Social Democrats Escape/Emigrate from the Dollfuss-Schuschnigg Dictatorship

Escape from the Dolffuss-Schuschnigg dictatorship already began during the Austrian Civil War of February 1934. Czechoslovakia (ČSR) became the main country of exile for Austrian refugees after February 1934. Some 2000 combatants of the Austrian Civil War and political functionaries of political organisations that had been banned during the Civil War found accommodation there, and a smaller number of vulnerable people from Styria and Carinthia fled to Yugoslavia. Occasionally, Austrians also fled to Switzerland, Belgium, France, Great Britain or the Scandinavian countries.  

The Austrian Social Democrats’ External Office (ALÖS), which was founded in Brno by Otto Bauer and Julius Deutsch, helped people escape, housed them in camps and smuggled political writings and flyers into Austria. Some 1000 Austrian refugees in the ČSR accepted an invitation to the Soviet Union in 1934/35. Later, many of them either fell victim to Stalinist terror, continued on to the Spanish Civil War or returned to Austria in disappointment.