German-Austrian League of Anti-Semites, 20 heller donation receipt

The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.

Deutsch-Österreichischer Schutzverein Antisemitenbund [German-Austrian Defensive League of Anti-Semites] was active in Austria from 1919 until around March 1938, when it was dissolved soon after the Anschluss with Nazi Germany. The goal of the Antisemitenbund was to become the umbrella organization for all anti-Semites, in order to protect them from the economic, political, and social influence of the Jews. Their positon was that Jews were a separate nation. They defined a Jew as anyone with one Jewish great-grandparent. They called for the legal separation of Jews and non-Jews throughout society, in schools, courts, and governmental programs. Other demands included expelling Jews who had settled in Austria after 1914 and admitting no more Jews; excluding them from medical, legal, and teaching professions and public office; making clear Jewish ownership of businesses and newspapers; and not allowing them to own land. The Antisemitenbund was founded in Salzburg, Austria, in 1919. It grew quickly; there were 4000 people at its first mass meeting in September 1919. In March 21 in Vienna, during an international congress of anti-Semites, there were 40,000 attendees. It attracted members from all the middle class and paramilitary political parties and organizations in Austria, including the Christian Social Party, Greater German’s People Party, and the Austrian Nazi Party, whose officials spoke at their meetings. By the 1920s, it had chapters throughout the country. Membership fluctuated with the level of prosperity and anti-Semitism in the country, but an economic crisis, such as the Great Depression, would cause it to surge again. It experienced a sharp decline in 1924 when the Austrian Nazi Party required its members to end their participation. As an organization, the Antisemitenbund was less interested in theorizing about anti-Semitism, and more interested in finding ways to practice it, such as boycotts of Jewish businesses. Local chapter activity included reporting the names, professions, addresses, and other pertinent information about local Jews that would be needed when the country required Jews to register and carry special identification. The Antisemitenbund had an official newspaper, Der eiserne Besen, but it also received support from several unaffiliated Christian owned newspapers such Vienna’s Reichspost and Zeitung. In 1933, when the Austrian government banned all political parties, including the Nazis, the Antisemitenbund had a resurgence. In mid-1935, the government restricted its activities, suspecting it of being a front for the Nazi Party. Public meetings were prohibited after it was discovered that the audiences at the meetings were about 60% Nazi Party members. Restrictions were eased in 1937. During these years, the Antisemitenbund worked to brand itself as a patriotic, non-political organization, not affiliated with the Nazi Party. They continued to widely circulate anti-Jewish propaganda materials, but they adjusted their vocabulary, such as referring to the Jewish Volk [people] and not race. But they also urged their members to vote for Nazi Party candidates and expressed admiration for Hitler’s determined anti-Semitism.

The coupon was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.