SURVIVAL

Refugees in Austria in the 1950s

Children of Hungarian Jewish refugees gather in their gameroom at Asten refugee camp, circa 1950's (JDC Archive, NY_13171)

In the 1950s, new movements of refugees arrived in Austria's refugee camps. The most notable group were Hungarian refugees fleeing from the failed 1956 revolution. Following the collapse of the uprising, nearly 200,000 refugees arrived in Austria, about 18,000 of them were Jews. The fact that Hungarian and Jewish refugees lived together in the same DP camps in Austria caused considerable tension, since some Hungarian refugees openly held fascist and antisemitic views. Simon Wiesenthal was deeply concerned about this problem and discussed open manifestations of antisemitism among Hungarian refugees in several reports and letters.

Children of Hungarian Jewish refugees gather in their gameroom at Asten refugee camp, circa 1950's (JDC Archive, NY_13171)