Ukraine in WWII

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Noelle

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Ukraine in WWII

[Pictures, as always, taken from goodreads.com]

Description: This is one of those books that follows several main protagonists. For myself, I find that this adds an extra depth and understanding that cannot be achieved with only one point of view. I’ll keep it short: Maria’s father, Ivan, has managed to survive Babi Yar, but is now a broken man. Shortly thereafter, Maria is sent to Germany as a slave worker. Luda, despite abuse from German officers, may have finally found a family and love. And, of course, there is the token arrogant German officer, here Frederick, who is really using his arrogance to cover up his true emotions.

Background: In 1922, Ukraine was unified with Russia, making it part of the Soviet Union. Then, on September 1, 1941, after Operation Barbarossa Ukraine had become a separate civil German entity. Hitler’s Plan? To exterminate, expel, or enslave most or all Slavs from their native lands so as to make living space for German settlers.

On August 14, 1941, Hitler ordered that Kiev be bombed. However, due to insufficient materials, the plan was never carried out. Instead, they decided to starve the city. That being said, Kiev was under siege from August 15 – September 19. During this time 65,000 Soviet troops were captured. [Below, Kiev burning]

With the arrival of the Germans, some Ukrainians saw their liberation from the Soviets. As a result, some 4,000 operated under the Germans, some even under a German SS unit, the Waffen-SS and the 4. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS. There was no true collaboration, however, between the Ukrainians and the Germans, since the Germans saw the Ukrainians as inferior. In fact, Göring suggested that “all Ukrainian men should be killed, and the SS men be sent in to re-populate the land with German blood” (Source). Conversely, some 4,500,00 Ukrainians served with the Soviet army. 1,400,00 of them killed in service. Ultimately, this meant that Ukrainians were fighting and killing one another in their separate fights for liberation and freedom.

Atrocities

Atrocities against the Ukrainians are thought to be some of the greatest that took place during the war. For starters, it is estimated that 3-4 million Ukrainians and non-Jews were killed, with another 850,000 to 900,000 (possibly even up to 1,000,000) Jews. Within Hitler’s Generalplan Ost, 65% of the 23.2 million Ukrainians were to be killed through genocide or ethnic cleansing. These tortures included imprisonment, mass shootings, concentration camps, ghettos, forced labor, starvation, torture, and mass kidnapping. In addition, over 2,300,000 Ukrainians were deported for slave labor camps. [A chart can be found of the total percentages of the different Slavic ethnic groups Hitler planned to eliminate here]

Considered to be “the single largest massacre in the Holocaust,” Babi Yar took place in Kiev from September 29-30, 1941 (Source). 33,771 Ukrainians were shot, most of them Jewish. Additionally, the Nikolaev Massacre took place in Mykolaiv from September 16-30, 1941. 35,782 were killed. Again, mostly Jews.

Massacres were “carried out by a mixture of SS, SD, security police, and Ukrainian Auxiliary Police” (Source). This meant, again, that Ukrainians were killing their own people. In total, there were 14 massacres on Ukrainian soil. The list can be found [here: Massacres]. Then, “when the Soviet Army approached in 1943, the Nazis tried to cover their tracks by ordering the concentration camp prisoners to dig up the corpses and burn them, after which the prisoners were killed” (Source).

Although it took place before the war officially began, the Holodomore needs to be counted amongst the atrocities the Ukrainians were forced to endure. The Holodomore or The Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933 was a man-made famine planned by Stalin to eliminate the Ukrainian independence movement. It included the “rejection of outside aid, confiscation of all household foodstuffs, and restriction of population movement confer intent, defining the famine as genocide” (Source). The famine killed 2.5-2.7 million Ukrainians.

