Memorial erected in Fischamend in memory of Dr Richard Winter, who was forced to leave the town in 1938 because he was a Jew but returned to care for its people after the war
June 30, 2023 08:55
A Jewish doctor who returned to care for the same Austrian townspeople who had expelled him during the Nazi era has been honoured with a plaque.
The memorial has been put up in Fischamend, a small town near Vienna airport, in memory of Dr Richard Winter, who was forced to leave the town in 1938 simply because he was a Jew.
Thomas Ram, the mayor and a former candidate for the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) before he left it to become an independent MP, said he welcomed the initiative.
He told a local newspaper: “This is exactly how good and sensible community politics should work, implementing good ideas together, free from party political disputes. Together, we have demonstrated how it can and should be done. Thank you to everyone involved.”
Dr Winter, born in 1897, was Fischamend’s respected doctor but the community turned on him after the Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938. He was repeatedly beaten in public and even his girlfriend, a teacher, spat in his face.
He was eventually forced to leave the town and spent the Second World War in Kazakhstan, then in the Soviet Union.
Dr Richard Winter (Photo: Handout)
