Berliner Zinnfiguren/Books & Media/Books/1933-1945 (WW II)/Austria products

Fritsche, Maria (Hrsg.): NS-Verfolgung und Militärjustiz in Wien. Gerichtsort Hohenstaufengasse 30,00 €

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:25:05 +0200

Two Wehrmacht courts were housed in the former bank building at Hohenstaufengasse 3 in Vienna during the last years of the war. 69 people were sentenced to death there. The book sheds light on the role of Nazi military jurisdiction in Vienna, its actors and its victims. The book takes the bank building in Hohenstaufengasse, which was used as a military court during the Nazi era, as a starting point to shed light on the work of Wehrmacht justice in Vienna from different perspectives. By analysing for the first time all the proceedings of the Field Court Martial of Division No. 177, which had a branch in Hohenstaufenengasse, both the actual numbers of victims and the work of the Wehrmacht judges are presented in a differentiated manner. The articles provide insights into the fates of the victims, the functioning of the military court bureaucracy and its interaction with the Nazi institutions of persecution that were established in Vienna after the Anschluss.

Stelzl-Marx, Barbara/Kranebitter, Andreas, Holzinger, Gregor (Hrsg.): Exekutive der Gewalt: Die österreichische Polizei und der Nationalsozialismus 70,00 €

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 07:15:05 +0200

After the Anschluss in March 1938, the Austrian police became an integral part of the National Socialist terror regime. This publication offers a comprehensive insight into the significance, function and developmental history of this executive of violence. Based on the largely smooth integration of the executive into the Nazi repressive apparatus, 32 national and international experts address the history of the Austrian police under National Socialism - from the transformation of the security structures after the Anschluss in 1938 to the organisation of the terror regime at home and in the conquered territories. The police were significantly involved in war crimes and the Holocaust. Examples of resistance within the police also point to the question of individual options for action. The focus is also on the judicial punishment of Nazi crimes and denazification measures in the post-war period. By opening up the police archives, it is possible for the first time to gain a comprehensive insight into the workings of the executive of violence.

Zerovnik, Martina: Hitlers Exekutive. Die österreichische Polizei und der Nationalsozialismus 28,00 €

Tue, 19 May 2026 06:50:07 +0200

The police were one of the main pillars of the National Socialist dictatorship. Their work was part of the Nazi regime's racist policy of extermination and conquest. Their main tasks were to create and protect "order and security" in the German Reich, both at home and in the conquered areas. Austrian police and gendarmes were also significantly involved in the persecution and murder of people, in war crimes and in the Holocaust. This catalog for the exhibition of the same name offers a compact overview of the organization, attitudes and scope of action of the Austrian police under National Socialism.

Doubek, Günther: Bleib über Erinnerungen an das letzte Kriegsjahr 24,95 €

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:55:05 +0200

April 1944 - almost all of Europe is at war with Hitler's Germany. Cities and vast stretches of land have already been devastated, and permanent defensive battles are taking place on all fronts. Subjugated peoples try to free themselves from German occupation. People are war-weary, serious shortcomings are noticeable in all areas of everyday life - Hitler conscripts 15- to 16-year-old boys as war helpers, including Günther Doubek, a high school student from Vienna. Decades later, he writes down his memories, stored with incredible precision, initially only for his children and grandchildren.

"I started writing down my memories when I was 65. In doing so, I tried to put myself intensively into the situation, the knowledge and the emotional state of my childhood and youth, and to fade out insights gained later. What kept me from writing about my military days for a long time, I don't know exactly. There has been no other time in my life when my ideals changed so profoundly - and all this in a period of only 13 months."
What can convey history more realistically than the authentic account of a participant? How do people behave in an extreme form of government in which an individual has practically no voice? Hardly imaginable for us today - and that is why the experiences of a young person at that time, who experienced love, family cohesion and friendship in the midst of dreariness and senselessness, can undoubtedly answer many an unanswered question and make the situation of our grandfathers more understandable.