From 1932-1933, Stalin murdered 7 million Ukrainians and sent 2 million more to concentration camps. “Ukraine was sealed off. All food supplies and livestock were confiscated. NKVD death squads executed ‘anti-party elements.’ Furious that insufficient Ukrainians were being shot, Kaganovitch – virtually the Soviet Union’s Adolf Eichmann – set a quota of 10,000 executions a week. Eighty percent of Ukrainian intellectuals were shot. During the bitter winter of 1932-33, 25,000 Ukrainians per day were being shot or died of starvation and cold. Cannibalism became common. Ukraine, writes historian Robert Conquest, looked like a giant version of the future Bergen-Belsen death camp. The mass murder of seven million Ukrainians, three million of them children, and deportation to the gulag of two million more (where most died) was hidden by Soviet propaganda.” (Source). Reports about Stalin’s atrocities did not start coming out until the 1990′s. More on that later.

Because of being hit from both sides as well as being occupied by two separate oppressors, after the war, Ukraine saw 700 cities and towns and 28,000 villages destroyed. However, despite their large death toll and their destruction, 2,544 Ukrainians helped save Jewish lives. [Below, the Lvov Ghetto]

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WWII in Ukraine

Posted on September 1, 2021October 2, 2021 by Noelle

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WWII in Ukraine

[Pictures, as always, taken from goodreads.com]

With the arrival of the Germans, some Ukrainians saw their liberation from the Soviets. As a result, some 4,000 operated under the Germans, some even under a German SS unit, the Waffen-SS and the 4. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS. There was no true collaboration, however, between the Ukrainians and the Germans, since the Germans saw the Ukrainians as inferior. In fact, Göring suggested that “all Ukrainian men should be killed, and the SS men be sent in to re-populate the land with German blood” (Source).

Conversely, some 4,500,00 Ukrainians served with the Soviet army. 1,400,00 of them killed in service. Ultimately, this meant that Ukrainians were fighting and killing one another in their separate fights for liberation and freedom.

Atrocities

From 1932-1933, Stalin murdered 7 million Ukrainians and sent 2 million more to concentration camps. “Ukraine was sealed off. All food supplies and livestock were confiscated. NKVD death squads executed ‘anti-party elements.’ Furious that insufficient Ukrainians were being shot, – virtually the Soviet Union’s Adolf Eichmann – set a quota of 10,000 executions a week. Eighty percent of Ukrainian intellectuals were shot. During the bitter winter of 1932-33, 25,000 Ukrainians per day were being shot or died of starvation and cold. Cannibalism became common. Ukraine, writes historian Robert Conquest, looked like a giant version of the future Bergen-Belsen death camp. The mass murder of seven million Ukrainians, three million of them children, and deportation to the gulag of two million more (where most died) was hidden by Soviet propaganda.” (Source). Reports about Stalin’s atrocities did not start coming out until the 1990′s. More on that later.

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Denmark in WWII

Posted on April 9, 2020April 13, 2020 by Noelle

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Denmark in WWII

On April 9, 1940, Denmark was invaded by German. Prior to this, they had been rescuing people from other occupied countries, such as Germany, Poland, Sweden, and Holland. Occupation would change all that.

Almost immediately after the invasion, the Danish surrendered. Their reason for such an early surrender was that Denmark wasn’t only small, but their military was equally as small. In short, they didn’t stand a chance against the Nazis, not without way too many Danish deaths.

In some ways, Denmark was luckier than other Nazi occupied countries. Or at least, so it appeared on the surface. See, the Danish government and the Danish monarchy remained in tact. Furthermore, their newspapers could continue, under censorship, of course. And their military wasn’t seen as enough of a threat to be disbanded. Even Danish Jews were saved from the prosecution Jews from other countries endured.

Why was this allowed?

To put it simply, the Danish weren’t subhuman. Not like the Polish or the Jews, at least.

The Danish were considered to be pure Aryans.

[Below: Nazis parading through Denmark]

Well, and then there was the fact that they could supply the Nazi army with supplies, food, and even transportation. They were vital to Nazi Germany wining the war. Thus, they could receive a pass.

Oh, and they agreed not to resist. (But we all know they did. As next week’s post will show). And they held out until the summer of 1942. It was about that point that Allied nations began to pressure them to finally resist Nazi occupation.

And, believe it or not, Hitler was just looking for an excuse to tighten restrictions on the Danish. He sent Werner Best, “a Nazi official to administer Germany’s occupation of Denmark in September 1942” (Source). Best was instructed to rule with an iron fist. Denmark would change from a country friendly with the Nazis to a country occupied by the Nazis.

