The events of March 12, 1938, were the first major steps in Adolf Hitler's long-desired expansion of Germany. The Anschluss followed the return to Germany of the Saar region, which had been under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. It was followed by the inclusion of the Sudetenland later in 1938, the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939, and the invasion of Poland.
The Anschluss was preceded by a period of growing political pressure on Austria, exerted by Germany, demanding recognition of the outlawed Austrian National-Socialist party and later, their share of Government. In 1938 Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg, in a last bid to retain Austrian independence, announced a referendum to determine independence or union with Germany. Germany then pressured Schuschnigg into handing over power to the Nazi party. This well-planned internal overthrow by the Austrian Nazi Party of Austria's state institutions in Vienna on March 11 meant that when Wehrmacht troops entered into Austria to enforce the Anschluss, no fighting ever took place. The international response to the Anschluss was mild: The World War I Allies only lodged diplomatic protests, and no concrete action was taken to reverse the Anschluss, even though the allies were, on paper, committed to upholding the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which specifically prohibited the union of Austria and Germany. Austria ceased to exist as an independent nation until a preliminary Austrian government was finally reinstated on April 27, 1945, and was legally recognized by the Allies in the following months.
The idea of grouping all German people into one state had been the subject of inconclusive debate since the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Prior to 1866, it was generally thought that the unification of the German peoples could only succeed under Austrian leadership, but the loss of the Austro-Prussian War by Austria allowed Otto von Bismarck to establish the Prussian-dominated German Empire in 1871 without the German-speaking parts of Austria-Hungary. When the latter broke up in 1918, many German-speaking Austrians hoped to join with Germany in the realignment of Europe, but the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 explicitly vetoed the inclusion of Austria within a German state, because France and Britain feared the power of a larger Germany.
In the early 1930s, popular support for union with Germany remained overwhelming, and the Austrian government looked to a possible Customs union with Germany in 1931. However Hitler and the Nazi's rise to power in Germany left the Austrian government with little enthusiasm for such formal ties. Hitler, born in Austria, had promoted an "all-German Reich" from the early beginnings of his leadership in the NSDAP and had publicly stated as early as 1924 in Mein Kampf that he would attempt a union, by force if necessary.
Austria shared the economic turbulence of post-1929 Europe with a high unemployment rate and unstable commerce and industry. Similar to its northern and southern neighbours these uncertain conditions made the young democracy very vulnerable. The First Republic, dominated from the late 1920s by the Catholic nationalist Christian Social Party (CS), gradually disintegrated from 1933 (dissolution of parliament and ban of the Austrian National Socialists) to 1934 (Austrian Civil War in February and ban of all remaining parties except the CS) and evolved into a pseudo-fascist, corporatist model of one-party government which combined the CS and the paramilitary Heimwehr with absolute state domination of labour relations and no Freedom of the press (see Austrofascism and Patriotic Front). Power was centralized in the office of the Chancellor who was empowered to Rule by decree. The predominance of the Christian Social Party (whose economic policies were based on the papal Encyclical Rerum Novarum) was an Austrian phenomenon in that Austria's national identity had strong Catholic elements which were incorporated into the movement by way of clerical authoritarian tendencies which are certainly not to be found in Nazism. Both Engelbert Dollfuss and his successor Kurt Schuschnigg turned to Austria's other fascist neighbour, Italy, for inspiration and support. Indeed, the statist corporatism often referred to as Austrofascism bore more resemblance to Italian Fascism than German National Socialism. Benito Mussolini was able to support the independent aspirations of the Austrian dictatorship until his need for German support in Ethiopia forced him into a client relationship with Berlin that began with the 1937 Berlin-Rome Axis.
When Chancellor Dollfuss was assassinated by the illegal Austrian Nazi party on 25 July 1934 in a failed coup, the second civil war within only one year followed, lasting until August 1934. After the failed Nazi coup, many leading Austrian Nazis fled to Germany and continued to coordinate their steps from there while the remaining Austrian Nazis started to make use of terrorist attacks against the Austrian governmental institutions (causing a death toll of more than 800 between 1934 and 1938). Dollfuss' successor Schuschnigg, who followed the political course of Dollfuss, took drastic actions against the Nazis, for instance the rounding up of Nazis (but also Social Democrats) in internment camps.
