The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - ELTE BTK Történelem Szakos Portál

Winkler, Paul
Adolf Eichmann’s Vienna model and his attempt to expansion
Introduction, goal and purpose of this work
Taking advantage of the international context of this event, my contribution
targeting to show the Austrian participation in the inhumane crimes, committed
during the 2 nd World War. Contrary to the unfortunately still far too widespread
opinion, that Austria had been the first victim of Nazi aggression, and that
racist and anti-Semitic ideologies of the Austrian population were only
imposed by an German elite, I will try to show on the basis of the career of an
Austrian in the Nazi power apparatus how it was really about the attitude of a
very large part of the Austrian population and their participation in the crimes
against humanity.
For this purpose I will examine the career and the role of Adolf Eichmann in
the bureaucratic system of National Socialism. I will occupy myself also with the
bureaucratic process and offices specific decisions that the situation of Jews in
Vienna, significantly co-determined and how this so-called „Vienna model” in
dealing with the Jewish people under Adolf Eichmann, due to his sad „success”
became an example for others, Nazi-managed cities, and how it should finally
prevail as an organizational form for the whole of the Third Reich.
Therefore I’m going to confine myself to describe the events up to and
including the year 1939 in order to remain within the topic of our event,
although a description of the role of Adolf Eichmann in the Nazi Apparatus
will remain fragmented if I do it in this way. As further reading, I recommend
here only the book from Jenő Lévai, „Eichmann in Hungary” 1 , which seems for
me to be interesting, because of our event site.
Important basis for my specific comments in addition to the titles listed in
the bibliography below, is particularly the work, „Die Eichmann-Männer” 2
from Hans Safrian 3 which was recently translated into English 4 under the title
„Eichmann’s Men” 5 . I can only recommend reading this book. Safrian in turn
based his work on Raul Hilberg and his standard work on „The extermination
of European Jews” 6 .
1 LÉVAI, Jenő: Eichmann in Hungary. Budapest, 1961.
2 SAFRIAN, Hans: Die Eichmann – Männer. Wien, Zürich, 1993.
3 Hans Safrian lectures in history at the Institute für Zeitgeschichte at the University of
Vienna. He was also a Pearl Resnick Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Research Team Leader for the Independent Commission of Experts – Switzerland – Second
World War, and a research historian for the Historical Commission of the Republic of Austria.
He is the author of numerous works on World War II and Nazi war crimes.
4 In the course I will refer only to the English version of the book.
5 SAFRIAN, Hans: Eichmann’s Men (First updated, English edition published 2010).
6 HILBERG, Raul: The destruction of the European Jews. Chicago, 1961.
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