Ramesch Daha: WIEN 1933 – 1935 (Transcript)
1. Display window: Wiener Zeitung [Vienna Gazette]
230th year – Wednesday, 8 March 1933 – No. 56
Publisher and proprietor: The Federal Government of the Republic of Austria
Extraordinary Council of Ministers
At an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, held under the chairmanship of the Federal Chancellor Dr Dollfuss, the situation arising from the dissolution of the National Council was discussed.
The Council of Ministers resolved that the measures necessary to maintain peace and order and to safeguard the economic life of the country shall be taken by the Federal Government.
It was further decided that the Federal Chancellor should continue with legislative measures by way of emergency decrees in accordance with Article 48 of the Federal Constitution.
Rejection of the Government’s request to resign
The Federal Chancellor informed the Council of Ministers that the Federal President had not accepted the Government’s request to resign and had asked it to continue conducting the affairs of government.
The Council of Ministers took note of this with satisfaction.
To the People of Austria!
The situation arising from the sudden events in the sitting of the National Council of the Republic of Austria is both dangerous and instructive.
As you know, the Presidents of the National Council have, as a result of an incident, relinquished their functions and thereby rendered the National Council inoperative.
This has placed the Federal Government under the obligation to maintain peace, security and order within the state.
The Government therefore declares that, as from today, peace and order must be maintained in Austria.
All citizens must be conscious of this duty. Every good Austrian loves his fatherland; he knows that in these desperate times the welfare of the homeland stands above all parties and groupings.
The Federal Government will remain steadfast in the discharge of its duty.
It will suppress by all means necessary any action that is hostile to the state. It will ensure that the life and property of every peaceful citizen are protected.
To those who believe they can exploit the present situation, the Federal Government declares:
Whoever offends against public order will be dealt with, with relentless severity.
Whoever commits acts of violence will feel the full force of the law.
The Federal Government will do everything to maintain the economy of the country, to ensure the provision of supplies to the population, to promote employment and alleviate hardship.
To this end, the Government expects the energetic co-operation of every upright Austrian. Only through unity and discipline can this difficult period be overcome.
The Federal Government calls upon every citizen’s sense of responsibility, patriotism and devotion to duty.
It expects from all people that they devote themselves calmly, with discipline and diligence, to their occupations, in order to help Austria endure this difficult time.
Austria must be saved!
God protect our fatherland!
Vienna, 7 March 1933
The Federal Government of the Republic of Austria
Ban on Meetings and Marches
In order to prevent disturbances and to maintain public peace, order and security, all political meetings, marches and demonstrations are hereby prohibited until further notice.
This measure applies to all associations, regardless of political orientation.
Breaches of this prohibition will be strictly punished under the applicable laws.
Vienna, 7 March 1933
The Federal Chancellery
2. Display window: Das kleine Volksblatt [The General Public’s Paper]
Welcome to Vienna
3. Display window: Wiener Zeitung [Vienna Gazette]
Publisher and proprietor: The Federal Government of the Republic of Austria
231st year – Sunday, 11 February 1934 – No. 40
Official section
By the decree of 16 January, the Federal President has awarded the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria to the former deputy head of the Scholarship Commission, Dr Josef Küllö, in recognition of his services to the Austrian Association of Royal Bosnian Officers.
By the decree of 3 February, the Federal President has awarded the Golden Cross of Merit for Services to the Republic of Austria to the merchant’s widow Maria G. Huber of Knittelfeld, Styria, in recognition of her services in the field of nursing.
The issuing of the bandmaster’s licence
On the basis of the provisions of Section 6(3)(f) of the Federal Government Ordinance of 28 December 1933, Gazette No. 4, concerning the professional regulations for Austrian bandmasters in force from the end of 1934 until March 1937, the Federal Minister of Education has determined the following:
Examination Commission for Bandmasters:
Chairman: Bandmaster Professor Richard Heuberger, Vienna.
Members:
Bandmaster Hermann Keldorfer, Graz.
Secretary-General: Bandmaster Felix Apold, Vienna.
State Opera: Bandmaster Josef Krips, Vienna.
Bandmaster Viktor Fell, Vienna.
Bandmaster A. Gallberger, Vienna.
Professor Robert Stolzhofer, Director of the Mozarteum in Vienna.
Bandmaster Ignaz Ehrenhaus, Vienna.
Bandmaster Hans Schlenker, Vienna.
Professor Josef Schöffel, Vienna.
Deputy members:
Music Director Max Ort, Vienna.
Music Director Alois Frank, Vienna.
Bandmaster Hermann Ronach, Vienna.
Bandmaster Professor Wilhelm Thal, Eisenstadt.
Suspension of the Sale of Decorations
The Chief of Police in Vienna has, on the basis of Section 3 of the Federal Government Ordinance of 11 December 1933, Gazette No. 87, prohibited the public sale and distribution of decorations, badges, and similar items of all kinds.
The sale already commenced is to be discontinued.
Issue of cigar and cigarette tax stamps
The General Administrative Office announces that the new tax stamps for cigars and cigarettes (Forms A and C) will come into force on 12 February. The old forms will remain valid only until 1 March 1934. The measure affects the districts of Rornewburg, Klosterneuburg, Purkersdorf, Wöllersdorf, Baden, Großenzersdorf and Gloggnitz.
