dozens of Jews were injured, and thousands were sent to concentration camps. The Kristallnacht pogrom marked a significant escalation in the persecution of Jews, leading to a wave of emigration as Jews sought refuge in other countries. However, as the number of Jewish refugees increased, finding safe havens became increasingly difficult, and many remained trapped in Austria, facing further persecution and ultimately, the horrors of the Holocaust.
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The emigration of Jews from Austria
The history of Jews in Austria goes back to the 3rd century CE, and over the centuries, the community has experienced both prosperity and persecution. The emigration of Jews from Austria has occurred in several waves, often coinciding with periods of increased anti-Semitism, political upheaval, and economic hardship.
One significant period of emigration was during the pre-World War II era, particularly after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938. Prior to the annexation, Austria had a thriving Jewish community, with about 192,000 Jews, comprising nearly 4% of the total population. Vienna, the capital, was a major centre of Jewish culture, Zionism, and education, with Jews making up around 9% to 10% of the city's population.
However, the rise of Nazism and intense Nazi propaganda in Austria created a hostile environment for Jews. After the annexation, anti-Jewish legislation was swiftly extended to Austria, and the Mauthausen concentration camp, the main Nazi camp in the country, was established. As a result, between 1938 and 1940, approximately 117,000 Jews fled Austria to seek refuge in other countries. By December 1939, the Jewish population in Austria had dropped to 57,000, and by November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in the country.
The first deportations of Austrian Jews began in October 1939, with about 1,500 Jews sent to Nisko, and continued throughout the war. Many Austrian Jews were deported to ghettos and concentration camps, including Theresienstadt, Lodz, Minsk, Riga, and Auschwitz. During the Holocaust, approximately 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed, drastically reducing the Jewish population in the country.
Another factor contributing to emigration was the treatment of Jews in the postwar years. The living conditions were dire, especially in Vienna, where there was a lack of available housing. Additionally, anti-Semitic statements by high-ranking Austrian politicians in the late 1940s perpetuated a culture of unwillingness to negotiate compensation for victims and discouraged the return of Jews to Austria.
While Austria implemented restitution programs in the immediate postwar era, they were generally considered insufficient. It was not until the 1990s that Austria officially acknowledged its role in the Holocaust and began reassessing its restitution efforts.
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The deportation of Austrian Jews to Poland
The German government, not wanting to be burdened with these stateless individuals, passed its own legislation allowing for the deportation of foreigners who had lost their citizenship. As a result, from October 27 to October 29, 1938, German authorities arrested and deported approximately 17,000 Polish Jews, forcing them to cross the Polish border.
The Polish border authorities were initially overwhelmed, allowing thousands of Jews to enter Poland. However, the Polish government quickly responded by closing the border, leaving thousands of homeless Jews stranded in a no-man's land between the two countries. A large refugee camp was established in the town of Zbąszyń to provide shelter for those deported.
The deportations continued, and by the end of 1939/beginning of 1940, tens of thousands of Jews from Austria and Germany were deported to the Lublin district. From there, they were sent to death camps, such as Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, as part of Operation Reinhard.
During the Holocaust, Austrian Jews, along with Jews from other countries, were systematically deported to German-occupied Poland, where they were killed in extermination camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chelmno, and Majdanek-Lublin.
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The restitution controversy in Austria
Austria's acknowledgement of its role in the Holocaust triggered a reassessment of the country's post-war restitution programs. An independent commission of historians found that, although most seized properties were restituted or settled, the restitution proceedings of the mid-20th century were considered unsatisfactory by many claimants. In 1995, the Austrian government set up several programs to address the gaps and deficiencies in post-war restitution and compensation programs. These included a compensation fund called the National Fund for Victims of National Socialism, which has paid more than 150 million euros to 30,000 applicants.
In 1998, the Austrian government initiated an art restitution program that covered art in museums and institutions owned by the federal government. The "Art Restitution Act" of 1998 set up a "Commission for Provenance Research" to systematically investigate all works of art acquired between 1938 and 1945 and owned by the Austrian Federal Museums and Collections. An amendment to this Act in 2009 expanded its scope to cover all moveable cultural property owned by the Federation and confiscated in the German Reich between 1933 and 1945.
In 2015, the Austrian Commission for Provenance Research announced that a painting by Gustav Klimt had been restituted to the wrong family. The initial research confused two Klimt paintings that Nazis stole from Jewish families during World War II: "Apple Tree II" and "Roses Under the Trees." While the heirs of Nora Stiasny, an Austrian Jewish art collector killed in the Belzec death camp in 1942, were proven to be the true owners of "Roses," Austria’s Art Restitution Board gave them "Apple Tree II" in 2001. In 2018, France announced the transfer of "Roses" from its national collection to the Stiasny heirs. However, Austrian authorities have yet to recommend the restitution of "Apple Tree II" to its original owners, the Jewish Austrian Lederer Family.
The case reveals the complicated nature of Nazi-stolen art restitution, even in a country like Austria, which has legal processes in place to deal with such issues. Austrian-Jewish historian Stephan Templ has written a book, "Austria's Living Ghost," which chronicles how modern-day Austria approved flawed restitution practices overseen by former Nazis. Templ was imprisoned for nearly a year on controversial fraud charges tied to his family's claim for compensation. 75 historians suggested that Templ's prosecution looked like a vendetta by the Austrian judiciary.
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Frequently asked questions
Jews in Austria began to leave the country in 1938 due to the German annexation of Austria, known as the Anschluss. This led to the establishment of Nazi camps and the persecution, plunder, and killing of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis.
The Central Office for Jewish Emigration, led by Adolf Eichmann, was responsible for handling the emigration of Jews from Austria. The process was made extremely difficult, with those leaving required to have numerous documents approving their departure. They were also not allowed to take cash, valuables, antiques, or artwork with them.
The Holocaust resulted in the systematic persecution, plunder, and killing of Jews in Austria. Approximately 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed, and many others fled the country as refugees. The once-flourishing Jewish community in Vienna was all but obliterated by the National Socialists.