Joseph, David: Burgenland. Village Secrets and the First Tremors of the Holocaust 36,95 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:20:28 +0200

When Hitler marched into Austria in March 1938, he was given a rapturous reception. Millions lined the streets and filled the squares of Vienna. Tobias Portschy, a self-appointed regional Nazi chief, considered what to give a man who already had almost everything he wanted and devised a somewhat particular gift from the Austrian people - the elimination of Jewish life in the Burgenland, picturesque farming country about 70 km south-east of Vienna. The Holocaust had begun. "Burgenland" is an astonishing survey of Jewish history in Central Europe, an account of the opening salvo of what turned into the systematic industrial scale genocide of European Jewry, and a stern examination of the worlds wholly inadequate reaction. It is also a deeply personal memoir and family history. Impeccably researched and hugely ambitious in scope, it narrates the full arc of the Jewish experience in Central Europe over 300 years, told through the story of one family who remained steadfast in their identity throughout.

David Joseph has dissected an uncomfortable history, and the results demand a substantial re-assessment of the orthodox narrative around the Holocaust and the role played by Austria.

Chiussi, Tommaso: Zollgrenzschutz. Border Guards on the Frontier of the Reich, Hauptzollamt Villach, 1941-1945 30,95 €

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 07:15:05 +0200

After occupying the Balkans early in the war, the Axis powers constantly struggled to police the region. The partisan presence was quite substantial, and while the various fractured guerrilla groups expended a great deal of energy fighting among themselves, they were still a threat to German/Italian control. The Germans and Italians were heavily engaged with the Allies across multiple fronts, so manpower was thinly spread. Therefore, much of the responsibility for combating a ruthless and in some cases highly militarized resistance contingent fell to nonmilitary police units. An example of such a unit is the Zollgrenzschutz (customs-border protection) of the Hauptzollamt (main customs office) Villach. Villach lies where the borders of Austria (then part of Greater Germany), Italy, and Slovenia meet. It is the gateway to the Julian Alps and during the Second World War was the frontier between Nazi Germany and the Balkans.

Italian author Tommaso Chiussi has pieced together the history of the unit through painstaking original research in German, Austrian, Italian, and Slovenian archives. Included with the manuscript are more than 90 photos, most of which are previously unpublished.

Lackerbauer, Ilse: Das Kriegsende in der Stadt Salzburg im Mai 1945 12,00 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:20:28 +0200

Volume 45 of the "Militärhistorische Schriftenreihe", published by the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Militärwissenschaftliches Institut) in Vienna.

Sauberer, Willi: Die gescholtene Generation. Eine Rot-weiß-Rote Faktensuche 25,00 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:15:28 +0200

After the crushing of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the end of the First World War in 1918, one-eighth of the area and one-eighth of the population "remained" - a state that had never existed before, that could not convey any sense of identity and that "nobody wanted" at home or abroad, a state that, deprived of all economic structures, was hit worse than all other industrial nations by the world economic crisis of the interwar period.

This state was wiped out in 1938 against the will of the majority of the population, its people were caught up in a murderous war and suffered a ten-year occupation after 1945. In 1945, Austria emerged as a completely new state and developed a clear profile and subsequently, for the first time, a national consciousness supported by broad sections of the population. Since the mid-1980s, however, the war generation, which had been severely tested, has been permanently scolded, especially the soldiers who had fought on foreign fronts. Willi Sauberer, contemporary witness and chronicler, clears up this abuse. In his search for their roots, he came across facts that have often been concealed and even more often distorted: The history of the First Republic (and not only of the First Republic) was very different from what many historians, politicians and the media make it out to be. This book offers much that is new, unknown and highly surprising.

