Burgenland: Village Secrets and the First Tremors of the Holocaust

When Hitler marched into Austria in March 1938, he was given a rapturous reception. Millions lined the streets and filled the squares of Vienna. Tobias Portschy, a self-appointed regional Nazi chief, considered what to give a man who already had almost everything he wanted and devised a somewhat particular gift from the Austrian people – the elimination of Jewish life in the Burgenland, picturesque farming country about 70km south-east of Vienna. The Holocaust had begun.Burgenland is an ast...