List of Jewish shops/businesses in Vienna (March and April 1939)

Title of the holdings

Austrian State Archives/Archives of the Republic
Record group: Zivilakten der NS-Zeit (“Civil files of the National Socialist era”), 1938–1945
Holdings: Reichskommissar für die Wiedervereinigung Österreichs mit dem Deutschen Reich (“Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich“), 1938–1940
Sub-holdings: Bürckel-Materie (Bürckel-Nachträge/„Bürckel rot“) (“Bürckel materials [Bürckel supplements/’Bürckel red’]“) 1938–1940
File: Karton 1, Mappe 4.3: „Verwertung d.i. [der in] Judengeschäften befindlichen Warengegenständen“ [sic] (“Box 1, folder 4.3: ‘Utilization of the stock of Jewish businesses’“)

Origins of the holdings

The available data is based on a survey carried out in March and April 1939 regarding the Jewish businesses and workshops which were plundered and, in part, closed down during the November Pogrom of 1938. Josef Bürckel, Reich Commissar for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich and, as such, one of the highest ranking National Socialist functionaries in Austria, bore the brunt of the responsibility for the anti-Semitic riots in Austria. He and his subordinate authorities were in charge of implementing the National Socialist “aryanization policies”.

The file holdings Bürckel supplements and Bürckel materials comprise all of the material which accumulated during Josef Bürckel’s period in office, until 1940. The lists in this regard are held at the Austrian State Archives and were produced by four of the ten Vienna District Committees of the National Socialist Party. The instruction that the Vienna District Committees list all Jewish businesses and workshops which had been closed down was evidently aimed at creating an overview of the number of affected companies and of their possible stocks at the time of the survey.

Contents of the lists

These records consist of eight separate lists (according to district) of Jewish businesses and workshops in Vienna which were the target of anti-Semitic attacks in the wake of the pogroms of 9th and 10th November 1938 and which were violently seized from their proprietors.

Informational content

The data comprises the names of the business proprietor and/or the company, the business address and annotations as to the possible availability of stock. The annotations are supplemented with various additional tasks of the Vienna District Committees of the National Socialist Party. Entries exist regarding the following districts (with their boundaries as at 1939): Meidling, Hietzing, Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, Ottakring, Hernals, Währing, Döbling and Floridsdorf.

Alternative sources of information

As the data for the most part concerns businesses and workshops which were closed down under duress and which fell under the competence of the Property Transaction Office at the Ministry of the Economy and Labor, their file holdings should be given priority as an alternative source in view of their high informational value.

The surveys carried out by Collection Agencies A and B on businesses and commercial enterprises in Austria and compiled in a card index are, however, of less value. Firstly, in most cases the index only contains scant information on what happened to the company (liquidation, “aryanization”, and restitution proceedings) and, secondly, the index in the Austrian State Archives is not accessible to the public.

Explanations and comments

In view of the alternative sources of information (files of the former Property Transaction Office), the data from the lists is to be considered as preliminary information with additional remarks.

Data Processing Procedures: List of Jewish shops/businesses in Vienna (March and April 1939)