''The City Without Jews'' (german: Die Stadt ohne Juden) is a 1922 novel by

Hugo Bettauer Maximilian Hugo Bettauer (18 August 1872 – 26 March 1925) was a prolific Austrian writer and journalist, who was murdered by a Nazi Party follower on account of his opposition to antisemitism. He was well known in his lifetime; many of his book ...

. This is arguably his best-known

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

. It portrays a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

on the acutely topical subject of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

: A fictional politician orders the expulsion of all Jews from Vienna. Alexander Moulton observes "in scenes that are frighteningly prophetic, Austria borrows thirty stock car trains from neighboring countries to help in the expulsion (to the east) of the Jews and their belongings." In the book, the citizens of Vienna initially celebrated the expulsion, but sentiment changed as theaters went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

and department stores, hotels and resorts suffered. The economy declined to such an extent that a popular movement arose demanding the return of the Jews. Without the Jews to blame, the ruling party collapsed; the expulsion law was repealed, and the Jews were welcomed back to Vienna. Hugo Bettauer succeeded in creating a relatively accurate allegorical vision of the near future, although the book was intended as entertainment and as a satirical response to the primitive

of the 1920s. It immediately became Bettauer's most commercially successful work: it was translated into several languages, and sold 250,000 copies in its first year. It became one of Bettauer's most controversial works, gaining him both great admirers and bitter enemies. Nazi sympathizers attacked Bettauer and his work, denouncing him as the "Red poet" and a "corruptor of youth". The novel was made into the 1924 feature film ''

The City Without Jews ''The City Without Jews'' (german: Die Stadt ohne Juden) is a 1924 Austrian Expressionist film by Hans Karl Breslauer, based on the novel of the same title by Hugo Bettauer. The film is one of the few surviving Expressionist films from Austri ...

'', directed by

Hans Karl Breslauer Hans Karl Breslauer, born Johann Karl Breslauer, later often known as H. K. Breslauer (2 June 1888 – 15 April 1965), was an early Austrian film director, also an actor, screenwriter and author. Life Career as actor and screenwriter Hans Kar ...

; shortly after the premiere of the film Hugo Bettauer was murdered by Otto Rothstock, a former member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

, who was lionized by the antisemitic Austrian masses and was released less than two years after having been committed to a psychiatric institution.

References

External links

Gutenberg.spiegel.de Die Stadt ohne Juden – Bettauer's novel online
1924 novels Austrian novels adapted into films 1924 German-language novels Austrian political novels Austrian satirical novels Dystopian novels Novels set in Vienna Jews and Judaism in Vienna 20th-century Austrian novels Novels about antisemitism {{1920s-satirical-novel-stub

See also

References

External links