Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft

Citation

Kelly, W.A. (2003), "Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft", Library Review, Vol. 52 No. 5, pp. 237-238. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530310476805

This is the largest and longest‐running of 40 research projects begun in the National Library of Austria since 1988. That date is significant for Jews in that it coincided with Dr Kurt Waldheim’s tenure of the Presidency of Austria, during which he endured accusations of his complicity in the death of many Jews during the Second World War, and the 50th anniversary both of the Kristallnacht and the Anschluss. Against this background it is pleasing to note the foreword’s acknowledgement that this work marks Austria’s formal acceptance of its responsibility for the enforced emigration of so many of the authors listed here.

The work lists in a standardised format of surname, forename(s), date and place of birth and of death, where relevant, a potted biography, profession, nearest relative and source(s) of information about almost 12,000 Jewish authors, who have been born and brought up in Austria or who have moved there, if in either case only for a short time. While the enormous number of authors makes it impossible for a reviewer to do more than pick out a mere handful which have struck a particular chord, the extensiveness of the coverage makes clear the wide‐ranging contribution by Jewish writers to Austria’s intellectual and artistic life, and conversely, as with any large scale ethnic or religious cleansing, how much the expelling country loses by the deportees’ departure. As expected, the names of the great and the good are listed here, such as Sigmund Freud, Theodor Herzl, Raoul Hausmann, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Egon Wellesz, a pupil of Arnold Schönberg and a composer in his own right, who later became Reader in Byzantine Music at Oxford, and Hans Gál, another composer, who taught counterpoint and composition at the University of Edinburgh for 20 years from 1945. Here also, as with all good biographical works, one can find information on some whose origins, in this case Jewish, were unknown to this reviewer, such as the American film director, Billy Wilder, who has given us such delightful films as Some Like It Hot and The Apartment as well as on less well known figures, such as Ioan Holdender, whose expulsion by the Rumanian authorities from a mechanical engineering course for involvement in student protests resulted a few years later in his studying singing at the Viennese Conservatoire, before beginning a highly successful career as a theatrical director. The last named individual is another inspiring example of someone whose career has been assisted inadvertently by the short‐sighted, spiteful actions of a tyrannical government.

The National Library of Austria’s commitment to scholarship is evident in its making facilities available to the team working on this and other magisterial compilations. The present reviewer can only shake his head in sadness that the National Library of Scotland in recent years did not take such an enlightened attitude to its responsibilities, preferring to wallow in the trough of quick‐fit, inward looking “targets and objectives”. This work undoubtedly deserves a place in the library of any academic institution which offers degree courses in German literature and history.