Findbuch for Victims of National Socialism
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FINDBUCH FOR VICTIMS OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM FINDBUCH FOR VICTIMS OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM A project by historians of the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism © CENTROPA.ORG as at February 11, 2013 1 FINDBUCH CONCEPT & DESIGN Project Team Project Team Historians Iris Petrinja, MSc (Project manager) Annette Eisenberg Dr. Wolfgang Gasser Barbara Grün-Müller-Angerer Dr. Joseph Klement Andreas Liška-Birk Peter Stadlbauer Projekt Team IT Michael Pisecki (Project manager IT) Judith Faustmann Nikolaij Kreinjobst Manuel Laister Michael Mürkl Cooperating Partners Archives Burgenländisches Landesarchiv Carinthian Regional Archives Archives of Upper Austria Austrian State Archives Salzburger Landesarchiv Tyrolean Regional Archives Municipal and Provincial Archives of Vienna (MA8) Libraries Austrian National Library Library of the University of Vienna Publishers Ueberreiter Verlag GmbH Verlag Österreich GmbH Institutions Centropa Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Linz Imprint Responsible for the content National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism © CENTROPA.ORG Parlament A-1017 Vienna Contact Iris Petrinja, MSc Proofreading Martin Niklas 2 FINDBUCH FOR VICTIMS OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM CONTENTS Background information and aims 4 The National Fund as database operator 5 Presentation of the Findbuch in the Austrian Parliament 6 Feedback for the Findbuch 8 Content 10 Overview of the historical address books and official handbooks 11 Overview of the archives and file types 12 Website Homepage 14 File types 16 Historical address books and official handbooks 17 Registration 18 Registered user area “My Findbuch” 19 Full text search 20 Advanced search 21 Search results 22 Detail view 23 Legal information 24 3 FINDBUCH CONCEPT & DESIGN BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND AIMS In order to be able to process the applications received by the General Settlement Fund with the help of historical documents, Austrian archives have provided a wealth of information – so called Findbücher, or finding aids – on their file holdings relating to National Socialist property seizures and Austrian compensation and restitution measures. While working to process the applications, the staff of the General Settlement Fund were able to merge this data, sometimes adding to it, amending it and – if not already done – recording it electronically. The resulting database provides the foundation for the “Findbuch for Victims of National Socialism”. Through regular communication with our applicants, numerous correspondence and personal contacts, we have come to realize that, even today, people’s desire to find out about the stories and fates of their family and friends remains unabated. The information provided by the Findbuch on the files of the Austrian archives containing perso- nal information does not allow inferences to be drawn about possible applicants to the National Fund of the Republic of Austria or the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism. The main goal hoped to be achieved by publishing the Findbuch – also available in English – is to facilitate the search for “family traces” in Austrian archive holdings, not only for the victims of National Socialism from Austria and their descendents but also for academics and provenance or family researchers. It is intended to encourage people to come to terms with National Soci- alism and its aftermath in Austria, both in terms of family history research and at an academic, educational and societal level. 4 FINDBUCH FOR VICTIMS OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM THE NATIONAL FUND AS DATABASE OPERATOR The objective of the National Fund, established in 1995, is “to express the special responsibility towards the victims of National Socialism” [Sec. 1 (2) of the National Fund Law]. The National Fund fulfils this task by rendering material benefits, e.g. in the form of gesture payments and project funding. Along with these material benefits, the National Fund also expresses its responsibility in non- material ways (such as publishing life stories, managing the art database and coordinating the redesign of the Austrian national exhibition in the Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau). Moreover, in recent years responses have been provided to increasing numbers of inquiries from applicants keen to know more about their family history, their knowledge of which is often fragmented as a result of flight and persecution. In addition, the number of inquiries from the fields of science/ academia and provenance research has also risen steeply. In this respect, by publishing the online Findbuch, the National Fund is also building on its de- dication in expressing its “special responsibility” towards the victims of National Socialism and their descendents. The lawful use of data of the “Online Findbuch on Victims of National Socialism and Austrian Settlement Measures” has been registered with the Austrian Data Protection Commission under DVR-Nr. 0851655. The Data Protection Act has therefore been complied with. Visit our website at www.findbuch.at 5 FINDBUCH CONCEPT & DESIGN PRESENTATION OF THE FINDBUCH AT THE PARLIAMENT ON JANUARY 15 2013 The National Fund of the Republic of Austria presented the Findbuch for Victims of National So- cialism within the scope of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January – the day of the liberation of the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. The Findbuch was presented in the Austrian Parliament on 15 January 2013, followed by a panel discussion on the subject “Family stories. Restitution and compensation in generational memory”. In the discussion, chaired by Hannah Lessing, Secretary General of the National Fund and the General Settlement Fund, Katja Sturm-Schnabl, professor at the Institute for Slavic Stu- dies at the University of Vienna, actor and author Miguel Herz-Kestranek, Albertina provenance researcher Pia Schölnberger and university professor emeritus at the Institute of Contemporary History of the University of Vienna, Gerhard Botz, discussed the impact the National Socialist era had had on the families’ memory and the meaning of restitution and compensation for the victims of National Socialism. The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the National Fund, President of the National Council Barbara Prammer, believes that the Findbuch has come at the right time. The General Settle- ment Fund – established on the basis of the Washington Agreement –, whose work provides the foundation for the Findbuch, had almost completed its tasks. In the run-up to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an important source of information had been made accessible, which not only benefited victims of National Socialism from Austria and their descendents but also historians, schools, universities and commemorative projects. “Undertaking research in the Findbuch is also a form of remembrance and commemoration and, as such, also forms part of the Austrian culture of remembrance”, continued Prammer. “By publishing the Findbuch, the National Fund is further building on its dedication in expres- sing Austria’s special responsibility towards the victims of National Socialism and their descen- dents”, summed up Lessing. Fig. 1: Secretary General of the National Fund and the General Settlement Fund, Hannah Lessing, and President of the National Council Barbara Prammer (from left). Fig. 2: View towards the participants of the event. In the first row from right Hannah Lessing, Aviv Shir-On, Oskar Deutsch, Anna Elisabeth Haselbach, Barbara Prammer, Terezija Stoisits, Herwig Hösele, Harald Walser, Gerhard Botz. Fig.3: The panel from left: Univ.-Prof. Katja Sturm-Schnabl, Institute of Slavic Studies at the University of Vienna; Miguel Herz-Kestranek, actor and author; Hannah Lessing, chairwoman and Secretary General of the National Fund; Pia Schölnberger, provenance researcher at the Albertina Museum; and univer- sity professor emeritus at the Institute of Contemporary History of the University of Vienna, Gerhard Botz. Fig. 4: The journalist and former editor of “Jerusalem Post”, Ari Rath, speaking; in front to the left, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community in Vienna, Paul Chaim Eisenberg and the Findbuch project team members Annette Eisenberg, Iris Petrinja and Peter Stadlbauer. Fig.5: Pia Schölnberger in conversation with Miguel Herz-Kestranek. Photos: Parlamentsdirektion/Bildagentur Zolles KG/Leo Hagen 6 FINDBUCH FOR VICTIMS OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM 1 2 3 4 5 7 FINDBUCH CONCEPT & DESIGN FEEDBACK FOR THE FINDBUCH “The Austrian State Archives are proud to have been able to contribute towards the successful realization of this necessary and long-overdue project through the extensive provision of funda- mental historical source material.” Director General of the Austrian State Archives, Univ.-Doz. Dr. Wolfgang Maderthaner “As one of the central heritage institutions of this country, the Austrian National Library has for the last ten years been striving to deal with its own National Socialist past in an exemplary and transparent manner. Particularly because of the proven key role it played in National Socialist looting and confiscation, and especially in view of the obvious failures and omissions of the initial post-war years, I have followed this matter very closely since taking on my current role. We were very pleased to have been able to support the initiative of the National Fund in estab- lishing the online Findbuch. It is still very difficult for the descendents of many victims to receive that to which they are