In early 1938 Hitler had consolidated his power in Germany and was ready to reach out to fulfil his long-planned expansion. After a lengthy period of pressure by Germany, Hitler met Schuschnigg on 12 February 1938 in Berchtesgaden (Bavaria) and instructed him to lift the ban of the Austrian Nazi party, reinstate full party freedoms, release all imprisoned members of the Nazi party and let them participate in the government. Otherwise he would take military action. Schuschnigg complied with Hitler's demands and appointed Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a Nazi lawyer, as Interior minister and another Nazi, Edmund Glaise-Horstenau, as Minister without Portfolio.[:Anschluss}}#endnote_encarta]
Even before the February meeting, Schuschnigg was under considerable pressure from Germany. This may be seen in the demand to remove the chief of staff of the Austrian Army Alfred Jansa from his office in January 1938. Jansa and his staff had developed a scenario for Austria's defence against a German attack, a situation Hitler wanted to avoid at all costs. Schuschnigg subsequently complied with the demand.[:Anschluss}}#endnote_wienerzeitung]
During the following weeks Schuschnigg realized that his newly appointed ministers were gradually working on taking over his authority. Schuschnigg tried to gather support throughout Austria and inflame Patriotism among the people. For the first time since 12 February 1934 (the time of the Austrian civil war), socialists and communists could legally appear in public again. The communists announced their unconditional support for the Austrian government, understandable in light of Nazi pressure on Austria. The socialists demanded further concessions from Schuschnigg before they were willing to side with him.
On 9 March, as a last resort to preserve Austria's independence, Schuschnigg scheduled a plebiscite on the Independence of Austria for 13 March. To secure a large majority in the referendum, Schuschnigg set the minimum voting age at 24 in order to exclude younger voters who largely sympathized with Nazi ideology. Holding a referendum was a highly risky gamble for Schuschnigg, and on the next day it became apparent that Hitler would not simply stand by while Austria declared its independence by public vote. Hitler declared that the plebiscite would be subject to major fraud and that Germany would not accept it. In addition the German Ministry of Propaganda issued press reports that riots had broken out in Austria and that large parts of the Austrian population were calling for German troops to restore order. Schuschnigg immediately publicly replied that the reports of riots were nothing but lies-as they actually were.
Hitler sent an Ultimatum to Schuschnigg on 11 March, demanding that he hand over all power to the Austrian National Socialists or face an invasion. The ultimatum was set to expire at noon, but was extended by two hours. However, without waiting for an answer, Hitler had already signed the order to send troops into Austria at one o'clock, issuing it to Hermann Göring only hours later.
Schuschnigg desperately sought support for Austrian independence in the hours following the Ultimatum, but, realizing that neither France nor the United Kingdom were willing to take steps, he resigned as Chancellor that evening. In the radio broadcast in which he announced his Resignation, he argued that he accepted the changes and allowed the Nazis to take over the government in order to avoid bloodshed. Meanwhile, Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas refused to appoint Seyss-Inquart Chancellor and asked other Austrian politicians such as Michael Skubl and Sigismund Schilhawsky to assume the office. However, the Nazis were well organised. Within hours they managed to take control of many parts of Vienna, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs (controlling the Police). As Miklas continued to refuse to appoint a Nazi government and Seyss-Inquart still could not send a telegram in the name of the Austrian government demanding German troops to restore order, Hitler became furious. At about 10 pm, well after Hitler had signed and issued the order for the invasion, Göring and Hitler gave up on waiting and published a forged telegram containing a request by the Austrian Government for German troops to enter Austria. Around midnight, after nearly all critical offices and buildings had fallen into Nazi hands in Vienna and the main political party members of the old government had been arrested, Miklas finally conceded to appoint Seyss-Inquart Chancellor.[:Anschluss}}#endnote_wienerzeitung_a]
On the morning of 12 March the 8th Army of the German Wehrmacht crossed the German-Austrian border. They did not face resistance by the Austrian Army - on the contrary, the German troops were greeted by cheering Austrians. Although the invading forces were badly organized and coordination between the units was poor, it mattered little because no fighting took place. It did, however, serve as a warning for commanders in future German military operations such as that against Czechoslovakia. Curiously, the invasion claimed its first fatality within only a few hours: the Nazi Heinrich Kurz von Goldstein died of a heart attack during the celebrations in Salzburg.
