One of the most celebrated writers of the German-speaking world in the pre-war period, Stefan Zweig fled Vienna in 1934, to escape increasing Antisemitism in Austria and Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. Opening in 1935 in Dresden, the “Schweigsame Frau” opera was banned by the Nazi regime after only three performances because composer Richard Strauss refused to remove Zweig’s name from the program. Increasingly despairing, Zweig moved first to England, then to the United States and finally Brazil, where he committed suicide with his wife in 1942.
Retracing history by Alfred Damm
In 1614 Jews without special authorization (unbefreyt) were required to leave Vienna. A Jewish settlement is mention in the records of Weitersfeld in the county of Hardegg from 1619. The author asks whether there is any connection between these two facts.»more