Leslie Massey
Austria has a long history of antisemitism, which culminated in the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust from 1938 to 1945. Before World War II, Jews played an important role in Austria's economic and cultural life, with many prominent figures in the sciences, arts, business, and industry. However, after a period of economic stagnation, political dictatorship, and intense Nazi propaganda, German troops entered Austria in March 1938, receiving the enthusiastic support of most Austrians. This was followed by the rapid expropriation of Jewish property, intimidation, violence, and the implementation of anti-Jewish legislation. Between 1938 and 1940, approximately 117,000 Jews fled Austria, and thousands more were deported to concentration camps or killed. By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in the country.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Austrians' dislike for Jews was influenced by | Medieval-European views of Jews as a separate, foreign nation |
| Religious fanaticism towards Jews | |
| Emigration of Jews from Austria | |
| Economic stagnation | |
| Political dictatorship | |
| Nazi propaganda | |
| Intense intimidation, violence, and expropriation of property | |
| Anti-Jewish legislation | |
| The Holocaust | |
| Antisemitism | |
| Pogroms | |
| Deportations to concentration camps | |
| Mass murder | |
| Lack of encouragement for expelled Jews to return to Austria | |
| Anti-Semitic statements by Austrian politicians | |
| Inadequate restitution programs | |
| Discrimination |
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What You'll Learn
Religious fanaticism and intolerance
The history of Jews in Austria has been marked by varying levels of tolerance and persecution. The period between the 16th and 18th centuries was particularly challenging for the Jewish community due to religious fanaticism and intolerance.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Jewish community in Austria experienced persecution and discrimination from various rulers. This period was characterised by the rise of religious fanaticism, particularly among the Society of Jesus, which led to increased hostility towards the Jewish population. Jews were subjected to excessive taxes, forced to wear marks of disgrace, and faced restrictions on their population growth.
One of the most notorious incidents during this time was the expulsion of all Jews from Styria by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in 1496. In 1509, he further contributed to the climate of intolerance by passing the "Imperial Confiscation Mandate," which ordered the destruction of all Jewish books except the Bible. This period also witnessed the persecution and massacres of Jews, with a fixed Jewish tax imposed in the 14th century, followed by widespread violence in the 15th century.
In the 18th century, under Empress Maria Theresa, a period of relative tolerance emerged, offering some respite from the previous centuries' fanaticism. However, anti-Semitic sentiments persisted, and Maria Theresa herself was known for her hatred of Jews, even as she legislated laws regulating their rights and permitted them access to education.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a rise in Zionism and the establishment of Jewish cultural institutions in Austria, particularly in Vienna. During this time, Austrian Jews played a significant role in various fields, including law, journalism, literature, medicine, business, and art. They also actively participated in political life, with several Jews being elected to the Austrian Reichsrat during the 1890s.
However, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938 marked a devastating turning point. The Jewish community faced severe persecution, violence, and deportation, leading to a significant decline in their population. The "Night of Broken Glass" (Kristallnacht) pogroms in November 1938 were particularly brutal, with synagogues destroyed, Jewish businesses vandalised, and thousands of Jews arrested and sent to concentration camps.
The Holocaust further decimated the Jewish population in Austria, with approximately 65,500 Austrian Jews murdered, and thousands more forced into hiding or emigration. In the aftermath of World War II, the remaining Jewish community in Austria struggled to rebuild, and despite efforts by the Austrian government, neo-Nazism and antisemitism continue to persist in the country.
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Political dictatorship and economic stagnation
The political dictatorship and economic stagnation that preceded the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938 played a significant role in shaping Austrian attitudes towards Jews. The period between the two world wars was marked by economic crisis and stagnation in Austria. This provided fertile ground for the rise of Nazi ideology, which blamed the country's economic woes on the Jews and promised to restore Germany's economic strength by expelling them.