Or, at least, that was Hitler’s plan. Best didn’t operate quite that quickly, though. Instead, he decided to be much more lenient, provided Denmark continued to cooperate. He realized that too strict an occupation could threaten their most valuable food source.

But resistance continued and Hitler was growing more and more put out with Denmark. Eventually, he “demanded that the Danish government declare a state of emergency and introduce the death penalty for sabotage” (Source). Of course, the Danish resisted.

Then, on August 29, 1943, the Germans began disarming the army and the navy (though the navy sank itself). This was followed by General von Hanneken announcing martial law. This was a major turning point in Danish-German relations. The collaboration had ended.

Mere weeks later, on October 2nd, anti-Semitism found it’s footing in Denmark. The Nazis attempted to round up all Danish Jews.

But, thanks to Best, their plan wasn’t as successful as they would have liked. Only about 500 Jews were rounded up (a sum much, much lower than other Nazi occupied countries). These 500 Jews were taken to Theresienstadt. Most of them survived.

However, another 7,000 Jews subsequently escaped from Denmark to the neutral Sweden. Many other Danes played a role in their successful escape. Resistance grew more and more.

And thanks to the British SOE (Special Operations Executive), various resistance groups were brought together. Thanks to all the various groups being brought together as one larger force, they Danish were able to convince the “Allies to recognize Denmark as an allied power, but were met by resistance from the Soviets” (Source). Go figure.

But, an agreement was eventually met.

Then, on May 4, 1945, the announcement came: the Liberation of Denmark. “Thousands of Danes tore down their blackout curtains and put candles in the windows” (Source). Five years and a month after invasion. Some 7,000 lives were lost during the fierce occupation.

[Below: Men in soup lines]

Up Next: Danish Resistance

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Czechoslovakia in WWII

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Noelle

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Czechoslovakia in WWII

The long-awaited post! At least for me. I finally, finally checked out and read another WWII story, just for the sake of a new history post. I was really beginning to miss those.

Now, before I continue, let me just say how much I loved this book. I was able to read it in one sitting and, as soon as I was through, desperately wanted to reread it. I highly recommend Joan M. Wolf’s Someone Named Eva.

Summary: When the Gestapo raid the village of Lidice, Milada is taken away from her best friend and her family. Thanks to her Aryan looks, Milada is taken to a special school in Poland, where she is dubbed Eva and then spends the next two years being indoctrinated with Nazi ideology, all so that she can become the perfect German wife one day. At the end of her schooling, Eva is adopted into a very important SS family, and while she doesn’t exactly trust Herr Werner (and for good reason, since he runs Rävensbruck, which is practically in his backyard), she comes to love her new Mutter, her new sister Elsbeth, and even her new pesky brother Peter. But she dreams of the day when the war is over and she can return to her family and her beloved Czechoslovakia. Her grandmother’s pin becomes the only piece of her from her former life.

On March 15, 1939, Hitler’s men marched into Czechoslovakia.

After that, Slovakia became an independent state (though supported by Hitler), while the Czech government was taken over by Hitler.

Forced to proclaim their non-Jewish, non-Roma heritage by showing family trees as far back as their grandparents, with harsh rationing, and blackouts, most Czechs felt trapped. Many even sough suicide as a way out. Swastika flags lined their streets, as did SS guards. Still more drove through the streets in Swastika-decorated vehicles. School books were replaced with pro-Nazi books. Likewise, any permitted books, music, and plays were filled with Nazi propaganda. And the only movies allowed could not be nationalistic and had to contain German subtitles. Foreign radio stations and political jokes were banned. And, as in any Nazi-occupied zone, executions were regular. It’s no wonder so many people preferred suicide.

As the war wore on, conditions grew worse. Their streets were garbage-ridden. Most people worked 64 hours per week, with “as many as 10 hours on Sunday” (Source). Between these long hours and poor diets, infectious diseases were common. By 1944, most shops in Prague were closed due to lack of supplies.