Hitler's car crossed the border in the afternoon at Braunau, his birthplace. In the evening, he arrived at Linz and was given an enthusiastic welcome in the city hall. The atmosphere was so intense that Göring in a telephone call that evening stated: "There is unbelievable jubilation in Austria. We ourselves did not think that sympathies would be so intense."
Hitler's further travel through Austria changed into a triumphal tour that climaxed in Vienna, when around 200,000 Austrians gathered on the Heldenplatz (Square of Heroes) to hear Hitler proclaim the Austrian Anschluss ( Video: Hitler proclaims Austria's inclusion in the Reich (2MB)). Hitler later commented: "Certain foreign newspapers have said that we fell on Austria with brutal methods. I can only say: even in death they cannot stop lying. I have in the course of my political struggle won much love from my people, but when I crossed the former frontier (into Austria) there met me such a stream of love as I have never experienced. Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators."[:Anschluss}}#endnote_hitlerspeech]
The Anschluss was given immediate effect by legislative act on 13 March, subject to ratification by a plebiscite. Austria became the Province of Ostmark, and Seyss-Inquart was appointed Governor. The plebiscite was held on 10 April and officially recorded a support of 99.73 % of the voters. While historians concur that the result itself was not manipulated, the voting process was not free or secret. Officials were present directly beside the voting booths and received the voting ballot by hand (in contrast to a secret vote where the voting ballot is inserted into a closed box). In addition, Hitler's brutal methods to emasculate any opposition had been immediately implemented in the weeks preceding the referendum. Even before the first German soldier crossed the border, Heinrich Himmler and a few SS officers landed in Vienna to arrest prominent representatives of the First Republic such as Richard Schmitz, Leopold Figl, Friedrich Hillegeist and Franz Olah. During the weeks following the Anschluss (and before the plebiscite), Social Democrats, Communists, and other potential political dissenters, as well as Jews, were rounded up and either imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. Within only a few days of 12 March, 70,000 people had been arrested. The Referendum itself was subject to large-scale Propaganda and to the abrogation of the voting rights of around 400,000 people (nearly 10 % of the eligible voting population), mainly former members of left-wing parties and Jews. Interestingly, in some remote areas of Austria the referendum on the independence of Austria on 13 March was held despite the Wehrmacht's presence in Austria (it took up to 3 days to occupy every part of Austria). For instance, in the village of Innervillgraten a majority of 95 % voted for Austria's independence.
Austria remained part of the Third Reich until the end of World War II when a preliminary Austrian Government declared the Anschluss void and null on April 27 1945. After the war then allied occupied Austria was recognized and treated as a separate country, but was not restored to Sovereignty until the Austrian State Treaty and Austrian Declaration of Neutrality, both of 1955, largely due to the rapid development of the Cold War and disputes between the Soviet Union and its former allies over its foreign policy.
The picture of Austria in the first days of its existence in the Third Reich is one of contradictions: At one and the same time, Hitler's terror regime began to tighten its grip in every area of society, beginning with mass arrests and thousands of Austrians attempting to flee in every direction; yet Austrians could be seen cheering and welcoming German troops entering Austrian territory. Many Austrian political figures did not hesitate to announce their support of the Anschluss and their relief that it happened without violence.
Cardinal Theodor Innitzer (a political figure of the CS) declared as early as 12 March: "The Viennese Catholics should thank the Lord for the bloodless way this great political change has occurred, and they should pray for a great future for Austria. Needless to say, everyone should obey the orders of the new institutions. The other Austrian bishops followed suit some days later. Vatican Radio, however, immediately broadcast a vehement denunciation of the German action, and Cardinal Pacelli ordered Innitzer to report to Rome. Before meeting with the pope, Innitzer met with Pacelli, who had been outraged by Innitzer's statement. He made it clear that Innitzer needed to retract; he was made to sign a new statement, issued on behalf of all the Austrian bishops, which provided: “The solemn declaration of the Austrian bishops ... was clearly not intended to be an approval of something that was not and is not compatible with God's law”. The Vatican newspaper also reported that the bishops' earlier statement had been issued without the approval from Rome.
