A reminder...
Years ago, I wrote book reviews for The State, Columbia, S.C. These were of new books thought to be of interest to eclectic readers of the newspaper. It isn’t necessary, however, for a book to be fresh off the publisher’s presses to warrant a review.
If a stimulating book hasn’t been read earlier a review is still justified in spite of its having been published more than 15 years ago. I finished such a book this week.
In 2000, David Lehr, M.D., published “Austria Before and After the Anschluss,” sub-titled, “Personal Experiences, Observations, and Comments.” (Dorrance Publishing Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222, 361 pp.)
In this memoir, Dr. Lehr, the Professor Emeritus at New York Medical College, whose research work has been published worldwide, succeeded in reminding us of the horrific cost of racial prejudice.
Dr. Lehr was born in Austria and had completed his studies as a doctor when the Germans took over Austria in March 1938. Rather than being the first victim of Hitler’s Germany, as some Austrians claim, Austria welcomed the Nazis, according to Dr. Lehr. In many instances, Austrian Nazis outdid their German counterparts in hostile actions against Jews and other minorities. Antisemitism was the order of the day.
(Germany began some material compensation of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution around 1951, while it took Austria more than another 40 years to follow suit.)
In Vienna, Dr. Lehr writes, Jewish-owned automobiles were confiscated, homes and businesses looted and taken over, bank accounts seized, students kicked out of school, and men, women. and children were assaulted in the streets, all simply because they were Jews.
Jews who wanted to emigrate while it was still possible were unable to take any money with them and had to sign over all their possessions before they could obtain an exit visa. Without a friend or relative in a foreign country willing to help people were stranded without recourse. Eventually, most of these same people were rounded up, sent to concentration camps, and ultimately killed.
(Holocaust victims are estimated to number 11 million, six million of which were victims simply because they were Jews.)
In his 90th year, Dr. Lehr wrote of his struggle throughout the 1930’s with his medical studies, some eventful incidents in his practice, and the personal tragedy of his family, which miraculously managed to be united years later in the United States. When the Anschluss occurred on March 13, 1938, life for Jews took the most unimaginable and dreadful turn. The horror which awaited them (and the other Jews of Europe) was unknown, unprecedented and terrible in its outcome.
There were isolated positive encounters with “the very best and noble in Austria’s truly patrician stock,” but these were few and far between before and after the Anschluss. Dr. Lehr makes the point that remembering a positive act by a caring person stands out forever in a maelstrom of horror.
Dr. Lehr felt a responsibility “to lay bare the tragic truth of the Austrian Holocaust.” He felt it was owed to the fallen Jews of Austria and to history. I believe he has done a good job of it.
