My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

When the Germans marched into Vienna, I sent Lu a telegram:
"Everything quiet here no need to come." I was afraid that Lu
might not realize how dangerous the situation had become for him.
On the night the Nazis came to Vienna they had rushed into the
apartment where Lu had lived with his mother, had taken his
valuable library, his writings, his documents and everything they
found of importance, packed it all into thirty-eight cases, and
drove away. Worse still, Lu was also on the Russian black list. Lu's
writings were hated by socialists of every type: Nazis, Communists,
Fascists, and, as I later found, American socialists as well. It
would have been impossible for Lu to return to Vienna. He sent
me a carefully worded telegram asking Gitta and me to come to
Geneva as quickly as possible.
Cautiously I started my preparations. I told no one that I intended
to leave, while packing as many of our belongings as possible.
Before we left I had to see the judge who took care of my
children at the Court of Guardianship. I asked him to release as
many of our funds as possible, which he did. HHow I envy you that
you can get away from here," he said, shaking my hand warmly as
I left.
I never had a feeling of danger for Gitta and myself. Our Hungarian
passport was still considered a good protection. But I realized
that if anyone might have occasion to read the marriage bann
for Lu and me, which according to the Austrian laws was publicly
advertised, they might take more interest in Gitta and me than
would be good for us, and we might have difficulties getting away.
It may sound like an irony of fate that just then, shortly before
the tragic events of the month of March, 1938, the last play I had
adapted from the French for the German stage was accepted by the
Deutsche Volkstheater in Vienna. The play was Liberte, by Denis
Arnie!. It was never produced.
I won't ever forget those last days in Vienna. The first day the
Nazis marched into Vienna, they began tormenting and torturing
their political enemies and the Jews. One day, when I walked
along the Graben, one of the most elegant streets in Vienna, I saw
how young people had climbed to the top of the Pestsaeule-a
monument-to watch the Jews washing the streets. Whenever a
German soldier or officer passed, the poor people had to step down
into the gutter, accompanied by the howling, roaring laughter of
the crowd.
Each day the situatjon in Vienna worsened. The Austrian Nazis,
who before Hitler's appearance had not dared to show their sympathies
openly, now proudly displayed their party badges. In St.
Stephen's Cathedral a huge picture of Hitler was hung, and the
Catholic Church, lead by Cardinal Innitzer, swore allegiance to
35