From Prejudice to Persecution: A History of Austrian Anti-Semitism (55 page)

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Authors: Bruce F. Pauley

Tags: #History, #Jewish, #Europe, #Austria & Hungary, #Social Science, #Anthropology, #Cultural, #Discrimination & Race Relations, #test

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Page 242
17
The Defense against AntiSemitism
It is easy to imagine that Austrian Jews and gentiles were silent and passive in the face of the anti-Semitic campaign. Indeed, there were far more antiSemites than there were Jews, and many Jews did remain silent either because they did not experience antiSemitism personally or because they hoped that it would not get worse and would eventually disappear by itself.
Jewish Factionalism As a Hindrance to Self-Defense
The factionalism in the Jewish community in Vienna that produced such bitter rivalries within the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde and such widely differing interpretations concerning the rise and triumph of National Socialism also meant that there would almost never be a common front against the anti-Semitic enemy during the entire history of the First Austrian Republic. Nor was there a great deal of cooperation between Austrian Jews and the few Christians who were willing to help them. Of course, even a solid alliance between all Austrian Jews and their Christian allies could not have prevented the Holocaust and the death of most of the 65,000 Austrian Jews who perished in it, but it might have preserved more Jewish rights while Austria remained an independent state.
To a large extent the various Jewish factions regarded their ideologies as providing their best protection against antiSemitism, at least in the long run. The Unionists with their liberal, assimilationist philosophy were convinced that antiSemitism would disappear as soon as Jews were fully integrated socially and economically into Austrian society and Christians had become convinced that the Jews were unequivocally patriotic Austrians. Jews could also defend themselves by uniting with progressive and liberal elements of other political parties. This policy would require decades if not centuries to be fully imple-

 

Page 243

mented, however. Unfortunately, the Unionists' philosophy was also something of a handicap in combating antiSemitism. Their desire to blend into Austrian society made them reluctant to do anything that might emphasize their Jewishness.

1

Jews who belonged to the Social Democratic Party and who fully accepted its Marxist philosophy were likely to hold views on the question of self-defense somewhat similar to those of the assimilationists. Marxism taught that the Jews would eventually disappear in the classless society of the future. A selfconscious expression of Judaism was therefore simply not compatible with Socialism. For example, one of the most prominent Jewish members of the Social Democratic Party, Julius Deutsch, the leader of the party's paramilitary Schutzbund, never once mentioned his Jewish heritage in his memoirs,
Ein weiter Weg
(
A Long Road
).
2
At best, therefore, antiSemitism could be resisted only on the grounds that it was a disguised form of antiSocialism, which to some extent it was.
The Zionists thought that antiSemitism would end only after the Jews had established their own autonomist society, thus removing all sources of conflict with Christians. "The organizing of all Jews into a Volk [would] change the situation with a single blow. . . . It [was] unthinkable that a government could for long ignore the wishes and complaints of a united nation. . . . AntiSemitism would not disappear entirely, but it would no longer be born exclusively on the weak backs of individual people."
3
Like the Zionists, Orthodox Jews also believed that a partial withdrawal from Austrian politics and culture represented the best means of combating antiSemitism. They did not, however, believe that the formation of a single Jewish society could prevent the kind of tragedy that was then afflicting the Jews of Germany. Their belief that they were "the most worthwhile element representing the real Judaism"
4
virtually precluded cooperation with other Jewish factions. With them religion was the primary means to combat antiSemitism. The inner strengthening of religious belief and following the laws of Orthodox Judaism would win the respect of non-Jews, including antiSemites. Besides, the Messiah would come only after conditions for Jews had become dire. Their intense religiosity, however, contributed to passivity vis-à-vis antiSemitism. The past and present suffering of the Jewish people was beneficial, they believed, because it helped to "purify their souls" and "to understand God's word and way.''
5

 

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The Legalistic Approach to Self-Defense

The defensive strategy favored by the Union of Austrian Jews and the IKG, especially during the years up to 1932 when it was controlled by the Unionists, was
shtadanut
or lobbying behind the scenes with government officials for the enforcement of Austrian laws and issuing formal protests. The Unionist leaders of the IKG, many of whom were lawyers themselves, hoped that their grievances could be resolved through normal legal channels: police authorities, law courts, and district attorneys. Formal declarations and personal remonstrances to government officials were also employed. For example, the Kultusgemeinde frequently adopted resolutions demanding that the government stop the violence at Austria's universities. It also protested anti-Semitic posters, pamphlets, newspapers, and books as well as certain laws such as those described in the next chapter. The results, however, were mixed, especially with regard to academic antiSemitism. Usually government officials replied that existing laws made it impossible for them to do anything; this was especially true with regard to academic autonomy.

6

The Union of Austrian Jews also took legal actions of its own, quite independent of those of the Kultusgemeinde. Among the most successful of these actions was the union's campaign against discrimination in summer resorts. At a time when country clubs and hotels in the United States and other countries often excluded Jews, many health spas in Austria, and even entire communities catering to summer holiday visitors, sought to do likewise, though generally with much less success than their American counterparts. Anti-Semitic newspapers such as
Der eiserne Besen
and the revived
Deutsches Volksblatt
published lists of summer resorts that catered exclusively to "Aryans" or else republished lists from Jewish or Jewish-edited newspapers such as the
Wiener Morgenzeitung
and
Die Stunde
, which enumerated hotels and pensions where Jews were not welcome. Those establishments involved in providing food and lodging were obliged by law to serve Jews if they demanded it; however, they were free to post signs saying they preferred Aryan customers. Not surprisingly, that was usually enough to keep Jews away. Private individuals who merely rented out rooms were completely free to serve whomever they pleased.
7
Numerous city councils, particularly in the Alpine areas of Upper and Lower Austria, Salzburg, and the Tyrol, passed resolutions saying they did not want to have Jews as summer guests or even to have them stop there.
8
The union, sometimes supported by the
Neue Freie Presse
, made numerous complaints to the federal chancellery about the prohibitions. For once the union was effective in protesting this kind of discrimination, probably because

 

Page 245

the Austrian constitution was clearly on its side. For example, the Propaganda Bureau of the Austrian federal railways agreed not to distribute brochures, such as one published in Schladming in Upper Styria, because of anti-Semitic statements such as "Jews are not welcome." Upon hearing this news,
Der eiserne Besen
said the Alpine communities would now have to resort to "self help" to keep the Jewish tourists out.

9
The union also claimed to have succeeded in keeping the Austrian army accessible to Jews. By its own admission, however, the protests of the union were not always effective. For example, a protest against the holding of a meeting by the Antisemitenbund in March 1937 did not prevent the meeting from actually taking place.
10

A major obstacle in the way of greater legal successes by the union was the Austrian press law both before and after the First World War. It allowed newspapers and individuals to attack groups such as Jews, but not individuals, without fear of being sued for slander. And no Jewish individual or association, not even the IKG, had a right to sue in cases where Jewry as a whole had been slandered. Moreover, parliamentary immunity protected legislators who, in their own newspapers, attacked individual Jews, at least prior to the First World War. Consequently, the union was unable to prevent newspapers from publishing stories about Jewish ritual murder. It was probably also in part because of the wording of this law that Austrian antiSemitism tended to have a very abstract character, usually being directed against Jews in general rather than specific Jews.
11
The union's official organ,
Die Wahrheit
, frequently published editorials and articles that were obviously intended to counter anti-Semitic arguments and to reassure its readers that their assimilationist philosophy was viable. The paper asserted that the Austrian Jews were not a people without a country. "Our homelandand that cannot be said too often or too clearlyis Austria. We love this beautiful land; we love it just as much as our non-Jewish fellow citizens. We don't recognize any other homeland."
Die Wahrheit
denied that Jews belonged to a separate race or nationality; Jews undoubtedly belonged to the white or Caucasian race. The paper also emphasized that Jews were strongly traditional and conservative, otherwise they would not have survived so long. Only a small number of Jews, the renegades, were radical.
12
Zionist Self-Defense
The Unionists' conviction that antiSemitism was an aberration that could be fought through public enlightenment and legal measures encouraged a com-

 

Page 246

paratively strong if not always effective response to anti-Semitic actions and allegations. Zionists, on the other hand, viewed antiSemitism as being permanent, at least as long as Jews were culturally, economically, and socially integrated with Christians. Moreover, their belief in an ultimate emigration to Palestine, even if that day might be in the indefinite future, fostered a more ambiguous commitment toward Austria although Zionists were far from being disloyal citizens. However, their philosophy produced a somewhat fatalistic attitude toward antiSemitism and a tendency to ignore all but the most outrageous manifestations of the prejudice.

13

Zionists believed that if anti-Semitic attacks became severe they could appeal to the League of Nations to enforce the provisions of the Treaty of St. Germain guaranteeing minority rights. American Jews of Eastern European origins had fought hard to have such rights included in the treaties not only for Austrian Jews, but also for other Jews throughout Eastern Europe where persecutions had been common. The only problem was that the minority treaties contained no provisions for enforcement, an omission that was already pointed out in Dr.
Bloch's Wochenschrift
in January 1920 and repeatedly by
Die Wahrheit
thereafter. Such impotence had by the early 1930s already been demonstrated many times through the ineffectiveness of German and Jewish complaints to the league over the treatment of minorities in Poland. Another, and much more secret Zionist tactic, was to appeal to the headquarters of the World Zionist Organization in London to apply pressure on the Austrian government to prevent anti-Semitic excesses.
14
Calls for Jewish Unity
Austria's Jews were very much aware of their own disunity; most of them believed that they could better defend themselves against antiSemitism if they were united. Consequently, appeals were made for Jewish unity time and again by nearly every Jewish faction in the First Austrian Republic. The problem, however, was that nearly every group wanted unity only on its own terms; other Jews were supposed to give up their ideology and identity and join the group making the latest call for unity.
In this the Austrian Jews were no different from other Jews throughout both Eastern and Western Europe between the two world wars. At a time when Jews faced their most mortal threat since ancient times, they were everywhere badly divided. Nowhere in Europe did Jews effectively unite in the face of the growing anti-Semitic and fascist danger. Without a unified concept of what

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