Announcement: The Front firmly united
Yesterday, Federal Chancellor Dr Dollfuss received the Chief of the Federal Army, Dr Kundt.
In his address, the Federal Chancellor emphasised the current situation:
“Since I assumed the conduct of government affairs, I have – trusting in the feeling of solidarity with our people and with awareness of the great task placed upon us by God – resolved to build Austria as a free and independent state. The parliamentary crisis has compelled us to take new paths and in the recognition that the old system of party politics has failed, we have undertaken the great task of creating a new state structure.
In this serious hour, every Austrian must carry within himself a sense of unity and must know that he is serving the great cause of our fatherland.”
In recent days, “the patriotic unity of all social classes and professional groups, of all loyal Austrians, has clearly become evident.”
The Austrian working class, the Chancellor said, “in this difficult time has made a great pledge to the homeland”; the entire population stands together.
He concluded with the words:
“Our hour is the hour of fulfilment. We want to show that Austria is alive. May the Lord God bless our work.”
Statement by the Federal Chancellor
“I am filled with pride and gratitude for the love of our people, which stands united in the most sacred cause of the fatherland. We want and will demonstrate that Austria is alive, that Austria is a Christian, German-speaking and free country.
May God bless our work!”
Vienna, 10 February 1934
Federal Chancellor Dr Engelbert Dollfuss
Final note
Vienna, 11 February 1934
By the Chancellor of the Austrian Provincial Government Committee.
4. Display window: Wiener Zeitung [Vienna Gazette]
Publisher and proprietor: The Federal Administration
231st year – Monday, 12 February 1934 – No. 42
It is officially announced:
Order restored in Linz
In Linz, at 18:15, order has been largely restored.
Government—Master of the Situation
Vienna, 12 February
In Linz, most of the buildings occupied by the Republican Defence League [Schutzbund] have been taken over by the police and military forces.
In Steyr, clashes also occurred between members of the Republican Defence League [Schutzbund] and executive authorities. Military units are in the process of restoring order.
In Styria, acts of violence by Social Democratic supporters occurred in Graz and Bruck an der Mur. Here too, the military has been deployed.
In all other federal provinces, as well as in Vienna, calm prevails.
The telephone service is functioning again.
The Government is in full control throughout the federal territory and is determined to punish criminal attacks on peace and order by all means necessary, including the most severe.
Statements by the Security Director of Upper Austria
Linz, 12 February
The Security Director announces:
During the incident of the demolition at the Hotel Schiller, the police were met with gunfire.
The hotel was stormed with the use of artillery and machine guns; 40 people were captured. One machine gun as well as explosive materials were seized.
By the evening of 12 February, in those districts of Urfahr that had been subjected to artillery fire, hostilities had almost completely ceased.
The town is generally calm. At some points with a larger working-class population, gatherings are still taking place.
In Linz, leadership has already gained control of the situation through the movement. The federal army, gendarmerie, police and auxiliary protection corps units are acting together in a coordinated manner. In some places in Upper Austria, there have been clashes between the authorities and red insurgents. Steyr is occupied; the authorities are in control.
At present, an operation is still underway against the Domhof, the police administration being a centre of resistance, for which military forces have also been deployed.
Vienna City Hall Occupied
In Vienna, calm has been restored.
Electric lighting is already functioning, and the telephone system is operational and providing the government with immediate information.
Vienna City Hall has already been occupied by the federal police, the federal army, and strong detachments of the protection corps.
A number of officials closely connected with the acts of violence have already been arrested.
Proclamation of Martial Law
Vienna, 12 February
Proclamation concerning the imposition of martial law for the crime of insurrection (§§ 73, 74 of the Penal Code) for the territory of the federal state of Vienna.
The Police President, acting as Security Director for the federal state of Vienna, has – on the basis of Article 94 of the Federal Constitution in conjunction with the decree of the Federal Government of 11 December 1933 (Federal Law Gazette No. 87) – ordered the imposition of martial law over the territory of the federal state of Vienna.
The maintenance of public peace and order requires this measure.
Martial law comes into force on 12 February 1934.
Anyone who attempts, through insurrection, to commit acts of public violence or to incite others to similar acts of violence will be punished with death under martial law.
Special military courts have been set up for trial.
The duty to report – apart from every person still present in the Catholic Action or in the Fatherland Front – also applies to every authority, office, and public body, which is obliged to report immediately any act hostile to the state.
8. Gatherings and group formations in the streets are prohibited.
In its own interest, the population is urgently urged to avoid any presence on public streets in the evening.
Violators will be taken away immediately by the authorities.
Members of the federal army and the armed units of the Fatherland Front will act with the utmost determination against any threat to public order.
Vienna, 12 February 1934
5. Display window: The February Uprising 1934, Appendix 4
Storming of the southern section of the Karl Marx Court by the Field Bicycle Battalion No. 2 and the 7th Company of Infantry Regiment No. 4 on 13 February.
6. Display window: Poster
Warning!
For reasons of public welfare, all street demonstrations planned for 1 May have been prohibited by the authorities.
Nevertheless, some groups have issued the call to march into the inner city on 1 May and to demonstrate there.
To prevent this, the Federal Police Directorate, with the support of the federal army, will block access routes to the inner city on 1 May and will also take comprehensive precautionary measures.
