Ruth Deutschmann

Benjamin Epp

Wien

2008-04-29

Sylvia Manning - Baumgartner

Nicole D´Incecco

1934

At the turn of the century, around 1900, my father was very committed to the progressive Catholic movement, which was based on Catholic social teaching. The essence of Christian socialism. So I also met various people associated with the church. Among others Sigismund Waitz, who became archbishop of Salzburg later. Also the vicar general for the Catholic administration of the diocese Innsbruck-Feldkirch ? the diocese Tyrol didn't exist at the time, it was part of the Brixen diocese - who was decapitated by the Nazis later on. I made a lot of experiences. Also after 1934 the former social democratic - or socialist as they were called then - city councillors, often visited us and were discussed. So, I made broad experiences, not only concerning political strategies but political content as well. That's why I was interested in politics from the very beginning. It is worth mentioning that National Socialism was known in our family from the beginning of the 1930s. Some Bavarian friends, from the Christian socialist faction of Bavaria, gave us a copy of "Mein Kampf". It was the 1927 edition in which is written already on the first page that Austria should be incorporated into the German Reich. We found the notions and ideas described in "Mein Kampf" disturbingly anti-Christian. So, the anti-Christian idea did play a certain role. We were also a very patriotic Austrian family which was unusual in those days.