Robert Kauer, President of the Protestants in Austria, greeted Hitler on 13 March as saviour of the 350,000 German Protestants in Austria and liberator from a five-year hardship." Even Karl Renner, the most famous Social Democrat of the First Republic announced his support for the Anschluss and appealed to all Austrians to vote in favour of it on 10 April.
The international response to the expansion of Germany may be described as moderate. The Times in London commented by pointing to the fact that 200 years ago Scotland had joined England as well and that this event would not really differ much. On 14 March the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain noted in the House of Commons:
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His Majesty's Government have throughout been in the closest touch with the situation. The Foreign Secretary saw the German Foreign Minister on the 10th of March and addressed to him a grave warning on the Austrian situation and upon what appeared to be the policy of the German Government in regard to it. . . . Late on the 11th of March our Ambassador in Berlin registered a protest in strong terms with the German Government against such use of coercion, backed by force, against an independent State in order to create a situation incompatible with its national independence.However the speech concluded:
I imagine that according to the temperament of the individual the events which are in our minds to-day will be the cause of regret, of sorrow, perhaps of indignation. They cannot be regarded by His Majesty's Government with indifference or equanimity. They are bound to have effects which cannot yet be measured. The immediate result must be to intensify the sense of uncertainty and insecurity in Europe. Unfortunately, while the policy of appeasement would lead to a relaxation of the economic pressure under which many countries are suffering to-day, what has just occurred must inevitably retard economic recovery and, indeed, increased care will be required to ensure that marked deterioration does not set in. This is not a moment for hasty decisions or for careless words. We must consider the new situation quickly, but with cool judgement... As regards our defence programmes, we have always made it clear that they were flexible and that they would have to be reviewed from time to time in the light of any development in the international situation. It would be idle to pretend that recent events do not constitute a change of the kind that we had in mind. Accordingly we have decided to make a fresh review, and in due course we shall announce what further steps we may think it necessary to take.
The lenient reaction to the Anschluss was the first major consequence of the strictly followed Appeasement British foreign policy strategy. The international reaction on the events of March 12th 1938 led Hitler to conclude that he could use even more aggressive tactics in his roadmap to expand the Third Reich, as he would later in annexing the Sudetenland. The relatively bloodless Anschluss helped pave the way for the Treaty of Munich in September 1938 and the annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, because it reinforced Appeasement as the right way for Britain to deal with Hitler's Germany.Legacy of the 1938 Anschluss
The Anschluss: annexation or union?
Some historical sources, for instance Encyclopedia Britannica and the Encarta Encyclopedia describe the Anschluss as an "annexation" . Outside this context "Anschluss" is properly translated as "join", "connection", "Unification" or "political union". The German word "Annektierung" would mean military annexation unambiguously. However, the word commonly used in German for the process of spring 1938 is Anschluss.
The precise character of the Anschluss remains a difficulty essential to Austria's understanding of its history and the obligations it entails.
With the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918, the small Republic of Austria was seen by many of its citizens as economically unviable, a feeling that was exacerbated by the Depression of the 1930s. In contrast the Nazi dictatorship appeared to have found a solution to the economic crisis of the 1930s. Furthermore, the break-up had thrown Austria into a crisis of identity, and many Austrians, of both the left and the right, felt that Austria should be part of a larger German nation.
Politically, Austria had not had the time to develop a strongly democratic society to resist the onslaught of Totalitarianism. The final version of the First Republic's constitution had only lasted from 1929 to 1933. The First Republic was ridden by violent strife between the different political camps; the Christian Social Party were complicit in the murder of large numbers of adherents of the decidedly left-wing Social Democratic Party by the police during the July Revolt of 1927. In fact, with the end of democracy in 1933 and the establishment of Austrofascism, Austria had already purged its democratic institutions and instituted a dictatorship long before the Anschluss. There is thus little to distinguish radically the institutions of at least the post-1934 Austrian government before or after 12 March 1938.