[Below: German troops move into Prague]

Like many other occupied countries, Czechoslovakia had a well-organized resistance group. Their resistance was tightly collaborated with Britain, and some 2,489 men fought with the 11th Infantry Battalion-East from both Slovakia and the Czech government.

Then, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Czech communists formed a Soviet intelligence organization in Prague. (Which did them a whole lot of good, considering the post-war Soviet occupation that lasted oh . . . decades.)

“Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the assassination plot of the Nazi leader, Reinhard Heydrich” (Source). In 1941, Hitler sent Heydrich (father of Operation Reinhard) to Prague. Wasting no time with his new assignment, he handed out death sentences as soon as the next day. This earned him nicknames such as “The Butcher of Prague” and “The Hangman.”

Wanting to “stir up the nation’s consciousness,” seven paratroopers were chosen to assassinate Heydrich” (Source). Unfortunately, the Gestapo got wind of their plan and were able to attack them down in a Prague church. In the subsequent shootout, three of the men died “trying to buy time for the others who were attempting to dig an escape route” (Source). These four later took their own lives with their remaining bullets.

The onslaught was devastating. Karl Herrmann, Heydrich’s successor, had 10,000 Czechs executed. Additionally, two villages were leveled, one of them Milada’s Lidice.

On June 10, 1942, Hitler ordered the Gestapo to murder “all 173 males over 15″ (Source). Later, several others were arrested and executed.

At the same time, some 184 women and 88 children were deported to concentration camps (such as Rävensbruck). Those few children who looked German enough (such as Milada) were Germanized and then handed over to SS families. The remaining children were sent to Chetmo Execution Camp and gassed.

Meanwhile, the village of Lidice “was set on fire and the remains of the buildings were destroyed with explosives” (Source). All animals were slaughtered. The graves were dug up and looted. Even streams and roads were rerouted. And, lastly, the entire area was covered with topsoil and crops were planted.

After the war, only 153 women and 17 children returned.

[Below: Lidice in the 1930s]

Up Next:

The Three Kings: The Czechoslovakian Resistance

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Kristallnacht

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Noelle

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Kristallnacht

The Night of Broken Glass or, literally, The Night of Crystal

In short: On November 9-10, 1938, Nazis “torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools, and businesses, and killed close to 100 Jews” (Source).

Kristallnacht is probably one of the most-well remembered Nazi anti-Jewish events. To put it simply, it was disgusting. It was simply an excuse to get rid of the Jews and push forward their Nuremberg Laws. Sort of like, oh I don’t know, The Reichstag Fire.

But let’s continue.

Prior to this, while Hitler’s anti-Semitic views had been well-known, they had mostly been nonviolent. And even the camps that had already opened their doors had mostly political prisoners, not Jews. This marked the turning point.

Background:

According to Nazi officials, this outbreak was a “spontaneous outburst of public sentiment in response to the assassination of Ernst vom Rath” (Source). An embassy official who had been stationed in Paris, vom Rath had been shot by a Polish Jew on the night of the 7th. This was in response to the news that thousands of Polish Jews living in German territory were being kicked out of their country. Many of these Jews were “initially denied entry into their native Poland” and Herschel Grynszpan, living illegally in Paris at the time, decided to seek revenge for his parents, who were among the displaced Jewish Poles (Source).

Vom Rath died two days later, on November 9, the 15th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. Falling on such an important National Socialist date, gave Nazi leaders all the pretext they needed to “launch a night of anti-Semitic excesses” (Source).

[Below: Onlookers at a smashed Jewish shop]

It’s no surprise that propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, was behind Kristallnacht, encouraging his minions to carry on, so long as their destruction did not appear too coordinated. He told them that Hitler wanted everything to appear spontaneous. Even then, after his speech, he gathered regional Party leaders and issued instructions.

Hours later, Reinhard Heydrich sent out an urgent telegram with his own directives: Only harm Polish Jews and their property. Also, be sure to gather all records from synagogues before vandalizing the synagogues themselves. (After all, the Nazis wouldn’t want to leave anyone out.)

In all, Nazi Party officials, SA, and Hitler Youth rioters destroyed 267 synagogues, many of them burning throughout the night with firefighters only on scene to be sure the fires didn’t spread to other buildings. Additionally, they shattered the windows of some 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses, after looting their wares, of course. Even Jewish cemeteries could not escape destruction. In fact, they became quite the target.

