Nazi Laws and Jewish Lives: Letters from ViennaAlthough the period leading up to the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews has been well recorded, few sources convey the incremental effect of specific decrees aimed to dehumanize Jews caught in Hitler's net. To illustrate how these decrees transformed their everyday lives, Edith Kurzweil has translated and edited a collection of letters written by and exchanged between her grandmother, Malvine Fischer, and mother, Mimi Weisz. These letters convey with vivid immediacy the fears, premonitions, ghettoization, and escape attempts common among Viennese and German Jews in the years preceding the implementation of the Final Solution.In the first section of the volume, Kurzweil establishes the personal and political contexts of the letters (written between April 6, 1940 and December 1941, when Malvine Fischer and her family were deported) and links them to the then emerging Jewish laws. The second section contains the letters themselves and documents the throttling grip in which the authorities held every Viennese Jew who had not managed to escape. The third section consists of translations of official summaries of the relevant laws, ordinances, and edicts—many of them marked secret—which inexorably determined that Kurzweil's family become part of the final solution. |
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Common terms and phrases
1940 My dearest able affidavit Albin allowed already Anschluss apartment April arrived assets Billitzer birthday can’t chat consulate Cuba dear Ernst Dear Mimi dearest children decree departure didn’t diligent Ditta Ditterl doesn’t earn edict Ettingers everything Father Felix final solution Frau Doktor friends Fritz Genoa German glad gloves grandfather grandmother grandmother’s grandparents greetings Gyula Hanserl Hansl happy hear heard Helene Helene’s hope Hopefully Ilka and Blanka imagine Jewish Jud Süss keep kisses kitchen last letter Last week laws leave Lene live longer loving Parents Mama Matilde Mimerl months morning mother Nazi one’s Papa pleased Poldi received your letter Reichs Union RSHA Saturday Shanghai Slovakia soon sure Tante tell thank things Today tomorrow Trstena Uncle Emil Vienna visas wait wants to know Weinwurm Weisz wife wish won’t worries write wrote Yesterday
Bibliographic information
| Title | Nazi Laws and Jewish Lives: Letters from Vienna |
| Author | Edith Kurzweil |
| Publisher | Routledge, 2017 |
| ISBN | 1351503340, 9781351503341 |
| Length | 181 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Europe / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |