The balcony of the new Imperial Palace on Heldenplatz—the building in which you are standing right now—is where Adolf Hitler officially declared the end of Austria’s independence on 15 March 1938.

The vast cheering crowd bears testimony to the enthusiasm of many Austrians about the so-called “Anschluss” that would make Austria part of Nazi Germany. On 11 March 1938, Austrian Nazis had seized power in the country and on 12 March German Wehrmacht troops invaded Austria.

Thus began persecution and terror on the streets in broad daylight and in plain sight. Jews were subject to public humiliation and abuse.

The very brief film footage shown here was recorded in March 1938. These eleven seconds are the only known moving images of the violent outbursts that took place right after the so-called Anschluss. Jews were forced to clean the streets while onlookers stood and laughed. It was not uncommon that the victims knew the perpetrators and the onlookers.

There was no protection from violence, the police simply stood by and defended the perpetrators.

Jews were the main enemy of the Nazi regime. Anti-Semitism had already been widespread. From March 1938 onwards, discrimination now became written into law. The Nazis justified their actions by claiming that the German national community, the so-called “Volksgemeinschaft” was under attack by “the Jews.”

Those deemed “Jewish” under the Nurnberg Race Laws lost all their rights. The Nazis believed that people were fundamentally unequal and divided people into “races”.

The entire population gradually grew accustomed to acts of violence, which increasingly became part of everyday life. It started out with slogans and ideology and turned into actions after the “Anschluss” in 1938.

As you can see here, it was not just the Nazi laws that contributed to this, but it was also the actions taken—and those not taken—by many. This film footage urges us to question the behaviour of each individual: the onlookers’ reactions are part of the violence and humiliation.

Author Carl Zuckmayr describes these days in Vienna when he writes:

“And all people lost their face, like twisted grimaces; some in fear, others in lies, others in wild, hate-filled triumph […] I experienced the first days of the Nazi rule in Berlin. None of that even compares to these days in Vienna.”