Although Austrians comprised only 8 percent of the population of
Hitler's Reich, they made up 14 percent of SS members and 40
percent of those involved in the Nazis' killing operations. This
was no coincidence. Popular anti-Semitism was so powerful in
Austria that once deportations of Jews began in 1941, the streets
of Vienna were frequently lined with crowds of bystanders shouting
their approval. Such scenes did not occur in Berlin.
Exploring the convictions behind these phenomena, Evan Bukey offers
a detailed examination of popular opinion in Hitler's native
country after the Anschluss (annexation) of 1938. He uses evidence
gathered in Europe and the United States--including highly
confidential reports of the Nazi Security Service--to dissect the
reactions, views, and conduct of disparate political and social
groups, most notably the Austrian Nazi Party, the industrial
working class, the Catholic Church, and the farming community.
Sketching a nuanced and complex portrait of Austrian attitudes and
behavior in the Nazi era, Bukey demonstrates that despite
widespread dissent, discontent, and noncompliance, a majority of
the Austrian populace supported the Anschluss regime until the
bitter end, particularly in its economic and social policies and
its actions against Jews.