Austrian Jews, who had played an important role in the country's economic and cultural life, became targets of intense Nazi propaganda, which found a receptive audience among many Austrians. The Nazis exploited existing anti-Semitic sentiments and economic grievances to gain support for their agenda. They staged disruptive protests, brawls, and even set off explosives in public places and Jewish-owned businesses to create an atmosphere of chaos and instability.
The Austrian government, led by the Dollfuss regime, attempted to maintain sovereignty and ban the Austrian Nazi Party in 1933, but it was a losing battle. The country was crippled by economic sanctions imposed by Germany, which targeted the tourism industry. This further weakened Austria's ability to resist Nazi aggression and propaganda.
By the time of the annexation in March 1938, the Nazis had already laid the groundwork for anti-Jewish sentiment among Austrians. The Austrian Nazis seized power without resistance, and the country was rapidly Nazified. The Jews were expelled from all aspects of Austrian life, and their properties were seized or sold for a fraction of their value. This period of political dictatorship and economic stagnation, fuelled by Nazi propaganda, created an environment where anti-Semitism could thrive and facilitated the rapid acceptance of Nazi rule in Austria.
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Nazi propaganda and persecution
The Nazi propaganda machine effectively created an enemy for the Austrian people to blame for their troubles, and this led to widespread support for anti-Jewish measures. The "stab-in-the-back" myth, which claimed that Germany's loss in World War I was due to betrayal by Jews and communists, was a powerful tool in spreading anti-Semitic sentiment. This belief was embraced by Adolf Hitler, who, as a soldier in the German army during the war, shared the sense of humiliation and disappointment felt by many Germans.
In March 1938, when German troops entered Austria, they were enthusiastically welcomed by most Austrians. This support was reflected in the manipulated plebiscite results, showing that about 99% of Austrians favoured annexation with Germany. The Nazis and their followers immediately began expropriating Jewish property and subjecting Jewish people to extreme intimidation and violence. The Mauthausen concentration camp was established shortly after the German annexation, and thousands of Jews were deported to concentration camps, including Dachau, Buchenwald, and Theresienstadt.
The Kristallnacht pogroms in November 1938 were particularly brutal in Austria, with most synagogues in Vienna destroyed and Jewish businesses vandalised. This further terrorised the Jewish community and led to a surge in Jewish emigration from Austria. Between 1938 and 1940, 117,000 Jews left the country. By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in Austria, and the Holocaust drastically reduced this number even further.
Even after World War II, anti-Semitic sentiments persisted in Austria, with the highest-ranking Austrian politicians making anti-Semitic statements in the late 1940s. This culture of anti-Semitism led to a reluctance to negotiate compensation for victims and discouraged Jewish expellees from returning to the country.
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Pogroms, deportations, and mass murder
Pogroms, a term derived from the Russian word meaning "to wreak havoc, to demolish violently", refer to violent attacks on Jews by local non-Jewish populations. The first incident of a pogrom is believed to be the anti-Jewish rioting in Odessa in 1821. Pogroms were often accompanied by looting, murder, and rape, with encouragement and participation from the government and police. During the civil war that followed the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Ukrainian nationalists, Polish officials, and Red Army soldiers perpetrated pogrom-like violence in western Belarus and Poland's Galicia province, killing tens of thousands of Jews between 1918 and 1920.
Austria has a long history of Jewish presence, dating back to the 3rd century CE. However, the Jewish community's political status fluctuated over the centuries, facing periods of prosperity and equality, as well as enduring pogroms, deportations, and mass murder.
One notable example of a pogrom in Austria was Kristallnacht ("the Night of Broken Glass") on November 9 and 10, 1938. Synagogues, prayer houses, and Jewish shops were looted, vandalised, and burned down, with the exception of the City Temple in Seitenstettengasse. Jewish homes were also destroyed, and numerous Jews were killed or battered. This pogrom was ordered by Adolf Hitler, who had risen to power by exploiting anti-Semitic sentiments and blaming Jews for Germany's defeat in World War I.
