Otto Von Habsburg - World War II

World War II

Otto strongly opposed the Anschluss of Austria to Nazi Germany. In 1938 he requested Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg to resist the Nazis and supported an international intervention, and offered to return from exile to take over the reins of government in order to repel Hitler. According to Gerald Warner, "Austrian Jews were among the strongest supporters of a Habsburg restoration, since they believed the dynasty would give the nation sufficient resolve to stand up to the Third Reich".

Following the German annexation of Austria, Otto was sentenced to death by the Nazis. As ordered by Adolf Hitler, his personal property and that of the House of Habsburg were confiscated and not given back after the war. The so-called "Habsburg Law", which had previously been repealed, was reintroduced by the fiercely republican and anti-monarchist Nazis. The leaders of the Austrian legitimist movement, i.e. supporters of Otto, were arrested by the Nazis and largely executed (Stefan Zweig's novella The Royal Game is based on these events). Otto's cousins Max, Duke of Hohenberg, and Prince Ernst of Hohenberg were arrested in Vienna by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau concentration camp where they remained throughout the Nazi rule. Otto was involved in helping around 15,000 Austrians, including thousands of Austrian Jews, flee the country at the beginning of the Second World War.

During his exile in the US Otto, along with his younger brothers, was in direct contact with President Roosevelt and the federal government. Otto tried to found an "Austrian Battalion" in the US Army, which was delayed and never actually happened. Nevertheless Otto successfully tried to avoid the bombardment of Austrian cities especially the capital Vienna which then were delayed by high ranked commanding personal; bombardments on Vienna began later in the war (1943). Otto tried hard to set symbolic steps for the will of Austria and Austrians to be free, independent and democratic. Also Otto advised the US government that after the war there should be great concerns about Austria becoming a Soviet satellite state. Otto was commonly known in the US as "Otto of Austria", trying to keep Austria and its neighbors in the minds of the American people via starting a series of stamps containing the German occupied nations of Europe and much more.

Rudolf Hess ordered that Otto was to be executed immediately if caught. After the German invasion of France the family left the French capital and fled to Portugal with a visa issued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux. For his own safety, he left the European continent and lived from 1940 to 1944 in Washington, D.C. In his war-time exile in the United States, he worked to stop or limit the bombing campaign against Austria. In the United States, he initiated the Austrian Day and was able to get Austria included in a postage stamp series on "Occupied Nations". He obtained the support of Winston Churchill for a conservative "Danube Federation", in effect a restoration of Austria-Hungary, but Joseph Stalin put an end to these plans. He lobbied for the recognition of an Austrian government-in-exile, for the rights of the German-speaking population of South Tyrol, against the deportation of the German-speaking inhabitants of Bohemia and eastern Europe, and against letting Stalin rule Eastern Europe.

In 1941, Adolf Hitler personally revoked the citizenship of Otto, his mother, and his siblings, and the imperial-royal family found themselves stateless.