1938–1945: “Austrians” in the Wehrmacht

After the “Anschluss” (“annexation”) of Austria to the German Reich in 1938, as many as 1.3 million “Austrians” had been drafted into the German Wehrmacht as soldiers by the end of the war in 1945. This represented around 40% of the then male population of Austria, who were integrated into the army, air force and navy of the Wehrmacht.

“Ostmark” divisions were raised on the territory of Austria  and were formed predominantly of “Austrians”. Mountain troops in particular became a particular focus. The “Ostmark” units were deployed from the first day of the war in almost all campaigns of the Second World War. On several occasions they were deployed as a force to cover entire sections of the front, for example in the war against Poland in 1939, Norway in 1940/41 and Yugoslavia in 1941.

“Austrian” members of the Wehrmacht were generally considered to be reliable soldiers and many of them remained loyal to their oath of allegiance until the end. There were also courageous and selfless helpers among them such as Anton Schmid and Erwin Leder (who were honoured as Righteous Among the Nations), members of the resistance such as Robert Bernardis, yet also those like Franz Böhme who willingly carried out the Nazi policy of annihilation. More than 200 “Austrians” rose to the rank of general in the Wehrmacht and some were in command of divisions numbering several hundred thousand soldiers.

In the Second Republic, for several decades Austria claimed the role of victim in its foreign policy and portrayed Austrian members of the Wehrmacht as having been drawn into the war against their will (victim thesis). At the same time, however, many Austrian federal and regional politicians honoured former members of the Wehrmacht in public commemorations and at memorial unveilings, justifying their service in the Wehrmacht as the “fulfilment of duty”. This ambiguous interpretation of Austria's role in the war began to fall apart during the 1986 presidential election campaign (“Waldheim affair”) and was finally overturned in the wake of the Wehrmacht Exhibition in the 1990s and 2000s.