The population is most strongly warned against participating in any form of demonstration and is urged not to follow the call to go into the city.
The authorities are firmly determined, in accordance with their duty, to suppress any demonstration if necessary, using the most severe means.
The Federal Police Directorate expects that the population will heed this appeal in its own interest and will avoid anything in these difficult days that could damage the good reputation of our city and our homeland.
Vienna, 28 April 1933
The Federal Police Directorate in Vienna.
7. Display window: Wiener Zeitung [Vienna Newspaper]
231st year of publication – Tuesday, 13 February 1934 – No. 43
Publisher and owner: The Federal Administration
Official section
The Federal President, by decree of 13 January of this year, has awarded the retired forest ranger Joseph Wurzinger of Weyer (Upper Austria), in recognition of his long-standing services to forestry, the Golden Decoration of Merit for Services to the Republic of Austria.
The Federal President, by decree of 11 January of this year, has awarded the former mayor Franz Kothbauer of Schärding in Upper Austria the Silver Decoration of Merit, in recognition of his services to the public good.
To the People of Austria!
A leadership devoid of all responsibility within the Social Democratic Party has attempted to rise up against the state authorities by force of arms, as well as to call a general strike and mobilise the armed Republican Protection League.
This criminal assault on the state authorities has already claimed lives.
In fulfillment of its duty, the Federal Government has intervened with full force.
Apart from several smaller clashes in various places, calm prevails throughout the federal territory.
The Federal Government once again issues a serious appeal to the misguided elements to desist from their mad undertaking and to return peacefully to their work.
Anyone who takes up arms against the lawful organs of order will be subject to all provisions of martial law extended to cover insurrection.
In the federal territory of Austria, peace and composure shall prevail.
The Federal Government calls upon the population to resume work and fulfil their daily duties.
The Government is convinced that all loyal forces of the state, bound to the country in spirit, will bring about a swift and bloody collapse of the socialist-communist agitators.
The main elements of the movement have already been disarmed and all preparations have been made to bring the remaining perpetrators of this criminal attack to justice.
In order to restore public order, the Federal Government has appointed Federal Minister Emil Schmitz as Federal Commissioner for Vienna.
The heroic people, who have worked through these difficult sacrifices for the rebuilding of their country, will not allow this successful work of the Federal Government to be disrupted at any cost by anti-state elements.
Austrians! Men and women!
In a decisive hour we call upon you.
At a time when we are engaged in the hardest struggle for the freedom of our fatherland, socialist-communist criminals have risen against state authority, have caused bloodshed and have threatened the economy with a general strike.
The Federal Government is confident of success.
This success is all the more certain the more the loyal population aligns itself with the efforts of the government and fulfils its hard duty of preserving the state.
Austria above all!
The Federal Government
Social Democratic Party dissolved
Vienna, 12 February
Across the entire federal territory, the premises of the Social Democratic Party of Austria have been closed and sealed by government authorities.
At the same time, the dissolution of the party has been ordered.
The party’s assets and those of its affiliated organisations have been confiscated.
The editorial offices have been abolished, and all official party publications are to cease.
All personnel of the Social Democratic organisations have been instructed to refrain from any further political activity.
Minister Schmitz – Federal Commissioner for Vienna
The Municipal Council and the Provincial Parliament of Vienna are dissolved.
The functions of the state are transferred to the Federal Commissioner appointed by the Federal Government, Dr. Emil Schmitz.
Note at the bottom of the page:
240,000 people need winter relief! Keep this in mind!
8. Display window: Diary of Fritz Habeck, page 53
[…] somewhat in a state of agitation. We also have so little food in the flat. In my mind I was already selecting those writings which would have to be burned in the event of a house search. Finally, we lay down; the fire had more or less died down.
13 FEB. 1934
I slept through a magnificent night battle. During the night artillery was deployed and we had two hours of continuous bombardment. In the Karl-Marx-Hof there are some machine-gun nests in the blue and red towers. From many windows and balconies, they are firing rifles. From all the wooden floors, laundries and kindergartens, smoke can be seen rising. We have a magnificent battlefield. 7 a.m.:
9. Display window: Overview map of Vienna
Focal points of the clashes, 12–15 February 1934. Prisons and emergency prisons for arrested members of the Republican Defence League [Schutzbund].
10. Display window: Overview map: fighting in Vienna, 1934
11. Display window: Overview map of Vienna, detail
Focal points of the clashes, 12–15 February 1934. Prisons and emergency prisons for arrested members of the Republican Defence League [Schutzbund].
12. Display window: Diary of Fritz Habeck
[Heavy] rifle fire. On the balcony wall of our neighbour Schmidt there are seven bullet marks.
4 p.m.: Fairly calm, still, though occasional rifle fire. Thank God there is no school tomorrow. Very dull here because Mother has to sleep and everything must be kept quiet. No radio reports because Mother is sleeping.
5 p.m.: Calm. At the blue tower. At the red ruins military patrols, individual shots. I sit and look into the air. I don’t know what to do with myself. Many curious onlookers are already coming to the courtyard to look at the damage. If things are quiet tomorrow, I’ll fetch my film and take photographs. It’s a pity it didn’t work out today.
