An Encyclopedic Guide to the Jewish Families of Prewar Vienna

Jan. 10 2024

For a mere 650 euros (about $710), you can purchase Wer einmal war (“Who Once Was”), a who’s who of the golden age of Viennese Jewry. The Austrian city was home to Sigmund Freud, Theodor Herzl, the economist Ludwig von Mises, the composer Arnold Schoenberg, and the writers Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth, along with countless other extraordinary figures. Giles MacDonogh writes:

Wer einmal war is a genealogy of the 500 leading Jewish families of Vienna between 1800 and 1938. . . . The author, Georg Gaugusch, is actually the owner of Jungmann und Neffe, Vienna’s most prominent tailor. It adjoins Sacher’s Hotel [famous home of the Sachertorte], between the two cultural poles of the Opera House and the Albertina [museum].

It surprises many to learn that Gaugusch is not Jewish; his family acquired the shop from Jews in the 1940s. The author is neither tailor nor historian: by training he’s a chemical engineer. In the cellars of the shop, however, he found an archive of its pre-war customers, many of whom were rich Jews. This he turned into a database, which became the starting point for the book. He befriended the archivist at the synagogue, Wolf-Erich Eckstein, who has been a pillar of support for him.

Read more at The Article

More about: Austrian Jewry, Jewish history, Vienna

The Mass Expulsion of Palestinians Is No Solution. Neither Are Any of the Usual Plans for Gaza

Examining the Trump administration’s proposals for the people of Gaza, Danielle Pletka writes:

I do not believe that the forced cleansing of Gaza—a repetition of what every Arab country did to the hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews in 1948— is a “solution.” I don’t think Donald Trump views that as a permanent solution either (read his statement), though I could be wrong. My take is that he believes Gaza must be rebuilt under new management, with only those who wish to live there resettling the land.

The time has long since come for us to recognize that the establishment doesn’t have the faintest clue what to do about Gaza. Egypt doesn’t want it. Jordan doesn’t want it. Iran wants it, but only as cannon fodder. The UN wants it, but only to further its anti-Semitic agenda and continue milking cash from the West. Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians blame Palestinians for destroying their countries.

Negotiations with Hamas have not worked. Efforts to subsume Gaza under the Palestinian Authority have not worked. Rebuilding has not worked. Destruction will not work. A “two-state solution” has not arrived, and will not work.

So what’s to be done? If you live in Washington, New York, London, Paris, or Berlin, your view is that the same answers should definitely be tried again, but this time we mean it. This time will be different. . . . What could possibly make you believe this other than ideological laziness?

Read more at What the Hell Is Going On?

More about: Donald Trump, Gaza Strip, Palestinians