1938: Anschluss Pogroms

Already in the first hours and days following the Nazi assumption of power, pogrom-style riots were deployed against the Jewish population of Austria. In Vienna, where more than 90 percent of Austria’s Jewish population lived, these riots came to define the image of the city. Anschluss Pogroms are, however, also known from other Austrian cities. In addition to arbitrary arrests and lootings, the notorious “scrubbing matches” (“Reibpartien”) were especially traumatic for the Jewish population. Using abrasive lye and brushes and having to get down on their knees, Jews were forced to remove the slogans of the Schuschnigg referendum for an independent Austria from streets and buildings. Such acts of violence took place in full public view – before the eyes of and with the support, consent or at least tacit tolerance of the broadest sections of the population. These illustrate the lack of rights and defencelessness that Jews were, proverbially speaking, subjected to overnight.