The Deutsch Schützen massacre was a 1945 mass killing of at least 57 Hungarian Jewish forced laborers by the Waffen-SS in Deutsch Schützen-Eisenberg in Austria. The Hitler Youth-Bannführer Alfred Weber, who was responsible for construction in Deutsch Schützen, gave the order for the massacre. At the old church, Martinskirche, in the farmland on the west side of Deutsch Schützen, a plaque was erected on the exterior of the building memorializing those murdered in the massacre.
Historical Background The village Deutsch Schützen-Eisenberg had become a part of the Styrian Gau after the Anschluss because Southern Burgenland was annexed to it. The rest of the Bundesland became a part of the Reichsgau Niederdonau.
On September 1, 1944, the Reich Defense Commissioner was instructed by Adolf Hitler's directives to plan and build fortification along the Reich's borders. In the Styrian region, the defensive line known in German propaganda as the South-east wall was to be built for this purpose. Gauleiter Siegfried Uiberreither was responsible for its construction.Manfried Rauchensteiner: Der Krieg in Österreich 1945. Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Wien 1984, S. 80.
Incident and aftermath The incident occurred on 29 March 1945.Memmott, Mark (17 November 2009). "90-Year-Old Alleged Nazi Charged With 58 Counts Of Murder From 1945 Killings." National Public Radio
The victims' remains were found in 1995 by the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien.Rising, David (17 November 2009). "90-year-old charged in Germany for Nazi-era crimes." Associated Press In 2008, Viennese political science student Andreas Forster discovered the name of Adolf Storms in records of the incident. Forster's professor Walter Manoschek gathered evidence and conducted a videotaped interview with Storms.Staff report (21 October 2008). "Student tracks down Nazi war crimes suspect." The Daily Telegraph In 2009, then 90-year-old Storms was indicted for his alleged involvement in the killings.Mackey, Robert (17 November 2009). "Former SS Man Charged in 1945 Massacre." The New York Times
Storms died on June 28, 2010, at the age of 90.Associated Press (6 July 2010). No. 4 Most-Wanted Nazi Dies a Free Man in Germany Associated Press
See also Rechnitz
References
Further reading
External links The massacre of Hungarian-Jewish forced laborers in Deutsch-Schützen (Burgenland) and its judicial prosecution by the Austrian People's Courts Remembering Deutsch Schützen