The Holocaust significantly reduced Austria's Jewish population, with only 8,140 Jews remaining according to the 2001 census. Mass deportations of Viennese Jews began in October 1941, with many sent to concentration and extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Poland, such as Sobibor. By May 1939, approximately 130,000 people considered Jews under the Nuremberg Racial Laws had left Austria. The formerly thriving Jewish community in Vienna was effectively obliterated.
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Anti-Semitic statements by Austrian politicians
Austria has a long history of anti-Semitism, which has persisted into the present day. In 1860, Sebastian Brunner, the editor of the official organ of the diocese of Vienna, claimed that Judaism permitted Jews to disregard their oaths and required them to use Christian blood for religious purposes. This led to a libel suit, which Ignaz Kuranda, a future liberal politician, successfully defended himself against. In the same century, August Rohling, a professor of Bible Studies at the German University of Prague, published a series of articles in a Viennese newspaper in which he accused Viennese rabbis of denying that the Talmud teaches Jews to hate Christians.
In the early 20th century, Austrian Chancellor Karl Lueger led the Christian Social Party, which was strongly influenced by Catholic anti-Semitism. Lueger's brand of anti-Semitism was economically, religiously, and culturally motivated, and he sought to unite all Christians and nationalities of the monarchy against the common Jewish enemy.
During the post-war period in the early 20th century, violent demonstrations and rallies were held, blaming Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe for the housing shortage and Jewish citizens for not fighting in the war. This period also saw the emergence of new Jewish defensive organisations, such as the Jewish Protection League and the Bund Juedischer Frontsoldaten ("League of Jewish Front Soldiers").
In more recent times, members of Austria's political establishment have been accused of making anti-Semitic statements. In 2012, Austrian President Heinz Fischer condemned a Facebook post by Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache as "the low point of political culture". The post featured a cartoon of a fat banker with a hooked nose and six-pointed star buttons gorging himself at the expense of "the people". While Strache denied being anti-Semitic, the incident prompted demands from the Jewish community for a condemnation from the political establishment.
In 2015, MP Susanne Winter of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) was expelled from the party for expressing support for an anti-Semitic comment on Facebook. Winter had replied positively to a comment that included the phrase, "The Zionist money-Jews worldwide are the problem." Winter initially refused to resign, denying that she was anti-Semitic, but was ultimately excluded from the party.
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Frequently asked questions
There have been several reasons for the Austrians' dislike of the Jews over the years. In the 1880s and 1890s, the common adversary of all Semites in Austria, especially in Vienna, was the Liberal Party. The Catholic Church also played a role in spreading anti-Semitism, with priests like Sebastian Brunner, known as the 'father of Austrian anti-Semitism', and publications like Vaterland ("Fatherland") expressing a coherent critique of modern society, especially liberalism, materialism, and atheism. Capitalism was regarded as a "Jewish invention" and there was a push to restore the medieval Christian economic order. During the First World War, the myth that Germany had been betrayed and stabbed in the back by Jews and communists who brought a left-wing government to power also fueled anti-Semitism.
Austrians expressed their dislike for the Jews through violent demonstrations and rallies, as well as through interruptions of classes taught by Jewish professors by members of student fraternities. There were also wild and rapid expropriations of Austrian Jewish property, extreme intimidation, and violence towards Jewish individuals. Most of the synagogues in Vienna were destroyed during the November 1938 Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogroms, and Jewish businesses were vandalized and ransacked.
The Austrians' dislike for the Jews had devastating consequences. About 35,000 Jews were deported from Vienna to ghettos in eastern Europe, and thousands more were sent to concentration camps in Germany. By November 1942, only about 7,000 Jews remained in Austria, and the Holocaust drastically reduced the Jewish community in the country.
Yes, some Austrian leaders contributed to the dislike of Jews. Karl Lueger, the Mayor of Vienna appointed in 1897, is a notable example. He was known for his anti-Semitic views and used them to appeal to artisans and students. Lueger wanted to unite all Christians and nationalities of the monarchy against the common Jewish enemy, and his old-fashioned brand of religious, cultural, and economic anti-Semitism became the integrating force of political Catholicism.
