Death-Rays as Life-Savers in the Third Reich - Pedro Waloschek ...

home before his two sisters were married, had a catholic girlfriend and
declared himself a free-thinking atheist. All these were against the strict
rules of his Jewish family and he was casted out. He had to hide to visit
secretly his sisters. Later on he took me and my sister several times
with him, as we still remember.
Karl became a typesetter, which is probably how he developed such
a deep fondness for the written word; words, which he carefully
inscribed into his booklet. Like Holy Scripture, he hoped that these few
written words would remain in some way after his death. He hid the
exercise books in various places, and a few pages have indeed served
the purpose for which they were intended. My sister Jutta discovered
them by chance in 2001 in the box room of her flat in Vienna.
Grandfather Karl and his wife Antonia had moved into the very same
flat back in 1923. However, after the outbreak of war (1939) he spent
most of his time on the allotment in Essling where he could grew some
vegetables, an essential task during that period.
When visiting his wife Antonia in his own home in Vienna’s sixth
district, Karl had to wear his grey coat with the palm-sized yellow Star
of David, which Antonia had sown on for him - as required by law after
the 19 th of September 1941. Yet he never stayed long. From the
window of her second floor flat Antonia had observed the trucks that
occasionally came to collect the Jews who lived in her street. These
people were never heard of again. And most neighbours claimed
afterwards, that they had not seen anything. However, the trucks came
and went in a rush and only ever took those Jews who were at home
when the soldiers called. Karl Stark was not usually at home.
Antonia herself had little to fear since she was in possession of
various documents with which she could prove her Aryan credentials,
including an impeccable ‘Certificate of Aryan Descent’ in the form of a
bright red booklet (which I keep in a safe place) with an Eagle and a
swastika on the front. The documents described all of her ancestors as
‘Roman Catholic’, which, although it makes little sense from a purely
biological point of view, is the only workable definition of the ‘Aryan
race’ that could be applied. This definition continues to be used in
certain circles. The way I understand it applicants to the Nazi-SStroops
had to prove three generations of pure Aryan (i.e. non-Jewish)
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