6 p.m.: It is already quite dark. The situation has changed little since 2 p.m. Not much happening. I am getting rather bored.
13. Display window: Map Karl-Marx-Hof
Example of a secured march through a city.
Strength of the unit: one company of 4 platoons, each platoon consisting of 4 squads.
All security duties use between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total force i.e. roughly one platoon as security and 3 squads as blocking and assault troops.
“Clearers” who call out to the crowd with “Clear” – “Street clear”, ordering them to leave the street.
Advance guard: at the front, one squad as blocking unit, on both sides half a squad each to observe the houses; then re-forming back into the blocking squad, with the core of those being secured in the centre.
Assault unit: a strong squad which suppresses smaller pockets of resistance in houses, roof cover etc.
Blocking units: which seal off side streets with small patrols of 2–3 men and, through house patrols sent ahead, scout the street ahead; houses are to be searched and secured until the next group arrives.
Main body: the remaining 3/4 of the men follow in company column formation.
Procedure when halted: blockade up the middle of the street with the barrier unit in full strength.
14. Display window: Diary of Fritz Habeck
I wake up and receive news of the night battle. Fairly calm. Isolated machine-gun fire. People in the street. In the courtyard, rubble. General fear among the population. We eat. We are in considerable ignorance about the general situation.
8 a.m.: The baker comes and tells us many things. All in all, he knows no more than we do. The entrance gates are locked; the cellar keys are laid out in case of bombardment. Mother goes downstairs to shop. Calm. Two dead [illegible] lie in front of staircase no. 14. Everything is covered with cartridge cases and packaging. Our large gates bear hundreds of bullet marks.
9 a.m.: Through binoculars we can see very clearly the small field guns pointed down at us. Their barrels are aimed at the blue towers. A corner has already been blasted away there.
15. Display window: Overview map of Vienna, detail
Focal points of the clashes, 12–15 February 1934. Prisons and emergency prisons for arrested members of the Republican Defence League [Schutzbund].
16. Display window: Diary of Fritz Habeck
When I try to go home again, the tram only runs as far as F. Josefbahnhof. Outside there is shooting. I run at full speed as far as [illegible] Alley. The building is cordoned off. Mother is inside. By taking detours I can finally get past a post and reach the Hohe Warte, from where I run into the courtyard. Taking cover along the wall, I make my way through the courtyard, which is under fire, into the flat. Nobody there. Back again. The firing has stopped. I run to Jungermann and find Mother. I telephone Father to say that we should flee. Everyone is already moving out. I run back into the building, fetch money and hand over the house keys to the caretaker in case of a possible search. Then upstairs to Grandmother. In the afternoon downstairs again, back in the building during a lull in the fighting. It has to because the keys are in [illegible], cabinet […]
17. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
27 June 1935. On the eve of the 150th day of my imprisonment.
I have made myself this small, poor notebook today. It is to be my companion in the coming days. From the very first day of my imprisonment, I should have kept notes, for during this time there has often been something that would have been worth recording. One day, when one will have gained distance from things and if my memory does not fail me, I will make it up. How much longer? The same question every day! This constant hoping for the next day, which might perhaps bring clarity. And again nothing.
It is terribly humid in my small cell now. At night one can hardly sleep. One lies on one’s back, stares through the bars at the window into the sky and thinks about all the things one has done badly in one’s life (and there were many!) and wonders what this or that person might be doing, whether those friends from years of companionship ever think of me here and there.
What will I do when I am outside again?
18. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
Bruno Kreisky of 30 June
In L.G. 1 since 30 May
In political detention (Pol. G.H.) since 30 January
19. Display window: Bundesgesetzblatt [Federal Law Gazette] of the Federal State of Austria
Year 1934 – issued on 1 May 1934 – 1st issue
1. Announcement: Constitution 1934
1. Announcement by the Federal Government of 1 May 1934 by which the Constitution of 1934 is published.
On the basis of the authorisation granted under Article II of the Federal Constitutional Act of 30 April 1934, Bundesgesetzblatt [Federal Law Gazette] No. 255, the Constitution of 1934 is hereby published in the annex.
Dollfuss Fey Schuschnigg Neubacher-Stürmer Buresch
Stroblinger Schönburg Gruber Kerber Schmitz
Appendix
Constitution 1934
In the name God, from whom all law proceeds, the Austrian people receive this Constitution for their Christian, German federal state based on the corporative principle.
First Chapter: Fundamental Provisions
Article 1
Austria is a federal state.
Article 2
The federal state is organised on a corporative basis and consists of the federal provinces:
The City of Vienna and the provinces of Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg.
Article 3
a) The colours of Austria are red–white–red.
b) The state coat of arms of Austria consists of a free-floating, double-headed black eagle, crowned with gold and likewise armed and red-tongued, whose chest bears a red shield traversed by a silver (white) horizontal band.
c) The seal of the Federal State of Austria shall bear the state coat of arms described in Atlas 2, with the inscription “Austria”.
Article 4
(1) The federal territory comprises the territory of the City of Vienna and the territories of the other federal provinces.
(2) Any change to the federal territory, as well as any change to the territory of a federal state, likewise any alteration of state borders within the federal territory, as well as cessions arising from peace treaties, may only be affected by corresponding constitutional laws of the Federation and of the provinces whose territory is affected.
