by Erich Hackl
6
THERE OUGHT TO BE MORE that could be found out about about Peter and Kurt’s years in Vienna than Grete Gabmeier’s sketchy memories of Kurt’s graduation celebration with his classmates in a beer-garden next to the Mautner mansion in Prager Strasse, to which her family was also invited. When Grete was born, Kurt was nine years old and, wondering what a new-born baby looked like, had accompanied his mother when she went to see the mother and child in hospital. He was, so the exceptionally pretty Grete was told, horrified at the sight of her. Such an ugly child, he is said to have cried out. She remembers the two of them—both Peter and Kurt—as rather quiet boys. But they will have had many friends, both in the district and at the University where, at an interval of five years, they studied medicine. That at least is what is suggested by letters from Kurt’s fellow student, Eva Rhoden, who also came from Floridsdorf. She managed to escape from Vienna, four months after the Klagsbrunn family left, with the help of the Gildemeester Organization, a fund to help non-religious Jews who wanted to emigrate that was controlled by the Gestapo and used to rob them of their assets.
Did Peter and Kurt have steady girlfriends in Vienna? We can probably assume that Peter did; in 1938 he was in his mid-twenties and sociable like his father. In the synagogue, so Victor was later told, by a family acquaintance in Berlin, he always stood right at the back and cracked jokes. Kurt is said to have enjoyed taking photographs even while he was still in Vienna. At that time there was as yet no suggestion that his hobby was to become both his vocation and his occupation.
7
ON MARCH 12, 1938, German troops invaded Austria. On that very same day officers Bricka and Denstedt, from Floridsdorf District Police Station, carried out a search of Leopold Klagsbrunn’s house and the garage of his coal depot. According to the report, the following objects were found: “1 Nash (6 cylinder) 55 horse power, license number A 5068 less good repair necessary, 1 license plate, 1 registration certificate.” Rudolf Pfeiffer is named as witness to the search. It’s possible his sister hastily called him over so that the visit of the policemen wouldn’t turn into a humiliation of her employer. It’s also possible that the two officers feel ashamed anyway at having to inconvenience Klagsbrunn, who is well known to them, with a search of his house; that they apologize for having to trouble him and quickly take their leave. Or, on the contrary, that they want to make the most of their sudden power.
For Leopold Klagsbrunn the political upheaval is not unexpected. For some time he’s been thinking about emigration plans. Perhaps he’s hesitated until now because of his sons; Peter hasn’t long to go to his doctorate, Kurt has just started his fourth semester. Two countries are under consideration for refuge: the USA and Brazil. The widow and son of Leo’s brother Hugo, who died in 1928, are living in Connecticut or New York, his brother-in-law Albert Kohn in Rio de Janeiro. Albert is also a chemist and works for Brasil Perfumista, the magazine of the Brazilian perfume industry. Fritzi’s parents happen to be visiting him at that very moment. They’re going to stay there. But that isn’t the reason why Leo and Fritzi decide on Brazil: it’s the only country that will also grant their sons visas. The United States would have given the parents alone an entry permit.
Allegedly they talked to Maria Pfeiffer before this, without obligation, about whether she could see herself taking over the business and the house in the near future. She is perfectly familiar with the work, gets on well with both customers and suppliers but can also, where necessary, be forceful and persistent. Her savings, if she has any at all, will be nowhere near enough for anything like a reasonable purchase price for the house, depot, stock and the two vehicles (as well as the car there is a truck), but she has a relationship with Arthur Egger, an engineer with the Austrian Federal Railways (from now on the German Reich Railways), who would perhaps be able to get his hands on some money; moreover she could cover part of the purchase price with a loan. Leo knows that he must keep his demands within reason. He wants to avoid compulsory aryanization. And to do something for Mitzi for all her years of faithful work. (He had a soft spot for her; it is said he was attracted to her as a woman as well: blonde, a bit of a tomboy but motherly too, despite or because of the fact that she was unable to have children. Malicious gossip—we’ll soon hear it—suggests the two are having an affair.)
