Nationalsozialismus in Wien: Machtübernahme, Herrschaftssicherung, Radikalisierung 1938/39

Abstract

The question of how National Socialism came to power in Vienna has been an absolute taboo in Austrian History for a long time. SS-Terror and the pressure of Reichsdeutsche corresponded with the enthusiastic assistance of Austrian Nazis and a rebellious Kleinbürger movement – being torn between storms of enthusiasm and anti-Jewish-pogroms. This article integrates the results of Gerhard Botz’s large monograph of 1978, which has been revised and extended several times since then. The example of Vienna in 1938/39 shows how of the Nazi’s seize of power and consolidation went hand in hand with daily mechanisms of surveillance and rewards, conviction and persecution of individuals and groups. Hitler himself interfered often in Viennes anti-Jewish and other racial matters as well in many decisions on city planning, architecture and music, he displayed a real love-hate relationship with the city where he had spent several years of his youth