"Oberdonau" as a model?

Expropriation of the Jewish Population of Upper Austria

Abstract

Within the „Gau Oberdonau“ - consisting of the former province of Upper Austria and smaller annexed territories of southern Bohemia - the expropriation of the Jewish population was carried out in an uncharacteristically well-planned and expedient manner. Regional institutions of the „Gau“ played an essential role in the process, institutions where so called „Alte Kämpfer“ - i. e. long time members, who had built up the illegal NSDAP in Austria before 1938 - had managed to secure most of the key positions. These regional institutions passed the confiscated property (real estate, firms and entreprises, stocks and cash) on into the hands of this clientele, arguing that they were entitled to some 'compensation, for disadvantages suffered as illegal party activist between 1933 and 1938. The regional NSDAP-organisations - especially the locally dominant SA - succeeded in pushing through their strategy against rival concepts of state agencies in Vienna and the ‚Altreich‘. These findings add further evidence to the theory of the polycratic structure of the ‚Third Reich‘.