In Berlin and Vienna, mobs of SA men mobbed the streets. They beat and humiliated any Jews they came across and attacked Jews in their homes. Although there were no directions given about killing, the SA went ahead a killed approximately 100 Jews.

In the aftermath, “a high number of rapes and of suicides” were reported (Source). Heydrich instructed that SA and the Gestapo arrest up to 300,000 Jewish males and send them to Dachau, Buchenwald, and Sachsenhausen (or the other opened camps).

On November 12, the German government immediately pronounced that the Jews themselves were responsible for all the damage. Not only were they fined one billion Reichsmark ($400,000,000 US dollars in ‘38), but they also had their insurance payouts confiscated, meaning they had to pay out of pocket for any repairs and items stolen.

In short, leaders such as Hermann Göring “decided to use the opportunity to introduce measures to eliminate Jews and perceived Jewish influence from the German economic sphere” (Source). This included more laws, like the ones discussed earlier, meant to prevent Jews from associating with Germans and depriving them of making a living or keeping their properties.

[Below: Synagogues burning]

Up Next:

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

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1933: Oranienburg, Osthofen, Kemna, & Breitenau

Posted on September 25, 2018September 26, 2018 by Noelle

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1933: Oranienburg, Osthofen, Kemna, & Breitenau

After Hitler came to power in 1933, one of his earliest acts was to round up anyone who didn’t agree with him politically – namely Communists and Socialists. Later came Jews, Poles, Christians, and others. The following four camps opened up in 1933. Though not as well-known as camps such as Dachau, which opened up in the same year, it’s just as important to remember their existence and the atrocities that took place in them.

Oranienburg:

Oranienburg Concentration Camp was established in Oranienburg, Germany (actually Prussia). “The first inmates were 40 prisoners who were dragged to the small town 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) north of Berlin on the evening of March 21, 1933” (Source). Remember that Hitler took power in January of 1933 (and in America, Roosevelt in March of 1933).

Established in a disused factory (likely a brewery), Oranienburg’s first occupants were mostly political opponents (aka Socialists and Communists) – much like Dachau. As of September of 1933, Oranienburg had two subcamps: One at Elisenau Manor near Bernau, and another in Börnicke.

Then, after the Night of Long Knives (Jun 30, 1934), the SS took over the running of the camp from the SA, without the notification the responsible authorities in Berlin.

Days later, on July 4, SA Standartenführer Werner Schulze-Wechsungen shifted the control of the camp to Potsdam (the site of the Truman, Churchill, etc conference in ’45), meaning the guards were officially being paid by tax money! In fact, between August of 1933 and July of 1934, Germans paid 280,000 Reichmark to the camp in taxes.

Oranienburg was never intended to be a death camp, merely a prison camp. Though, they were victims of “mistreatment, torture, and lack of medical care” (Source). Prisoners did labor (forced, of course) in the town of Oranienburg.

The camp closed its doors in 1936 when Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was established in the same town.

Oranienburg saw some 3,000 prisoners during its run and 16 deaths.

[Below: Rudolf Diels reviewing prisoners at Oranienburg in December ‘33]

Osthofen:

After the Reichstag Fire, Nazis blamed the Communists. Thus, thousands of Communists were rounded up by the Gestapo. In March of 1933, they became the first prisoners at Osthofen Concentration Camp. Located near Worms, Osthofen was established in a derelict paper mill. Later, Socialists and Jews and other religious people joined the Communists as prisoners.

Until that Autumn, the camp was under the control of the SA. However, then the camp was taken over by the SS. Though not a death camp, the prisoners were treated brutally. For example, in Camp I, “the men were accommodated in large, unheated, cold, and damp factory buildings” (Source). While there, they were forced to build their own furnishings. This included a fireplace to keep the place warm. But this was nothing compared to those incarcerated in Camp II. For one, those in camp I could receive both visitors and parcels – pretty generous for Nazi camps.

