Jewish refugee fleeing Austria 1938-1939: escape routes

aruna

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I've just started a WW2 novel and am quite excited about it! This is a whole new area for me.
One thread of the story involves an older half-Jewish woman fleeing Austria (Salzburg). She has a daughter living in England who is going to take her in. She has grandsons helping her; I'm thinking one of the grandson could be working with a Jewish organisation to help her get to England. I'm trying to work out her route and found this map, according to which Austria was pretty much surrounded with Nazi-friendly states. I can get her into Switzerland, but from there, where? And how? Would she be able to get a train through France to Spain? Or to the Italian coast and from there a ship? I might have her travelling with a child.

I have found out that she could get a visa to travel from Vienna; but how safe would she be? I originally thought of having a route organised be the Jewish organisation for refugees, with families all along her overland route willing to take her in.
This is only one thread of the story, and it would be about the dangers and threats she faced en route; it's the story of her flight until she arrives in England. Another quirk is that those grandchildren are mixed race so they too are facing danger; though one of them is very light skinned and can pass as white. I do want to have one of them actually visit her in Salzburg but I'm not sure how feasible this is.

I'm afraid I'm not much of a history buff; I do love history but I espcially love historical novels and learning about what happened through fiction based on fact, so this is not so much writing what I know but writing what I'd like to know; I lived 40 years in Germany and have a granddaughter living in Salzburg so this is all part of my "would like to know" journey!
If you can point me in the direction of who can help with the more detailed research, someone who could answer specific questions, I'd be eternally grateful.
 

Lil

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You might want to read Safe Passage by Ida Cook. She and her sister traveled Austria and elsewhere to listen to operas, and at the same time smuggled jewels, etc. out of Nazi territory to help fund the escape of Jews. They also worked to provide refuge for the escapees in England.
Wallenberg (and many others) provided passports for Jews that would permit them to leave. (For some reason, the Nazis were obsessed with paperwork, and if you had a passport that said you could leave, you could.)
Odd things happened. Some of my relatives were on a train, fleeing Prague. A group of Nazi officers came aboard and were about to throw them off so they (the officers) could have their compartment. The baby began to cry, and the officers decided to evict people from another compartment instead.
 

Siri Kirpal

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I was going to recommend Safe Passage by Ida Cook too. She gives detailed descriptions of what it took to get people out. Remember that Jews could not take money or valuables with them...even if they had passports saying they could leave. One caveat: the first few chapters deal with opera and opera stars. Ida and her sister got into the business of rescuing Jews through their opera star contacts. But the book is worth reading.

You might also read Maria von Trapp's autobiography. That's the book The Sound of Music was based on. While she wasn't Jewish, she does describe what they went through to get out. Again, the first part of the book has nothing to do with leaving Nazi Austria.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

WeaselFire

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Got relatives that fit that scenario. Austria to Switzerland to France to Belgium to Denmark to US. Left a few of the group in Switzerland for the duration of the war. This was in 1938, but you could technically emigrate even after 1939. Had friends whose parents left Austria for France, then escaped from France a year later through Spain to Portugal. Mother and kids got a ship out of Lisbon and Dad stayed in Portugal for the war, working in the British embassy as a chef and supposedly a spy.

Other side of the family were Austrian and stayed during the war, fought for the Nazis. America is definitely a mix. :)

Jeff