Vienna Skewered as a Nazi-Era Pillager of Its Jews (Q61196572)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
2002 news article by Steven Erlanger published in The New York Times
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Vienna Skewered as a Nazi-Era Pillager of Its Jews |
2002 news article by Steven Erlanger published in The New York Times |
Statements
Vienna Skewered as a Nazi-Era Pillager of Its Jews (English)
1 reference
The Austrians had a good run, for many years, as the ''first victim'' of Adolf Hitler, who occupied his native Austria in March 1938. But two historians have now documented the extent to which the Austrians were among the first war profiteers, moving quickly to expropriate the property of Vienna's Jews.''In the pillaging of their Jewish neighbors, the Viennese played a leading role for the entire Thousand Year Reich,'' write Tina Walzer and Stephan Templ in their acerbic new book about the so-called Aryanization of Jewish property in Vienna, where some 200,000 Jews once lived.What distinguishes the book is less its history, which was broadly known, than its details: a long section, called ''The Topography of Robbery,'' lists businesses, addresses and former and current owners. (English)
1 reference
They named their book ''Unser Wien,'' or ''Our Vienna,'' after the city of Vienna's official tourist-information newsletter. ''Vienna lives on tourism,'' Mr. Templ said. ''But the truth about our Vienna is that all the biggest attractions in Vienna were looted from the Jews.'' (English)
1 reference
Some 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed in Hitler's camps. Most of the rest sold cheaply and fled. Some 16,000 survive, most of them abroad. Today, many of Vienna's 13,000 Jews (8,000 of whom are officially registered) are recent arrivals from the former Soviet Union. (English)
1 reference
''In the pillaging of their Jewish neighbors, the Viennese played a leading role for the entire Thousand Year Reich,'' write Tina Walzer and Stephan Templ in their acerbic new book about the so-called Aryanization of Jewish property in Vienna, where some 200,000 Jews once lived.What distinguishes the book is less its history, which was broadly known, than its details: a long section, called ''The Topography of Robbery,'' lists businesses, addresses and former and current owners.The book provides a bizarre walking guide to one of Europe's great cities. The Bristol and Imperial Hotels, two of Vienna's proudest, were partly owned before the war by a Jew, Samuel Schallinger, who died in 1942 at the Theresienstadt camp near Prague. The Cafe Bräunerhof, known before 1938 as the Sans Souci, was among the many cafes that were Aryanized, as was the famous restaurant Zu Den Drei Husaren.The Ferris wheel and cafe on the Prater were owned by a Jew, Eduard Steiner, who was murdered at Auschwitz. ''But the fun went on,'' the authors write. ''Vienna was again a bit more Aryan.'' (English)
1 reference
'The Austrians were the first to systematically loot Jewish property in Vienna, before the government had even set the rules,'' he added. ''The Austrians did in six months, from March to September 1938, what the Germans didn't do in six years.'' (English)
If your house was seized and Aryanized, Mr. Templ said, the new owner had to pay a small amount to a frozen account in your name. After the war, if the Jewish owner or heirs survived, often no one knew of the money or it was gone. To get the property back, the owner or heir had to repay the new owner. (English)