Pöcher, Harald/Schaffer, Roland: Das Österreichische Bundesheer der Ersten Republik zwischen 1931 und 1938. Das Bundesheer war zwar verlässlich aber es hatte nur Munition für wenige Tage 25,00 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:15:28 +0200

In accordance with the peace dictate after the First World War, the Republic of Austria was only allowed to raise a 30000-strong professional army without armoured vehicles and aircraft. It was not until 1935 that the army acquired tankettes, aircraft and also increased its personnel strength. In the first part, the book analyses the rearmament of the Federal Army with contemporary weapons and the increase in personnel strength.

The second part serves as a reprint of the publication "Unser Heer und seine Waffen" (Our Army and its Weapons) by Paul Wittas from 1936. It is, as far as the authors are able to judge as non-witnesses, a good account of the Federal Army of the First Republic in the second half of the 1930s.

Schweiger, Johann: Kriegsschicksale aus dem Bezik Lilienfeld 29,90 €

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 06:55:10 +0200

This book describes the difficult period of National Socialism and the following war years. It begins with the diary of a woodcutter from the Abbey who was swept away by the war from his workplace at the foot of the Reisalpe and met his death in Russia. It also tells of his brother, who survived the war in a prison camp in Egypt. As a result, it tells of a communist factory worker who was tortured and tormented by the GESTAPO, as well as of a farmer who took up with the Nazis.

Contemporary witnesses tell of the community doctor from Traisen who, following his duty, drove into a heavily contested area to care for a patient, as well as of the terrible experiences of some families. A schoolgirl from Germany describes her escape and the tragic death of 13 of her comrades in Kleinzell. The book ends with essays by more than 30 pupils from the 8th grade primary school in Eschenau. In these they recount their war experiences in April/May 1945, when their community was heavily fought over. This book shows an excerpt of the hard life of the war years and of fates that existed in their thousands. The accounts of the last eyewitnesses must be read in order to never forget this drama!

Brettner, Friedrich: Hurra, Fliegeralarm Kriegsende und Besatzung in Österreich. Erinnerungen aus der Kinder- und Jugendzeit 26,90 €

Sat, 23 May 2026 07:25:08 +0200

Prof. Friedrich Brettner from Gloggnitz (Lower Austria), born in 1935, successful author of several books about the end of the war in eastern Austria, is one of the last contemporary witnesses who can still vividly remember the fateful events in eastern Austria in early 1945. His impressive childhood experiences between school and air-raid alerts have stayed with him all his life. Again and again he had contact with people of the same age, whose sometimes even more dramatic fates he also wrote down.

"Hurra Fliegeralarm" also describes the carefreeness with which children and young people sometimes encountered the events of that time and shows many pictures.

Allmeyer-Beck, Johann Christoph: Militärakademie - Kriegsschule - Fahnenjunker Schule: Wiener Neustadt 1938-1945 24,90 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:15:28 +0200

The Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, founded in 1751, is considered the oldest in the world. After the Anschluss, it became a German "war school" in 1938. The NSDAP saw the Army NCO Pre-School XVII for prospective NCOs, which existed in 1940-42, as a violation of its monopoly on youth education and forced its closure. The well-known military historian Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck describes this period on the basis of numerous sources. Beyond the military academy, this book represents an important contribution to the history of Austria in the "Third Reich".

Brettner, Friedrich: Die letzten Kämpfe des II. Weltkriegs im Osten Österreichs 49,90 €

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:00:07 +0200

Both volumes by the author Friedrich Brettner, which were already out of print, are now published in a new edition as an anthology, which is the result of his decades of historical research on the events of the last months of the war in eastern Austria (mainly Lower Austria, Styria, Burgenland). In his usual expert manner and enriched with countless eyewitness accounts, the author deals with those areas where the main thrust of the advancing Red Army troops took place in the spring of 1945.

A historical documentation with previously unpublished pictures to complement the moving descriptions. External traces of this time are hardly to be found any more and thus this work is a reminder and a reminder of a piece of tragic contemporary history.