Article 5
a) The federal territory forms a single monetary, economic and customs area.
b) Inter-provincial restrictions on transport within the federal territory may otherwise only be introduced by federal law.
Article 6
a) The federal capital and seat of the highest federal authorities is Vienna.
b) For the duration of exceptional circumstances, the Federal President may transfer the seat of the highest federal authorities to another place within the federal territory.
Article 7
The German language is the state language.
The rights granted to linguistic minorities shall remain unaffected thereby.
20. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[This book is recently a proof that in Austria] everything is “softened” by negligence. Even the …! But that does not make it any more bearable. But back to the beautiful book! In a wonderfully simple style, a woman tells her story, her words falling harshly. Much bitterness runs through it. One reads this book in a single sitting. When one has finished it, one feels oppressed – so gloomy it was. A woman alone, without knowledge, without help, struggles with life, with love, fights against everything: against her father, against her friends, against the man she loves, against herself, against society. One senses from the book, from this confession of life by a mature woman, how she is always and incessantly on the way to somewhere. The geographical stations of her life are also her emotional ones. Concretely: this woman wants and is able to love with complete passion, yet she builds walls of unapproachability around herself. In loving this man, she doesn’t want to become his slave. [She has seen this] so often in her life.
21. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
My optimism is slowly making me look ridiculous. Often, I had been mistaken out there. Yet I always remained, despite everything, the famous “incorrigible” optimist. “Difficulties exist to be overcome” – how often I said this to my friends when they were truly despondent. Yes, I must remain the optimist, even here inside. Even if it is extremely difficult. I must not betray my way of life. I owe that to myself and above all to all those who believe in me. If a swimmer, after getting water in his mouth, had stopped swimming, he would have gone under. No – he wanted to stay afloat, he wanted to remain above the surface. I want to stay afloat! I want to!
29 June 1935
Today I finished reading a splendid book. A young American woman, daughter of a small farmer and later a miner, struggles her way towards socialism. I do not want to name the title of this book here because there would be the danger that it would be removed from the prison library.
This book is once again proof that in Austria [everything is “softened” by negligence.]
22. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[What will] I do when I am out again? Will it really be the end of my dealings with the law? To start all over again at 25? Then I see myself in court, the fighter awakening in me. I want to be and I will be brave – that I know. I will stand before my judges and tell them about my life, how the wonderful youth movement became the purpose of my life, what it made of me. I will make my political statement. My thoughts slow down and I fall asleep again.
Why have I not received a letter [from] R. for 14 days already? That worries me. Has something happened? Don’t those outside know how one waits for just a few lines? One day passes after another. The faster, the better! And yet there are days that are definitively lost, that will never return. The investigating judges and public prosecutors have time – or I want to be fair – much to do. So, the file Bruno Kreisky is simply set aside for a few days. They are certainly not doing it out of malice; it probably cannot be otherwise. Me, and not me, we sit in our cells and consume our lives. It is true: one never hopes as strongly as when things are most hopeless. I hope – and with me, hundreds hope!
23. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[The others, however, would always smile a little condescendingly] when they met me, as if they wanted to say: “What you are doing is nothing at all, anyone can do that! A bit of talent for empathy a[nd] it works. But we – we discuss. We clarify concepts.” How they confused things, if only they had known. A few sentences that are in the book I want to set down here; they are good and comforting: “… I learned how much intelligent and revolutionary people can suffer under the fact of oppression.” I too! Or: “If you join our movement, you cannot treat it like an adventure and play with it for a few months. It is a lifelong task and a very dangerous one. It requires knowledge and the capacity to suffer for a principle. One must understand it in its full meaning.”
“It must be a faith in the heart, so faithful that it rises again even when it has been struck down.” [I wish to add nothing to these profound, honest words.]
24. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[To them, their] problems apparently mean nothing, for they speak so cleverly about other things? She must deal with it herself! Whether she will manage it? One cannot tell from the book.
Excellent is the depiction of the intellectuals in the workers’ movement. Not only in America is it like this – everywhere. Only that in America they almost form the party on their own – that is why they make no progress there. “Their quick, ironic replies… their smile… but there always remained a feeling of powerlessness and humiliation.” They could not understand how difficult it is to start from the beginning. Yes, they are exactly like that; I have seen them for years in the movement. I fought them, wanted to make them useful. Now and then I succeeded. Those became my good friends. [The others, however, would always smile] a little condescendingly when they met me, as if they wanted to say: “What you are doing is all nothing, anyone can do it! A bit of talent for empathy a[nd] it works.”]
25. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[She has seen this so often in her life.] From this inner conflict there develops in her a constant, deep restlessness. Every man [who] she likes is like a [constant] dangerous attack on her freedom. One must have read this book in order to understand the excesses of the women’s rights movements. She reacts quite differently. She fights against herself – first of all. Later she understands all this very clearly – knows how much love and marriage today are socially conditioned. They are false and bad because the social order is bad, of which they are manifestations. Therefore, she fights against the social order. She is very logical, this small, strong woman! First there is feeling—a deep, rebellious feeling. Then reason comes, very hesitantly and slowly. There are so many intelligent people to whom these things apparently mean nothing. To them their great [problems apparently mean nothing, for they speak so cleverly about other things?]
26. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
Nevertheless, I was cheerful and in quite good spirits. However, when I heard the first barred door behind me fall into the lock, it gave me a slight shock. One enters a cave in order to find the exit more easily; one unrolls a thread, which suddenly breaks somewhere. One reassures oneself after the first fright that one will find the way out anyway, but then one notices that the cave has many passages. One does not find the way out as quickly as one thought. It was something like that for me! I have still not found my way out.
I was brought into a freshly whitewashed cell; even the whitewash smelled of carbolic acid. Carbolic acid or whatever that stuff is – I have had that smell in my nose for five months now. I hope I will not miss it one day. Then I received one piece of bread – a slice per day! Soon the midday meal came – I politely declined, for the first time. The experiences of my first [day I will write down another time.]
27. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[At first one suffers from it – then comes indifference.] When that comes – then those over at Sch[otten] R[ing] have lost. Then politeness and promises are of no use.
It is so strange: this book is hardly damaged at all, or only very slightly. Everyone probably handles it very carefully – it is meant that many more should read it after us.
1 July
I want to note down a few dates today, knowing well that I will certainly never forget them. On 30 January 1935 I was woken at half past five in the morning. A house search followed, and afterwards I was asked to go to the police headquarters to give information. (I have not yet been formally arrested to this day.) The criminal officers said that I would most certainly be back home by midday. Why do people lie when there is no need to? Did they think I would flee? I was, of course, immediately taken to the detention house, about which I had no doubt from the very first moment.
28. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[“It must be a faith in the heart, so faithful that it rises again even when it has been struck down]” I wish to add nothing to these profound, honest words.
One more thing: I found a sentence in it that a police comm[issioner] said to her. They remain the same everywhere in the world. That comes with the profession. They said the same to me, word for word. “Miss …! You are American (you are a clever person – said to me) and should not assume the ridiculous pose of a martyr. If you tell us everything, you will be free in ten minutes.” Yes, I still remember it very well – the sun was shining outside, it was a beautiful day. I was hungry, I wanted to smoke, I wanted to comb my hair again. I wanted so much – I wanted to be a human being again! One unlearns that so quickly – these outward things. At first one suffers from it – then comes indifference.]
29. Display window: Diary of Bruno Kreisky
[The polite manner of most supervisory staff and the humane treatment-] way was the first thing that struck me here. Over there, if a “Kes” was friendly – it was an event we could talk about for hours. That is no exaggeration.
All the many small, amusing and sad experiences I will write down later one day.
On the Elisabeth Promenade I learned a great deal, was introduced to the deepest secrets of criminals, and made acquaintance with the following “professions”: burglars of various kinds (safecrackers, villa burglars, shoplifters, jewel thieves etc.), thieves, international pickpockets, fraudsters, forgers of passports, receivers of stolen goods, [Kridataran], smugglers etc. Many were also, as a side occupation, pimps. I got on quite well with all of them! There are real characters among them. I cannot help my sympathy for these people. I was with them day and night; I was dependent on them. Punishment [is intended to reform, among other things.]
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[One suffered from advanced tuberculosis, the second had permission to stay in bed because of a severe bronchial infection – until then I was sure I was healthy; whether I still am, I do not know.] I hope so!
I was arrested on 30 January and was exceptionally allowed, already on 26 February, to speak with my father for five minutes at the police station. Normal visits I was only able to receive after seven weeks.
In remained in [cell] 37 for a further four weeks; then it was to “pack up” again – I was moved to [cell] 71, alone. Hardly had [I] settled in when, after three hours, I was moved again, this time to [cell] 61. There were two there; I was the third. After another four weeks I was moved yet again – I came on 24 April to cell 18 A, in shared accommodation. There it was comparatively the best. On 30 May I was moved – or rather, transported in a dark confined cell – to the R[egional] C[ourt] I. The polite manner of most supervisory staff a[nd] the humane treatment- [was the first thing that struck me here.]
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[The experiences of my first] day I will write down another time. Only this much: the first days alone in a cell, not knowing why one is there at all, nothing to read, nothing to smoke –nothing at all – that is the worst thing of all!
In cell 36 I remained for 4 weeks, then for inexplicable reasons I was transferred to 37, probably only because cell 36, although a single cell, finally lost its third occupant. I came to 37; there were of course already two there, so we were three again. My cellmate with whom I had been together for 3 weeks remained alone – for 14 days. We became good friends; more about that another time. In cell 37 there were two nice people with whom I got on well. One suffered from advanced tuberculosis, the second had permission to stay in bed because of a severe bronchial infection – until then I was sure I was healthy; whether I still am, [I do not know. I hope so!]
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[We decided at that time – it was a very] tense period – the Communist Youth Organisation had then begun to launch a strong attack against us—to discuss the matter with the youth trade unions, the Party and the Chamber of Labour. We eventually brought our proposals before the Youth Council of the Chamber, where they also received the unconditional approval of the Christian organisations. The funds for the action were made available by the municipality, the Chamber, the trade unions and the Social Democratic Party. A few weeks later we assembled in the meeting hall of the City Hall in order to form the board of trustees. Socialists and Catholics jointly decided to help young people in need. My delegate card for this meeting was confiscated by the police during my house search. Where are the initiators of this “great action” today.
