A general strike called by the Socialists of Austria to halt the formation of a Fascist state in this country today brought martial law to Vienna Linz, Austria and reduced the country to a state of civil war. Prolonged and bloody fighting between Socialists and police, reinforced by auxiliary government forces and troops, claimed many Jewish victims and severely shook whatever confidence remained among the Jews of Austria that the present government could long exist.
All bridges and passages leading into the Jewish quarter of the city were guarded by the military forces during the day which as a result, passed off quietly for most of Vienna’s Jewish residents. At nightfall, however , when the streets were under martial law, a sanguinary battle started in the very center of the Sixteenth District, which is largely populated by Jews. Two were killed and thirty wounded in this clash alone as Socialists and troops met.
Serious encounters also took place in the Tenth and Thirteenth Districts both heavily populated by Jews. Both districts were seized by the Reds who marched in armed with hand grenades and other weapons.
Efforts to secure a list of the Jewish wounded in the day’s rioting were unavailing as the hospitals refused to make the information public.
Fearing that the long awaited civil war has at last begun in Austria-a situation the Austrian anti-Semites may utilize for pogroms-the Jewish population is frantically buying food in case they are compelled to remain indoors for safety. Many of the Jews are withdrawing their savings accounts so that they may have funds with which to leave the country.
Vienna police are patrolling the streets armed with rifles. Machinegun posts have been set up at strategic points and the police have been ordered to shoot at the first attempt attack them.
Street cars are off the streets, municipal bus workers are on strike and the strike for the electricians has plunged the entire city into darkness, which adds to the panic of the populace.
The absence of newspapers is increasing the flock of wild rumors that are circuluting in the city. This afternoon the government press issued an appeal asking citizens to remain calm and at the same time ordering all people to stay off the streets after 8 o’clock in the evening, when all cafes and places of entertainment must close. All shops were closed today in the city.
EXODUS OF FOREIGNERS
Most foreigners are hurriedly leaving Vienna fearing a bloody civil war in Austria and in order to avoid the danger of being stranded there in the event the railroal workers join the general strike. Telephones are no longer functioning with the exception of calls from abroad.
Jews are particularly fearful of evenings and nights when the city is in utter darkness and telephones are not in operation so that help may be summoned against Nazi attacks.
Despite the bitter hatred of the Nazis for the Social Democrats they have joined in the general strike proclaimed by the latter in order to increase the general chans and in the hope that they may obtain power.
A group of American Jewish business men at present in Vienna appealed to the Dollfuss government to issue a special declaration that will allay Jewish anxlety and make clear the fact that the government is opposed to anti-Semitism. Up to the present no answer has been received from the government.
JEWISH STORES SHUT
Most Jewish stores in the city have been closed since this afternoon, with the Jewish population locked in its homes and the city appearing like a battlefield.
Utitizing the situation, Christian Social leaders have appealed to Professor Miklas, president of Austria, to check the civel war now raging by reorganizing the country on a clear Christian basis.
Similarly at Salzburg, the Christian labor groups, which are affiliated with the Christian Socialist party, urged the government to effect changes. In a message dispatched to the government the clerical unions stated:
“We, Christian labor, have been dissatisfied with the methods employed by the present government for a long time. We wish changes.”
Police tonight were seeking Otto Bauer, aged Jewish Socialist leader, who could not be found. Among those taken into custody tonight by the government forces was Julius Deutsch, leader of the Jewish Schutzbund troops.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