The members of the leading Christian Social Party were fervent Catholics, but not particularly anti-semitic. For instance Jews were not prohibited from exercising any profession, in sharp contrast to the Third Reich. Many prominent Austrian scientists, professors, and lawyers at the time were Jewish; in fact Vienna, with its Jewish population of about 200,000, was considered a Safe haven from 1933 to 1938 by many Jews who fled Nazi Germany. However, the Nazis' anti-Semitism found fertile soil in Austria. Anti-Semitic elements had emerged as a force in Austrian politics in the late nineteenth century, with the rise in prominence of figures such as Georg Ritter von Schönerer and Karl Lueger (who had influenced the young Hitler), and in the 1930s anti-Semitism was rampant, as Jews were a convenient scapegoat for economic problems.
In addition to the economic appeal of the Anschluss, the popular underpinning of Nazi politics as a total art form (the refinement of film propaganda exemplified by Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will and mythological Aestheticism of a broadly conceived national destiny of the German people within a "Thousand-Year Reich") gave the Nazis a massive advantage in advancing their claims to power. Moreover Austrofascism was less grand in its appeal than the choice between Stalin and Hitler to which many European intellectuals of the time believed themselves reduced by the end of the decade. Austria had effectively no alternative view of its historical mission when the choice was upon it. In spite of Dollfuss' and Schuschnigg's hostility to Nazi political ambitions, the Nazis succeeded in convincing many Austrians to accept what they viewed as the historical destiny of the German people rather than continue as part of a distinct sovereign nation.The Second Republic
The Moscow Declaration
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The Moscow Declaration of 1943, signed by the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United Kingdom included a "Declaration on Austria," which stated the following:
The governments of the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States of America are agreed that Austria, the first free country to fall a victim to Hitlerite aggression, shall be liberated from German domination.
They regard the annexation imposed on Austria by Germany on 15 March 1938, as null and void. They consider themselves as in no way bound by any charges affected in Austria since that date. They declare that they wish to see re-established a free and independent Austria and thereby to open the way for the Austrian people themselves, as well as those neighbouring States which will be face with similar problems, to find that political and economic security which is the only basis for lasting peace.
Austria is reminded, however that she has a responsibility, which she cannot evade, for participation in the war at the side of Hitlerite Germany, and that in the final settlement account will inevitably be taken of her own contribution to her liberation.
To judge from the last paragraph and subsequent determinations at the Nuremberg Trial, the Declaration was intended to serve as Propaganda aimed at stirring Austrian resistance (although there are Austrians counted as Righteous Among the Nations, there never was an effective Austrian armed resistance of the sort found in other countries under German occupation) more than anything else, although the exact text of the declaration is said to have a somewhat complex drafting history. At Nuremberg Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Franz von Papen , in particular, were both indicted under count one (conspiracy to commit crimes against peace) specifically for their activities in support of the Austrian Nazi Party and the Anschluss, but neither was convicted of this count. In acquitting von Papen, the court noted that his actions were in its view political immoralities but not crimes under its charter. Seyss-Inquart was convicted of other serious war crimes, most of which took place in Poland and the Netherlands, and was sentenced to death.
After World War II, many Austrians sought comfort in the myth of Austria as the Nazis' first victim. Although the Nazi party was promptly banned, Austria did not have the same thorough process of de-Nazification at the top of government which was imposed on Germany for a time. Lacking outside pressure for political reform, factions of Austrian society tried for a long time to advance the view that the Anschluss was only an annexation at bayonet point.
This view of the events of 1938 has deep roots in the ten years of Allied occupation and the struggle to regain Austrian sovereignty: The victim theory played an essential role in the negotiations on the Austrian State Treaty with the Soviets, and by pointing to the Moscow Declaration Austrian politicians heavily relied on it to achieve a solution for Austria different from the division into East and West in Germany. The State Treaty, alongside with the subsequent Austrian declaration of permanent neutrality marked important milestones for the solidification of Austria's independent national identity during the following decades.
