Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

You said that yourfather supported Jewish charitable causes and things like that.

Yeah, orphans. Orphanages.

So did he have what youmight call uh, a Jewish identity that he.

Jewish identity?

was known as or did hecall himself a Viennese first and then?

Uh, he would call himself an, an Austrian Jew, Ithink, as I would. Jewish but of, of a definite setting. Because our, Viennahad a Kultursgemeinde, you know, where they. And uh, you had to pay taxes tothem.

So he was a member ofthe.

Oh yes, he was a member of that. We were registeredat birth. And, uh.

Legally in any case, hewas..

Yeah, yeah. It was a not a matter of hiding hisidentity of anything like that.

Um, you mentionedDollfuss before. Um, what, what was the family's feeling about Dollfuss when hetook.

Well, my father felt he was better than some of theothers. He had a sneaking suspicion that perhaps uh, Dollfuss was a latentanti-Semite. That he would probably enforce some of the same rules as Hitler,but not as severe. But he felt he was definitely better, definitely to bepreferred. And it was almost in his political leanings. And most of theSchwarzer are very conservative.

There was talk then in1933 when Hitler took power. There must have been some discussion then.

Oh yes, yes. We were concerned. We were worried.

Did your family havefriends or any relatives in Germany?

Not in Germany, no. No, we didn't know anyone in Germany.When the people came over and would tell us stories and of course ask formoney, we were suspecting that they were making some of it up. They would comewith a head bandage you know, that kind of thing. And now in retrospect I seethat they didn't make it up and. We were trying to deny it, I think, in a waybecause it was unbelievable.

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