On the day after the house search Leo instructs a lawyer, Dr. Leopold Heindl, to draw up a bill of sale for the coal business which both parties sign on March 29, 1938, which is before the Property Transfer Office, the expropriation authority that has to approve every disposal of Jewish property to private individuals, begins to operate. The price for the business, including goodwill, depot, stock, equipment, arrears and debts, is set at 20,000 Austrian schillings (after the currency changeover that is 13,333,33 reichsmarks); the purchaser undertakes to pay it off in regular monthly installments of 400 schillings, starting on April 1. In a verbal appendix she agrees to bear all the expenses the Klagsbrunn family will incur until they leave the country, up to the full amount of the purchase price, less arrears and fees for the contract.
On July 14 Leo has to fill out the ‘Register of the property of Jews as of April 27, 1938’. He indicates that he sold his business in March and possesses a house valued at 10,270 reichsmarks—according to the expertise of the Floridsdorf builder Franz Mikolaschek—in addition to that a life insurance with a surrender value of 2143 reichmarks, a pocket watch with a chain, a wrist watch, various items of silver, two carpets, two runners, to a total value of 920 reichsmarks, plus pictures and bronze pieces of no artistic value. There has been a mortgage of 2000 marks on the house since June 1928 in favor of Auguste Ferwerda, Amsterdam, that was deducted from the purchase price. ‘Aunt Gusti’, as she is called in several letters from Maria Pfeiffer, is Fritzi’s sister. She’s married to a Dutchman, a senior employee of Shell, and will spend the years of the World War in Indonesia.
On August 5 the bill of sale of the property at 9 Pilzgasse (house and garden) for 10,000 reichsmarks is also drawn up. In it Maria Pfeiffer agrees to take over the mortgage and to pay back the balance of 8,000 reichsmarks “within at most five years from today’s date, and until such time to pay interest at 4 per cent per annum.” The Property Transfer Office approves the sale of the coal business on August 8 and informs Dr. Ottokar Czerny, the lawyer charged with the implementation of the contract, that for the acquisition of the real estate “approval is not at present required.” At this point Leo and Fritzi Klagsbrunn and their sons have already left the territory of the German Reich—on August 7, 1938, three months before Kristallnacht and before the ordinances of the so-called Jewish Property Tax come into force. Maria Pfeiffer paid an aryanization duty, described as voluntary, of 1,000 reichsmarks in September.
As early as the beginning of July she asked the Vienna Property Transfer Office to expedite their “agreement to the purchase of Firma Chemiker Leo Klagsbrunn, Vienna XXI, 9 Pilzgasse, which I took over on 17/3/1938.” In the same letter she complains about “the spreading of false rumors” that give her a bad name with her customers, “yes, even with the District Party leadership.” These, she said, were moves by the competition which she could only counter forcefully once the purchase had been recognized. As already mentioned, approval was granted one month later which, however, did nothing to stem the rumors. On September 28 the NSDAP HQ of Gau3 Vienna, District HQ 9, Section of Economic Affairs, sends the report of the investigation by its Floridsdorf-Ringelsee District Group to the Property Transfer Office.
3. A name for an administrative region introduced by the Nazis.
8
MARIA ANNA PFEIFFER, b. 8/2/1903 and resident at 20 Franklinstrasse, Vienna 21, was employed as a clerk in the office of the Jew, Klagsbrunn, charcoal dealer, Pilzgasse, Vienna 21. She was a good friend of the Jew. According to the men and women who were employed there they were something more than just good friends. (Testimony of Frau Buresch and her spouse Theodor, 22 Floridusgasse, Vienna 21, Hans Kührer, 5-11 Fultonstrasse, Vien
na 21.)
On the day immediately following the Changeover, Klagsbrunn, in the presence of his wife and after consulting a lawyer, sold the business to Frau Pfeiffer, concluding a bill of sale on the transaction. Where the Racial German Pfeiffer could have found the money for this is unknown. According to the latest information, an engineer employed by Deutsche Reichsbahn, Vienna section, provided the finance as her fiancé.
The whole matter of the sale and takeover of the business looks to us like cover for something else, and that is how it is generally referred to in Floridsdorf. In this respect Frau Pfeiffer was forced to take legal action against Frau Schrammel, store-owner, 25 Floridusgasse, Vienna 21.