At the second camp, however, the prisoners were not doing forced labor in camp, but in the town itself. Prisoners (probably at both camps) were regularly abused, and suffered from disease and lack of hygienic conditions. Of course, that was normal for these camps.

Unlike some of the more well-remembered camps, stays at Osthofen were not permanent. In fact, the average stay was from 4-6 weeks. On rare occasions, it lasted to about a year. Even once prisoners were released, however, the Gestapo kept tabs on them.

In May of 1934, when German camps were reorganized, Osthofen was permanently closed. It was decided that it was no long useful. Duing this time, a “there were 3,000 internees imprisoned” in Osthofen” (Source). There were no deaths.

[Below: Osthofen entrance]

Kemna:

Kemna Concentration Camp was opened in 1933, after Hitler took supreme power. Located along the Wupper River in Wuppertal, Germany, Kemna was established in an abandoned factory. The initial were inmates were Communists, and then later Socialists, Christians, and trade unionists.

Although the camp was run by the SA, most of the guards came from the same towns as the prisoners, thus many knew each other. Maybe it was because of this that their crimes were not covered up as long as at other camps. “Torture was practiced and the screams of the men were audible to people living and working nearby, and severely injured men were taken to nearby hospitals, all causing word of the camp’s misdeeds to spread quickly” (Source).

Then, in October of ’33, the camp had a “major release” of its prisoners. However, all released prisoners had to sign a document “promising to keep secret all they had seen and experienced at the camp, and were threatened with re-arrest if they disobeyed. The Nazis wanted the public to become familiar with the term ‘concentration camp’ and regard it with dread, but worried that excesses at Kemna and other early concentration camps would turn the public against them” (Source).

Meanwhile, word got out about the SA brutality and an investigation took place. However, the crimes were never prosecuted. Because of this, the camp was forced to close in January 1934.

It is estimated that the camp saw anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 prisoners. There is no report of any prisoners being killed, but based off of the reports of torture, it’s possible there may have been some.

[Below: Kemna main building]

Breitenau:

Breitenau “Protective Custody Camp” was established officially in 1933. However, a year earlier, the Nazis “established a correctional facility in the Benedictine monastery of Gluxhagen” (Source). Then, after they came to power, they added the concentration camp to the mix. Most of the initial prisoners were political prisoners. Most of them had been arrested during “Beggars Week.”

Initially, the camp was run by the local police force, but gradually, the SS took over control. There is no word about deaths at Breitenau, however, it is known that prisoners were badly abused by the guards. The prisoners worked in town, most of them at a mat factory.

Then, the camp was closed in March of 1934. It had seen about 470 prisoners. Most of the prisoners were simply transferred to others camps, not let go, as those staying in Kemna.

After the war began, the Gestapo took over the camp once more, this time as a labor camp. “The men and women had been arrested for having committed deeds such as: leaving their workplace without permission, sabotage, or refusing to work” (Source). According to the Nazis, they were reeducating these prisoners during their 1-2 month stay. Also present in the camp, though, were Jews.

From 1940-1945, Breitenau saw some 8,300 prisoners, about 7,000 of those forced laborers. The rest were likely Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or other Christians. Most ranged in age from 17-25. Of these 8,300 prisoners, it is believed that the Gestapo shout at least 28 prisoners, very likely in March of 1945, when they received word of US Army arrival.

[Below: Breitenau layout]

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Austria in WWII

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Noelle

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Austria in WWII

Admittedly, this is a repost. But, when I decided to try reading a book for each occupied country, well, I realized it would give me a chance to attempt revitalizing this particularly short post.

Also, it reminded me that I’d read a book about the Nazi occupation of Austria. I decided to add it to this post instead, since it was a bit . . . lacking.

Summary: Julie Weiss is a Jew living in Vienna, Austria. Through her diary entries, she tells of the experiences of being one of the few Jews in her class. Her family, like so many other hard-working Jewish families, is well-off, living in a fancy apartment. But once the Nazis occupy her beloved Vienna, the changes are sweeping. Her family endures being kidnapped in the night to remove pro-Austrian signs of sidewalks. And worse. But mercifully, Julie is sent to New York to live with her aunt and uncle. But she most go alone and make a new life for herself.