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[On the occasion of its anniversary, a large summer festival will be held in the arcades of City Hall, the net proceeds of which will go to this action. It is expected] that it will become a major social event. For this reason, I want to recall the time 5 years ago.
The hardship of unemployed youth was steadily increasing; the number of expelled young unemployed people grew daily. One looked with anxiety towards the coming winter. For us, who lived among this youth in need, no extensive reports on their situation were necessary—we knew it. Among this youth in distress were many of our closest friends. The district leadership of the Viennese S.A.J. met. It deliberated on what should be done in the coming winter. At that time, I proposed that we open our homes all day, organise courses and form activity groups. Where would the money for heating come from? Our groups were hardly able to properly heat the homes in the evenings. We decided at that time – it was a very [tense period – the communist youth organisation had then begun a strong attack against us – with the youth trade unions, the party, and the Chamber of Labour to discuss the matter.]
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[The purpose of punishment] is, among other things, reformation. I have once again been convinced of this through personal experience. It has a moralising effect! There are also young, unemployed people who have been cut off from benefits and are imprisoned for political offences. For weeks they have not a penny to their name. “It won’t happen that when I get out, I’ll have no money,” said a well-known villa burglar to us once. We looked at him in astonishment.
4 July
Today I read in the newspaper that a report on the “Youth in Need” action has been published. Five years have passed since its founding. How quickly time passes. On the occasion of its anniversary, a large summer festival will be held in the arcades of City Hall, the net proceeds of which will go to this action. [It is expected that it will become a major social event.]
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[Today he is one of the secretaries of the Chamber; that he stayed on after February I do not reproach him for – but that he crawled so unworthily, that he distanced himself from his past,] that he has become a model “patriot” – “you won’t find a better one” – that is shameful. This man once had our trust. We young people once wanted to bring him into the city senate.
Five years, times have changed fundamentally. Some are in exile, others in prison and still others in the Fatherland Front. We would hardly have dreamed of such a fate back then. We who are 25 years old already have a past ourselves, we have “our front experience”!
7 July A few amusing incidents.
Once, early in the morning, Major K. appears in our cell. I have just finished dividing up the cake for breakfast. He sees this and asks: “Don’t you know that communal sharing is forbidden? Next time you will get six weeks for that.” The warden who enters immediately afterwards is sharply reprimanded: “You must not allow [such things anymore!]”
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[We were the ones who, in a leaders’ discussion in Mauer at the “Viktor Adler Home”, against the resistance of the trade unions, took a positive stance towards labour service and, together with the Catholic youth organisations, founded the action “Youth in Work”. We “high traitors!” All of us, young people between 20 and 25 years of age, as responsible youth leaders, created all this in order to prevent the youth – our comrades of the same age – from physically and morally going to ruin, the “most precious asset of a nation”. We served our homeland in our own way – we “high traitors”. Others supplied the backing for these actions – they are not in prison. Yes, I had almost forgotten one – the hero of the coming celebrations: Anton K. Former chairman of the S.A.J. federation – very radical, once wanted to bring the whole movement into the communist camp. Today he is one of the secretaries of the Chamber; that he stayed on after February I do not reproach him for – but that he crawled so unworthily, that he distanced himself from his past, [that he has become a model “patriot” – “you won’t find a better one” – that is shameful.]
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The federation chairman Kanitz is barely making a living in Brno. The Viennese district chairman Pleyl is, just like Ernst Papanek, the last chairman of the non-partisan youth council, in exile. Anton Proksch is in the Regional Court I and stands accused of high treason – he was the leader of the youth trade unions. Also in the Regional Court are Felleis, Propst, Ollah and I. We are all “high traitors” because we allegedly continued the activities of the banned S.A.J. It was we who initiated this action; we attached “Youth at Work” to it. It was we who, in a leaders’ discussion in Mauer at the “Viktor Adler Home”, against the resistance of the trade unions, took a positive stance towards labour service and, together with the Catholic youth organisations, [initiated] the action “Youth in Work”.
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[The sun? – it must be somewhere, off behind there; you can only see it from the courtyard.]
It is terribly hot for you – small beads of sweat run down your forehead.
From afar you hear the trams ringing – and think: what hats are the women wearing now?
Then you smoke your cigarette – then you read again and then the meal arrives.
You eat as if you were a guest somewhere, unwilling to abandon self-control in front of yourself.
– The bowls and the letter are taken away and fresh water is brought.
You see the corridor for a while. The day is now over for those outside – only the bowls are quickly washed out.
The wardens hurry away quickly – they must mostly be allotment gardeners.
Why? I’m not quite sure – they look like it.
On their faces lies a faint shimmer of contentment, such as only settlers have when it is summer.
The afternoon here is a long evening and yet darkness comes too early.
It sinks like mist into my cell; you hardly notice it, yet suddenly it is there.
Somewhere someone is singing softly.
You lie on your back and dream while awake, and far away you hear a few women laughing.
14 July 1935
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So far, that is, over the past half-year, I have been very fortunate with my cellmates. In most cases they were quite decent people, sometimes even splendid fellows – and not only the political prisoners. Among the “criminals” too I found a great many inwardly good, very sensitive people. The caution towards “criminals” that comes from a sheltered bourgeois upbringing is quite misplaced, even if there are some bad characters among them. One only has to know how to get people to turn a little of their inner selves outward. I have learnt a little of that here, and that is quite a lot! I feel very sorry for my cellmate, who is now sitting somewhere down in the “correction”. When you have become accustomed to your cellmate, you miss them when they are gone. The small cell seems large and empty. I hope that he comes back soon!
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Today, 14 July 1935 – a regressive transformation!
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[“You are not to allow things like that anymore!”] The major leaves the cell. The warden grumbles: “Of all the things one has to concern oneself with these days! What’s your Social Democratic cake got to do with me?”
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A prisoner in the jail, who is among criminals, calls out: “Oi, I’m missing my pencil – there must be a thief in the house.”
------
Inscription in the cell … in the police jail:
“If you say yes – you stay here.
If you say no – you go home.”
A sceptic added:
“But when?”
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In response to my request to the officer on duty to give me something more interesting than The Garden Gazette from 1909, he said: “I can’t exactly smuggle the Workers’ Newspaper from Brno in for you.”
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A prisoner is cleaning his teeth at the washbasin “on the run”. A guard: “Who do you think you are, some sort of whore, brushing your teeth like that?”
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I am very glad that my friends everywhere are standing up against this liable. Neither at the police station nor here have I named a single person. I cannot state things that I cannot remember. I no longer know who was outside then; I have long since ceased to remember, as I wanted to forget it immediately anyway.
31 Aug[ust]
Mostly shorthand notes and excerpts, including again from Wilhelm Schäfer, with references to Pestalozzi’s novel Lienhard und Gertrud. A Book for the People (published 1781–1787), and several pages on the novel Sir Basil Zaharoff, the King of Arms by Robert Neumann.
The diary ends with several pages of book lists.
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21 August
I have not made any entries for a very long time now. I have a great deal to do, truly a great deal to do. From six in the morning until six in the evening I study and read (though there are sometimes days when one feels empty and burnt out, and then one does nothing but lie about, read the newspaper, and stare through the small cell window). In general, time passes quickly, and for that one is glad. Yesterday I met B. He was quite indignant about my statements, but when I explained to him the circumstances that led me to make a confession, he too had to agree with me. Certainly. It only pains me very much that so many people go around saying that I supposedly “squealed”. They ought to wait for the trial, when everything will become clear and evident. I am very glad that my friends everywhere are standing up against this liable.
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[14 July 1935]
“I do not know whether the laws are just or whether they are wrong and twisted. Those who sit in the prison, whether good or bad, know only that the walls are heavy. That each day is like a year. A year whose days are empty.”
Oscar Wilde
23 July
“We are all merely mediums of some idea.” “Every human being who amounts to something, to themselves or to others, is the incarnation of an idea.”
A proverb from Ferrara: “Only a just judge may break the law.”
Wells: “All empires, all states are ultimately products of understanding and will.”
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I SIT HERE IN THE GREY HOUSE
AND TRY TO PUZZLE MY BRAIN APART
I GUESS HERE AND I GUESS THERE
A[ND] AFTERWARDS I KNOW NO MORE THAN BEFORE
IT REALLY PAINS ME SO TERRIBLY
I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM ALL.
A FEW THAT KEEP COMING A[ND] DON’T COME
OUT OF MEMORY INTO THE LIGHT.
FOR THROUGH THE HOUSE’S EMPTINESS
I BECAME A LITTLE STUPID.
BUT INSTEAD OF CURSING
I NOW WANT TO TRY:
I: NOW THEN?!
II: I HAVE THOUGHT LONG AND FINALLY HOPED,
IT MIGHT BE THE GOOD AND KIND WOMAN …
III: WELL, I AM A BIT WEAK
BUT ABSOLUTELY INCORRUPTIBLE
AS A WITNESS I SAY WHAT I SEE
AND THAT TOO AT CLOSE RANGE
IV. JUVENILE – VIRTUE??
WHEEL – GIRL
V. “HER NAME IS NOT TRUDE
NOR IS HER NAME IDA”?
A MAN MIGHT BE CALLED WILLI
SHE IS, I THINK, CALLED TILLI
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1: THIS CASE
BROUGHT ME THE GREATEST AGONY
I THOUGHT ABOUT IT FOR A VERY LONG TIME
BUT I ONLY GOT AS FAR AS SUSPICION.
2: SCHILLER AND I ARE TWO GREAT POETS
ALL THE REST ARE POET-COAT-HANGERS
NOW THAT HE CAN DO IT A LITTLE BETTER
LET HIM NAME THE MAN!
“IT IS DANGEROUS TO AWAKEN THE LION …”
3: THE FAIRY TALE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL, ONLY THE PART ABOUT
THE “PHOENIX” IS SIMPLY A MEAN TRICK.
MY PREMIUM RESERVES ARE INTACT!
[MOREOVER, THE FAIRY TALE LACKS THE GOOD FAIRY
ALOISIA – THE CONSOLER. SHE SHOULD ALWAYS BE
REMEMBERED WITH GRATITUDE.]
4: THE LIGHT IN THE HALL IS RED
A SAXOPHONE HOWLS
A VIOLIN WHIMPERS
OF LOVE AND OF DEATH.
A WORRIED FACE
IN THE RED LAMP GLOW
A GIRL IN HIS ARMS –
– THE CHAIRMAN OF THE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION.