Life for Children in Austria, August 1938

August 1938 was a time of upheaval for Austrian children. Just months earlier, the Anschluss annexed Austria into Nazi Germany. Children faced:

• Confusion and fear as familiar routines shattered and Nazi ideology permeated society.
• Education overhaul: Textbooks replaced with Nazi propaganda; lessons on racial purity and Aryan supremacy; politically undesirable teachers removed; schools became regimented and oppressive.
• Persecution of Jewish children: Expelled from public schools, forced into segregated Jewish schools or emigration; families lost livelihoods and property; children witnessed escalating terror.

The Anschluss marked a loss of innocence and the beginning of profound trauma for a generation.