Geschätzt und gescholten - Benjamin Murmelstein in Wien 1938 –1943
Appreciated and Scolded - Benjamin Murmelstein in Vienna 1938–1943
Author(s): Leonard EhrlichContributor(s): Jana Starek (Editor)
Subject(s): Jewish studies, Recent History (1900 till today), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Fascism, Nazism and WW II, History of the Holocaust, History of Antisemitism
Published by: Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Studien
Keywords: Austria; Vienna; Jews; Benjamin Murmelstein; interwar period; WWII;
Summary/Abstract: Between June 1938 and his deportation to Theresienstadt in January 1943, Dr. Benjamin Murmelstein acted as the right hand man of Dr. Josef Löwenherz, the head of the Jewish Community in Vienna. Both Murmelstein as a person and the manner in which he executed his office were regarded with some controversy during this time. Murmelstein’s bad reputation even remained with him in Theresienstadt; it also affected post-war writings, including those of highly respected researchers. The negative assessment of the two Viennese officials essentially applies to the actions of the Jewish Councils in general. Research into the situation in which Murmelstein and Löwenherz had to execute their offices, into the choices that were available to them even in the darkness of ideologically determined hatred of the Jews and into what they were able to achieve in the interests of the Jews despite the indomitable pressure upon them reveal a different picture of Murmelstein and Löwenherz: their bad reputation is shown to be a distortion.
Journal: S:I.M.O.N. Shoah: Intervention. Methods. Documentation.
- Issue Year: 1/2014
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 68-87
- Page Count: 20
- Language: German