Joseph Buerckel, newly named Reichs Commissar for carrying out Austro-German Anschluss, decreed today that henceforth he will personally direct the “Aryanization” process in Vienna and warned impatient followers that he wanted no help from them until he asks for it.
The decree was featured in all newspapers, editorials unanimously warning the foreign press and “foreign agitators” that Austrian Jewry would be better off without their help.
Herr Buerckel’s decree declared:
“We do not need to be grieved by this situation. It will be cleared up when Vienna becomes a thoroughly Germanized community. But I must take the occasion to say that there are certain types of ‘Aryan’ racial comrades who connect the ideals of ‘Aryanization’ with their own selfish interests and who incline very much to adopt Jewish habits.
“Concerning these unpleasant elements, it is important for me to announce that the process of ‘Aryanization’ in Vienna, starting today, will be conducted personally by me. I shall take the necessary steps on the utmost legal, therefore more effective, basis. Consequently I demand that there be no more interference with my task. If and when I need help I will announce it in good time. From time to time the public will be informed on the progress made.
“I may add here that Jewish agitation abroad will not be conducive to giving the ‘Aryanization’ process an increasingly loyal character.”
The last sentence forms the theme of today’s editorial comment, the Neuie Freie Presse declaring that “boycott or atrocity propaganda” will force the closing of frontiers to Jews seeking to emigrate. “This,” the paper warns, “would not be agreeable to Austria, but neither would it be agreeable to the Jews.”
The Vienna edition of Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s Voelkischer Beobachter draws attention to the alleged fact that nothing has yet been done to the Jews and that they are “living quietly.” The Wiener Zeitung asserts that “Israel has the habit of exaggeration, as the atrocity stories about Austria prove.”
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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.
