All the Jews in the Burgenland towns of Frauenkirchen and Deutschkreutz, numbering several hundred, have been arrested by the secret political police and placed in a concentration camp near Berg, it was learned today.
All property of the Jews has been confiscated, leaving them penniless. Most of them well-to-do grain and wine merchants, they were forced to sign forms listing all their possessions and also to state whether they were planning to emigrate. The Jews of neighboring towns, it is understood, are providing food for the prisoners.
It was reported without confirmation that the entire Jewish population of a third town, Neusiedlamsee, has been similarly treated. (There are an estimated 3,600 Jews in the province of Burgenland.)
Meanwhile, German lawyers have been forbidden to accept Jewish clients in criminal cases and may accept them in civil actions only when no other lawyer is available. Under a decree issued by Dr. Plakolm, president of the Upper Austrian Lawyers’ Chamber, German attorneys may complete pending cases for Jewish clients. Party members, however, are denied this privilege or the right to handle civil cases for Jews. The decree is of particular significance in the smaller towns where there are few lawyers.
About 40 Jewish professors and lecturers have been discharged under the terms of a decree by the Minister of Education affecting Austrian universities. Among them are Prof. Otto Loewi, 1936 joint winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine, who is now under arrest. Dr. Loewi was on the faculty of Graz University. Another of the dismissed professors is Dr. Pick, professor of pharmacology at the University of Vienna. both he and Dr. Loewi were the only two Jewish full professors in the pay of the State. The remainder of those discharged were of lower rank.
It is held likely that a general examination of students’ documents will be conducted when the universities reopen after the Easter holidays, to establish the identity of all Jewish students. The Education Minister’s decree does not indicate how many Jewish students are to be dropped. In some quarters, the belief is expressed that revocation of registrations will be delayed until a numerous clauses has been introduced. It is certain, however, that many Jewish students will drop out of the universities and the technical schools in view of the bleak prospects for the future. Meanwhile, as previously reported, Jewish students are still entitled to the university facilities although they have not yet been able to obtain permission to take the examinations necessary for promotion.
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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.
