On June 20, 2019, the United States Holocaust Museum, the Documentation Center of the Austrian Resistance, and the Austrian Embassy organized a joint symposium entitled “Fleeing the Nazis: Austrian Jewish Refugees to the United States.”
Director for Press and Information of the Austrian Embassy Thorsten Eisingerich (pictured above) opened the symposium for a brief scene setter of the last one hundred years, from the Habsburg Monarchy through the Abyss of the two World Wars and the Nazi period until today to give a glimpse of Austria’s different statuses, her self-reflection in that respect and measures taken since to address the role of Austrians in the Nazi machinery.
The symposium brought academic experts from Austria and the U.S. to the podium to present the latest research on newly discovered or little known facts on the Shoah in Austria as well as the U.S. as a safe haven for Jewish refugees, however hampered by low U.S. immigration quotas.
The multimedia symposium also featured amateur movies from Austria from the 1930s, a survivor’s personal testimony as well as lively Q&A’s after every session.