Reisner, Markus: Die Schlacht um Wien 1945. Die Wiener Operation der sowjetischen Streitkräfte im März und April 1945. 49,90 €

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:05:05 +0200

This book fills one of the last gaps in Austrian historiography for the first time. It describes in detail the advance of Soviet troops on Vienna in March 1945 and the battle for the apron and the city itself. In recent years, the author has gained access to the original war diaries and situation maps of the Red Army troops deployed in the "Vienna Operation" in Moscow.

The collection of excerpts from Soviet accounts, eyewitness reports, authentic map excerpts and many previously unpublished photos summarised in this book provide an impressive and unadulterated picture of the events in March/April 1945 from the perspective of the Red Army. For the first time, it is thus possible to take a look at the contemporary Soviet view of the advance on Vienna, the actual role of the German resistance movement and the fight and capture of Vienna. In the spring of 1945, the days of the Third Reich were numbered. Allied forces marched forward on all fronts, while the soldiers of the German Wehrmacht retreated and fought a hopeless battle. The last weeks of the war were marked by senseless sacrifices and extensive destruction. Extensive Soviet troop units moved towards the east of Austria in March 1945. Their goal was the city of Vienna, which Stalin ordered to be taken as quickly as possible. To this end, the Soviets carried out the so-called "Vienna Operation". It was to last from 16 March to 15 April 1945 and conclude with the capture of Vienna.

Ortner, Christian. (Hrsg.)/Fichtenbauer, Peter: Die Geschichte der österreichischen Armee von Maria Theresia bis zur Gegenwart 49,90 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:55:31 +0200

Now, for the first time, the development and complexity of Austria's uniforms, previously known only to aficionados, is opened up to a wider audience in a publication that includes more than 300 original illustrations of uniforms from the 18th century to the present. This book presents pictorial documentation of the appearance of Austrian soldiers throughout the period with the support of essays on Austria's military history. The particularly well-executed illustrations by renowned artists come from the extensive archives of the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum in Vienna and are presented to the general public here for the first time.

The armed forces and the armies that have been formed, deployed and sent to war throughout Austrias history - encompassing, as it has, a range of territorial dimensions and changing political structures - reflect better than any other institution on the political developments within the nation. The armed and uniformly equipped soldier still stands as the embodiment of the states monopoly on the use of force and the uniform itself is of particular importance in this respect because it identifies him as a member of a very special fellowship. The Emperors Coat, which often comes up in a historical context, has long since been supplanted by the uniform of the Republic but this still remains the most prominent distinguishing feature separating the soldier from the civilian population, and from members of other armies. The development of the uniforms of Austrias soldiers spans more than three hundred years. Breaks and pauses in the design of the soldiers dress were the result of adjusting to the practicalities of duty and battle requirements but also of maintaining a pleasing appearance and observing fashion trends. On the other hand, there were efforts to retain continuity and traditions, which in some cases have survived the passage of centuries and are still visible today.

Schaffer, R.: Die Volkswehr in der Steiermark 1918-1920 19,95 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:00:28 +0200

In Austrian military historiography the People's Army is hardly dealt with. However, as a "transitional army" between the Habsburg army and the first federal army, it was also able to gain regional importance in Styria and contribute to the stabilisation of the country. The present work examines the period from the dismantling of the "old army" and the parallel formation of the Volkswehr to its dissolution and formation or transition into the Austrian Federal Army of the First Republic.

Wallner, Franz: Der Österreich-Anschluss 1938. Zeitgeschichte in Farbe 27,95 €

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:40:09 +0200

Pictorial documentation with exclusively colour illustrations of the Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich in 1938. The Anschluss and the weeks before the election are shown. Hitler in Vienna, Linz, Graz, Hitler Youth, SA, police, Wehrmacht and people cheering everywhere. An expert text traces the difficult path to the successful Anschluss of Austria. Finally, the volume presents unpublished colour photos of the life of the Germans in South Tyrol from 1943 onwards.