Shloime Weiss Vienna, Austria 1938

Humiliation was also a key component of organized public events such as the Anschluss and Kristallnacht. Anschluss was the carefully choreographed German annexation of Austria in March of 1938. Public humiliations of Austria’s Jewish communities were an essential component of the Anschluss. It was used to demonstrate the power and priorities of the new regime. In Vienna, Jews were forced to scrub the streets on their hands and knees, while Nazi officials and neighbors watched.