[VideoView]

Dipl.-Vw. Dr. Ludwig Steiner

About the terror in the First Republic
interviewer:
Ruth Deutschmann
photography:
Benjamin Epp
copyright location:
Innsbruck
date of recording:
2008-04-29
English translation by:
Sylvia Manning - Baumgartner
Italian translation by:
Nicole D´Incecco
event
[1933-06-19] NSDAP - Prohibition In May, already the Communist Party was banned. - Many Nazis were arrested and interned. After the coup of 25 July 1934 fled many "illegals" to other countries. The NSDAP was banned in Austria.
event
[1934-07-25] NS - revolt in Vienna The rebels invade the Chancellor's Office and in the transmission of RAVAG building in Vienna. Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was shot by the Austrian National Socialists Otto Planetta. After the police from entering the Chancellor's Office, the coup plotters were arrested. Kurt Schuschnigg is entrusted with the leadership of the government. Hitler distanced themselves for fear of international complications of the coup by the Austrian National Socialists. Mussolini is four divisions in the direction of the burner, one in the direction of Carinthia in March.
place of recording
Innsbruck
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1934
transcription:
Let's go back to my youth. Very early on, also in school, we knew who was in which political party. No question about that. There were no official ballots at the time, they were distributed at the entrance of the polling stations. There were also young people and school boys who distributed the ballots there. A different kind of official ballot. The young people today probably can't appreciate the significance official ballots had. But it was also important not to be influenced and harassed before the election, in front of the polling station. Of course I also experienced a lot of bloody confrontations and demonstrations. Conflicts frequently took place in the streets. First, between the right and left wing factions. And then, after 1933, after the ban of the National Socialist Party there were numerous demonstrations or assaults with the National Socialists. As I like to say when I'm asked: "When did you join the resistance against the National Socialists?" As of 1933 I realized we had to fight National Socialism. Between 1933 and 1938 in Austria more than 200 people were killed in the fight against National Socialism; or by attacks, bomb attacks, which injured thousands. I remember very well, one day I arrived at school in the morning. The day before the new school gate had been inaugurated with a ceremony. The following day that gate had been destroyed by so-called "paper rockets". Those were primitive but very effective bombs. Many people were hurt, too. Another time I saw a policeman lying in the streets in his blood. He had been shot earlier that morning. Those were things we young people experienced at the time. Looking back I would like to add, the first soldiers who were killed fighting National Socialism were from the Austrian army. Among others, chancellor Dollfuß was killed in the July conflict in 1934, during the National Socialist uprising. Of course, these experiences we made as young boys marked us.