A Jewish Family of Vienna

Since the Anschluss of March 1938, the persecution of the Jews of Vienna has come down with a dazzling brutality: spoliations, exclusion from the professions, public humiliations, internments after Kristallnacht. The city is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in Central Europe, some 180,000 strong.

The regime pushes for emigration: in Vienna, a Central Office for Jewish Emigration, directed by Adolf Eichmann, 'rationalises' the departure of the Jews by stripping them of their possessions in exchange for an exit visa. To leave is to abandon everything; but to stay becomes more dangerous each month.

To illustrate this dilemma, you are a Viennese family. To emigrate presupposes gathering the impossible: a host country willing to issue a visa, guarantors abroad, the money for the emigration taxes, and the luck of finding a place before the doors close everywhere. The British White Paper has just closed Palestine; the United States applies strict quotas; the St. Louis has been turned away. Should you flee anywhere, as soon as possible? Attempt to obtain a visa for a precise destination, at the risk of waiting too long? Or stay, hoping the turmoil passes?