Unlike the resistance in other countries – such as Norway or the Netherlands– the resistance in Austria was never exactly cohesive. Not many Austrians saw the Nazis as a threat, at least not initially.

In fact, most Austrians jumped on board the anti-Semite bandwagon relatively quickly. “The Nazi anti-Semitic legislation, barring Jews from their professions, from attending government schools and universities, and from marrying Gentiles, were rapidly introduced. There was also considerable anti-Jewish violence as many Austrians reacted strangely enthusiastically to the Nazi takeover and the persecution of the Jews” (218).

The Zionist movement was strong in Vienna under the leadership of activists like Aron Meczer, who ultimately gave his life to help the Jewish youth escape Vienna. Some 44,000 Jews were able to escape Vienna for Palestine, then British-controlled, and “which became the republic of Israel” (221). Unfortunately, though, strong anti-Semitism throughout the world made it difficult for European Jews to find refuge in many other places. Many were still able to find refuge in America, Britain, and Shanghai. Some “32,753 people from Germany had been admitted to the United States by the end of 1938, 80 to 85 percent of whom were Jews” (221). However, the U.S. closed its gates in 1940. Sadly, many Jews never found out what happened to their relatives.

Resistance:

Because of this strong anti-Semitism, Austrian sabotage mainly consisted of distributing anti-Nazi leaflets . . . to already arrested citizens. Others resisted by refusing a military posting.

Because of the anti-religious and anti-Austrian views the Nazis pressed upon the people of Austria, those to fight back the hardest were the religious organizations. But even here, there were never any large acts that were seen in other countries. Mainly, several members were secretly in contact with the United Sates Military Intelligence Service (MIS).

However small their acts of aggression may have been, saboteurs did not fair any better in Austria than in other countries. Those who were discovered were usually then executed or sent to concentration camps, namely Mauthausen. This first purge occurred in the Spring of 1940, when Gestapo and SS arrested some 100 suspected activists, having them interrogated and tortured.

In another scenario, the Gestapo paid the actor, Otto Hartman, to spy on suspected resistance groups. Through him, in late 1944, they were able to arrest 10 leaders. All of them were sentenced to death.

[Below: Vienna circa 1945]

Prince Otto von Habsburg:

Most notable for resisting Hitler and his Nazism was the former crown prince of Austria, Otto von Habsburg. Even before the Anschluss, Otto did everything in his limited power to keep the enemies at bay. He was the one urging von Schuschnigg to resist Hitler and not sign a treaty.

As a result, Hitler ordered Rudolph Hess to execute Otto if he were ever found. He wasn’t. However, his cousins, Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg, and Prince Ernst of Hohenberg (sons of Archduke Ferdinand) were not so lucky. Both were sent to Dachau. And upon Nazi arrival, Otto’s “personal property and that of the House Habsburg were confiscated and not given back after the war” (Source).

Otto not only managed to get away, but he also managed to help 50,000 Austrians (including some tens of thousands of Jews) escape. For his own part, Otto escaped to America, where he became an exile, in constant contact with President Roosevelt and the federal government. It was in this position that Otto founded the Austrian Battalion of the U.S. Army, which due to unfortunate setbacks, never, unfortunately, saw battle.

Otto did have more success in other areas. For example, he was able to prevent the bombing of his beloved Austria, until sometime in 1943. He also made sure that the American people would never forget those held in liberation in Austria or in other European countries by starting the Overrun Countries stamp series. And lastly, he sought and earned support from PM Churchill in an effort to make Austria a free and democratic country once again. Unfortunately, Stalin put a kibosh on the last of his galant efforts.

[Below: Otto von Habsburg]

Up Next:

Germany Occupies the Sudetenland

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The Anschluss

Posted on September 17, 2018September 24, 2018 by Noelle

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The Anschluss

A little late, admittedly, but I feel like things are (at least starting to get) back on track!!

On March 12, 1938, Hitler announced the Anschluss – or the “union” with Austria, successfully annexing the country. In other words, Hitler made Austria a subordinate addition to Germany.