Furthermore the employee, Frau Buresch, also informs us that before her departure for Brazil (about 3 weeks ago) Frau Klagsbrunn took over the cash desk every day while RG Pfeiffer frequently accompanied the Jewish family to Vienna.
Apparently RG Pfeiffer’s takeover of the business has already been approved by the Property Transfer Office. Furthermore she is now attempting to buy the coal chute of the Jew Stiasny and, strangely enough, is fully supported in this by the Reichsbahn while Party Comrade Hellmayer, coal merchant, Pilzgasse, Vienna 21, to whom it was promised and who has even made a relevant application to the Property Transfer Office, is not considered. What we are dealing with here seems to be a case of cronyism.
Whatever the case, we object to RG Pfeiffer, who has not done anything at all to support the Movement and was a friend of the Jew, taking possession of the Jewish firm and propose that a provisional management be put in charge of the Klagsbrunn Jewish firm.
A license to trade in wood and coal will not be granted to her on the part of the District Council.
Frau Schrammel informs us that RG Pfeiffer is said to have the intention of selling the business in two months’ time in order to follow the Jews. We will keep an eye on this matter.
Heil Hitler!
(signature) Ringelsee District Group
9
SUMMONED FOR QUESTIONING on October 3, 1938, Maria Pfeiffer is clearly able to refute these accusations. But that is not the end of her problems. In May 1939 the Floridsdorf Tax Office informs her that Leopold Klagsbrunn has left behind unpaid taxes of 8376.85 reichsmarks, for which she, as the person who has taken over the business, is held liable. The major part of the demand—a round 7700 reichsmarks—consists of the tax on Jewish property and unpaid sales tax owed by the FAC, recently declared insolvent, which is being charged to the former president of the club. Since Maria Pfeiffer is unable to pay this sum, the tax office proposes having the house put up for compulsory auction. The justification for this measure is that Leopold Klagsbrunn is named in the land register as due a sum of 8,000 reichsmarks—the amount the buyer undertook to pay in installments. At this Maria Pfeiffer applies for that entry to be deleted, supporting her request with a list of all the payments she has made so far. This makes it clear that she has already paid the purchase price, apart from a small remainder, by settling the seller’s debts and contributing to his living expenses. Despite that, the Tax Office persists in its demands “since the inquiries conducted show that the value of the property taken over by you far exceeds the obligations of your predecessor.” It is not until July 1941 that it adopts the view of the Property Transfer Office that at the point when the Jewish Property Tax came into force both the house and firm were in Aryan possession, and the obligation to pay the installments noted in the Land Registry no longer applied, as could be seen from the satisfaction piece sent by Klagsbrunn from Rio de Janeiro. “Therefore the distraint on the installments has no basis in law and only prevents the deletion of the entry in the Land Register, to the disadvantage of an Aryan, without any prospect of procuring the sums of money for the Tax Office.” As well as that the Property Transfer Office recommended that the Tax Office drop its demand for payment of the Jewish Property Tax, because “none of the Jew’s assets were available,” and concentrate instead on Leo Klagsbrunn’s insurance policy. “Perhaps that asset is still tangible for the Tax Office.”
Just one month later, on August 19, 1941, the Vienna office of the Gestapo strips the Klagsbrunn family of their German nationality, orders the seizure of their property, “both movable and immovable,” to the benefit of the German Reich and, in agreement with the West Moabit, Berlin, Tax Office, which is responsible for the confiscation of forfeited assets, appoints the attorney, Dr. Stephan Lehner, as administrator. Once more Maria Pfeiffer has to furnish proof that she has already paid the purchase price for the house and business—in total 23,333.33 reichsmarks. Since the proceeds from the redemption of the policy—suddenly it only brings in 1481.40 reichsmarks—has already been called in by the Floridsdorf Tax Office in January 1942, all that he can lay his hands on is the Klagsbrunns’ jewelry, for the sale of which the Vienna office the Gestapo collects 12.48 reichsmarks. After the deduction of bank fees and transfer costs, that leaves a balance of ten reichsmarks that are credited to the account of the Senior Tax Officer of Vienna-Lower Danube.