As Austrian politicians of the left and right attempted to reconcile their differences in order to avoid the violent conflict that had dominated the first republic, discussions of both Austrofascism and Austria's role in Nazism were largely avoided. Still, the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) has advanced and still sometimes advances the argument that the establishment of the Dollfuss dictatorship was necessary in order to maintain Austrian independence, while the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) argues that the dictatorship stripped the country of the democratic resources necessary to repel Hitler.
Another main factor for Austria and its coming to terms with the past emerged in the 1980s: Jörg Haider and the rise of the FPÖ. The party had combined elements of the pan-German right with free-market liberalism since its foundation in 1955, but after Haider had ascended to the party chairmanship in 1986, the liberal elements became increasingly marginalized while Haider began to openly use nationalist and anti-immigrant rhetoric. He was often criticised for tactics such as the völkisch (ethnic) definition of national interest ("Austria for Austrians") and his apologism for Austria's past, notably calling members of the Waffen-SS "men of honour". Following an enormous electoral rise in the 1990s peaking in the 1999 elections, the FPÖ, now purged of its liberal elements, entered a coalition with the ÖVP led by Wolfgang Schüssel that met international condemnation in 2000. This coalition triggered the regular Donnerstagsdemonstrationen (Thursday demonstrations) in protest against the government, which took place on the Heldenplatz, where Hitler had greeted the masses during the Anschluss. Haider's tactics and rhetoric, which were often criticised as sympathetic to Nazism, again forced Austrians to reconsider their relationship to the past.
But it is not Jörg Haider alone who has made questionable remarks on Austria's past: Jörg Haider's coalition partner the current Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel in an interview with the Jerusalem Post as late as 2000 stated that Austria was the first victim of Hitler-Germany.
I personally would like to know why the WJC [World Jewish Congress] has hardly put any pressure on Austria, even as leading Nazis and SS leaders were Austrians, Hitler included... Immediately after the war, the US wanted to make the Russians withdraw from Austria, and the Russians wanted to keep Austria neutral, therefore there was a common interest to grant Austria victim status. And later Austria could cry poor - though its per capita income is as high as Germany's. And, most importantly, the Austrian PR machinery works better. Austria has the opera ball, the imperial castle, Mozartkugeln [a chocolate]. Americans like that. And Austrians invest and export relatively little to the US, therefore they are less vulnerable to blackmail. In the meantime, they set up a commission in Austria to clarify what happened to Jewish property. Victor Klima, the former chancellor, has asked me to join. My father fought for Austria in the First World War and in 1939 he was kicked out of Austria. After the war they offered him ten dollars per month as compensation. For this reason I told Klima, no thank you, this makes me sick.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center continues to criticise Austria (as recently as June 2005) for its alleged historical and ongoing unwillingness aggressively to pursue investigations and trials against Nazis for war crimes and crimes against humanity from the seventies onwards. Its 2001 report offered the following characterization:
Given the extensive participation of numerous Austrians, including at the highest levels, in the implementation of the Final Solution and other Nazi crimes, Austria should have been a leader in the prosecution of Holocaust perpetrators over the course of the past four decades, as has been the case in Germany. Unfortunately relatively little has been achieved by the Austrian authorities in this regard and in fact, with the exception of the case of Dr. Heinrich Gross which was suspended this year under highly suspicious circumstances (he claimed to be medically unfit, but outside the court proved to be healthy) not a single Nazi war crimes prosecution has been conducted in Austria since the mid-seventies.
In 2003 the Center launched a worldwide effort named "Operation: Last Chance" in order to collect further information about those Nazis still alive that are potentially subject to prosecution. Although reports issued shortly thereafter credited Austria for initiating large-scale investigations, there has been one case where criticism of Austrian authorities arose recently: The Center has put 92-year old Croatian Milivoj Asner on its 2005 top ten list. Asner fled to Austria in 2004 after Croatia announced it would start investigations in the case of war crimes he may have been involved in. In response to objections about Asner's continued freedom, Austria's federal government has deferred to either extradition requests from Croatia or prosecutorial actions from Klagenfurt, neither of which appears forthcoming (as of June 2005). Extradition is not an option since Asner also holds Austrian Citizenship, having lived in the country from 1946 to 1991.