Since 1919, a union between Germany and Austria had long been a dream of Austrian Social Democrats. It’d also been a major goal of Hitler’s, who was a native Austrian. However, in an ironic twist, such a proposition seemed much less attractive to the Austrians, following Hitler’s rise to all-powerful authoritarian rule in 1933. However, despite the lack of full support within Austrian Social Democrats, “the rise of a pro-Nazi right-wing party within Austria in the mid-1930′s paved the way for Hitler to make his move (Source).

As with many European countries after WWI, Austria was “weakened by a period of economic stagnation and political strife” (Source). Because of this, as early as a year and a half after Hitler came to power, Nazis attempted to take control of the Austrian government. They only managed to assassinate the chancellor. Kurt von Schuschnigg was named in his place. His reign as chancellor was not necessarily successful, thanks in part to the Nazis, and made supremely worse by Germany’s pact with Italy (who, up until this time, had been aiding Austria).

Of course, Hitler’s goal all along had been to unite the two countries. But, in order to do so, he had to play his game carefully, since the Treaty of Versailles forbade any such maneuvers. So, he directed his Nazi party leaders in Austria to reek as much havoc as they could: “His Austrian Nazis held parades and marches, set buildings on fire, let off bombs and organized fights” (Source).

It was on February 12, 1938, then, that Austrian Chancellor von Schuschnigg, reluctantly not only agreed to “a greater Nazi presence” in Austria, but also agreed to appoint a Nazi minister of police, and even went so far as to announce “an amnesty for all Nazi prisoners” (Source).

Like many others before and after him, von Schuschnigg believed that appeasing Hitler would help prevent future invasion. But as seems to always be the case with Hitler, this was only the beginning.

See, shortly after von Schuschnigg made this agreement with Hitler, he attempted to deny any agreement signed at Berchtesgaden, “demanding a plebiscite [vote] on the question” (Source). This failed, and von Schuschnigg was forced to resign.

Von Schuschnigg claimed Austrians wanted a “free, independent, social, Christian united Austria” (Source).

However, even the Austrian President, Wilhelm Miklas, refused to cooperate. Desperate, Hermann Göring was forced to fake a crisis within the Austrian government.

[Below: Cheering crowds greet the Germans in Vienna.]

On March 12, “German troops entered Austria, and one day later, Austria was incorporated into Germany” (Source).

The evening of March 12, (after a stop in his birthplace, Braunau), Hitler was “enthusiastically welcomed” at the Linz city hall (Source). Here, he finally named Arthur Seyss-Inquart the governor of Austria, something he had tried and failed to do earlier, thanks to von Schuschnigg and Miklas.

Surprisingly, the Nazi presence was greeted with “enthusiastic support” and when von Schuschnigg’s earlier-planned plebiscite was carried through in April, the Anschluss was approved. Admittedly, the results were manipulated to give the Anschluss “more than 99%” approval – that, and both Jews and Roma were forbidden to vote (Source).

Immediately, antisemitic actions spread throughout the country, coupled, of course, with political violence. Those who had previously held government positions were arrested, along with anyone who opposed Hitler and his Nazis, as well as Communists and Social Democrats. As always, the Jews took the brunt of the humiliation and violence. Gestapo and Nazi sympathizers “looted Jewish belongings, seized Jewish businesses, and arrested those who refused to surrender their property. Furthermore, anti-Jewish legislation was in place almost immediately, forcing Jews from their positions, and essentially expelling them from the country’s economic, social, and cultural life” (Source).

On March 13, Hitler announced that Austria was a province of Ostmark. On the 15th, he travelled to Vienna, where he gave a speech declaring that Germany was Austria’s “liberators.”

Even then, he did everything in his power to suppress opposition, and as many as 70,000 people were arrested. At this time, thousands of German troops moved into the now German-controlled Austria. There was no Allied military action to oppose this move.

This was only the first step to combine all ethnic Germans into one, large German-controlled country. “Having succeeded in gaining Austria, Hitler then used similar tactics to gain the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia that contained over three million Germans” (Source).

[Below: Members of the League of German Girls wave Nazi flags in support of the German annexation of Austria in Vienna, Austria, March 1938]