At this point—the middle of May 1943—the Klagsbrunn family has long since settled in Rio de Janeiro. The journey there, however, took a whole seven months because of a long stay in Lisbon. We know that because twenty years later Kurt Klagsbrunn was to write under ‘Proof’ (of his claim to have fled Austria in August 1938) on a form of the Austrian Assistance Fund for victims of political persecution: “Passport no. A527775, issued by the police in Vienna June 13, 1934; withdrawn on September 5, 1938, by the German embassy in Lisbon.” There, in Lisbon, he receives a letter from London in which Eva Rhoden describes the experiences she and her sister had during their last days in Vienna.
10
ON NOVEMBER 10 & 11 we were imprisoned. In Sinai’s furniture shed. With all the Jews of Floridsdorf, from 2 years old to 100. 2 days without food and with nowhere to sleep. But hard work for all that. We had to unload 4 furniture vans with our own things. Even Liesl’s bookshelf had been unscrewed and taken down. And when she quietly asked how they’d managed it, she’d always wondered, they were almost going to hit her. But Michel’s sister gave one of them such a lovely smile, he didn’t bother. I started crying uncontrollably when I saw all our dear, lovely things gathered there. I didn’t know what I was starting with my tears. All the women began to sob, the SA bellowed, “Stop it!” It was horrible. The raging hunger as well. And I already had a police record, on the same day I’d already been arrested by the police. And I spent an hour in the freezing cold of the loft before they found me at 7 in the morning. They arrested Mommy and Liesl at 4 but didn’t find me then.—They grabbed all our clothes, all our money, in fact everything. The next day (11/11) they let us out. Mom went to an attorney (our house had already been sold, the preliminary contract signed and that was the day when we should have gotten the money) so Mom went to the one who’d arranged the sale. In the meantime Liesl and I borrowed 1 reichsmark from Aryans and went to the Gildemeester Organization. “A bathroom please!” We dashed in shouting that, we were so filthy. “We don’t keep office hours.” So away we went. I was so hungry I couldn’t see properly. Two days is no joke. At least they let us wash our hands at the Jewish Community Center. The youth welfare worker gave us 5 reichsmarks and then she called me back in: “Evi, your visa’s arrived.” She even had the letter in her hand. I showed myself duly pleased, and there was I thinking my passport had been confiscated. And I had no idea where it could be. Then we bought a huge salami sandwich. And ate it as we went up Rotenturmstrasse to the Gildemeester. There we met Kurt Nagler (at the moment he’s in Dover Camp) and he bought us something to eat. Fruit, rolls, even liqueur chocolates. We stuffed ourselves and were glad that under his aegis we got into the bathroom. And we found something decent to sit on. We were almost happy. But with all the agitation and lack of sleep my eyes were funny and made everything look as if it was shimmering. We wanted to spend the night in the office rooms. We’d already lost Mommy. At 8 o’clock the senior officials threw us out and we stood,
sobbing, in St. Stephen’s Square with the pleasant prospect of spending the whole night walking round. But then Kurtl took us in, slept in the office himself and in the morning Frau Überall found us and invited us to her place. Two could also sleep there. We drew lots and I lost. So I went out to look for somewhere. There was one empty bed at Franzl Schnitzer’s and we went to the Überalls’ for all our meals. (I think Mommy’s still there but they must be in great financial difficulties because of the contribution.4 From us they’re demanding the paltry sum of 30,000. Mommy doesn’t even have 1%.) Then one of the Gestapo, who works at the Gildemeester Organization, got our passports back for us. Two days later we learnt that the visa is also valid for Liesl. But, of course, now we had no money for the tickets. Application to Gildemeester. OK, that won’t be necessary with the Jewish Community Center. Queuing for a visa was 24 hours in the rain outside the English Consulate. Liesl was bleeding under her toenails. That’s what it was like. Then Gildemeester ran out of money the day before. With great wire-pulling and 8 hours queuing we got the tickets and left Vienna the next day. Very tearlessly.