Hello and welcome to the VoiceMap walking tour “Vienna and the Holocaust: Tragedy and Justice.” My name is Raymond White, and I am Krista White, and we will be your guides. Our life has been one ...

Keep going straight.

We are in Leopoldstadt also known as Vienna’s 2nd District. This was, and still remains the heart of the Jewish community in Vienna. Among its notable residents, Sigmund F...

Stop here for a moment. You should be at the large blue Ubahn sign at the crosswalk at the corner of Nestroyplatz and Praterstrasse. You will see the Apotheke in the yellow building in front you.....

Continue walking along the sidewalk on Tempelgasse keeping the theatre on your left.

Stop here please.

"The synagogue was attacked, all the windows were shattered, the pews were smashed, the curtain on the Ark torn into pieces, and a Torah scroll thrown outside. The entire con...

You should now be facing the canal. Turn right onto Untere Donaustrasse and continue straight.

You should now be approaching the first bridge which is on your left. Let’s keep walking, and ta...

As we walk to our next stop, which will be the second bridge on your left, let’s also walk through the history of Jewish Vienna.

Theirs is a history of repeated exile and return, as well as pr...

So far, we have been walking through the neighborhoods of Leopoldstadt or “Leopold’s City.” Unknown to most, this regal-sounding name has a dark history. Here’s why.

By the mid-1600s, a robu...

Okay, let’s cross the Schweden Bridge and walk toward the city. Use the pedestrian crossing on your left to access the bridge. We will be walking towards the Schwedenplatz Ubahn station on the oth...

Stop on the bridge.

You are standing over the Danube Canal, which was a major route for shipping goods into the city. Behind you is Leopoldstadt. In front of you in the first district of Vie...

Okay, use the pedestrian crossing in front of you to walk towards the city.

You should see in front of you a blue street sign that says Schwedenplatz. At the sign, turn right and cross the crosswalk.

You should be walking along the sidewalk with the tram tracks to your right.
Continue straight along the shop-lined sidewalk in front of you. You will pass the Ubahn station and several food st...

Cross the street and turn left at McDonalds onto Rotenturmstrasse.

While you walk, let's talk about Simon Wiesenthal, the greatest Nazi-hunter of all time and a central character in our theme o...

At the Hard Rock Cafe, turn right into the alley.

On three separate occasions, Wiesenthal was lined up to be shot. Each time, the gunmen failed to reach him in line. Another execution was ha...

Turn to your left and walk up the street about 15 paces and stop in front of the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies. It will be on your right. It houses the papers of Simon Wiesen...

Take your immediate left. Walk up the sloped street of Seitenstettengasse.

Stop here for a moment. On your left is the Stadttempel, Vienna’s main synagogue the City Temple.

The pogrom of 9-10 November 1938, the “Night of Broken Glass”, was particularly brutal in Vienn...

At the top of the hill, turn right. Walk towards St. Rupert's church.

Turn right here. Ahead on your right is Ruprechtsplatz 5. Stop in front of the sign.

Throughout WW2, the most prominent pro-Austrian resistance group was called the O5. You are standing near their clandestine headquarters in the basement of Ruprechtsplatz 5 — a nondescript apartm...

Head down the steps in front of you.

Now that you are at the bottom of the steps, turn left.

Follow the paved path through the grassy area across the park towards the canal.

Turn left and follow the sidewalk. We'll be stopping at the large stone memorial on your left.

Stop here please.

This green space in front of you was once the most feared location in Vienna. This was the site of the Gestapo headquarters, housed in the luxurious Hotel Metropole. The Nazis...

Cross the pedestrian sidewalk in front of you and continue walking straight until you reach the next corner, Golsdorfgasse.

Now, turn left here on Goldorfstrasse. Our next stop will be 7 Rudolfsplatz which will be on your left.

Stop here please.

Nazi Hunter Simon Wiesenthal worked in a small office on the 3rd floor of the building on the left at Rudolfsplatz 7, until 1975. It was in this office that Wiesenthal learne...

Continue walking to the corner and then stop and look to the left.

Stop here at the corner. Look across the street to the left at the large apartment building.

In 1975, Nazi Hunter Simon Wiesenthal moved his office to Apartment 5 on the 2nd floor of that build...

Cross the street and continue straight. Saltzorgasse will turn into Vorlaufstrasse. I will catch up with you at the traffic circle.

Cross the street and continue straight on Marc Aurel Strasse.

This street was named after the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. History tells us that the Emperor died near this street in 180 AD ...

Okay, turn right here onto Wipplingerstrasse and continue walking.

The resistance distributed leaflets to counter Nazi propaganda and collected donations to support the families of arrested indi...

Pause here for a moment please.

This gorgeous building on your right houses the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance or DÖW. At one time it was the Alte Rathaus. or Old Town Hall. In a...

You will see a wide cobblestone alley on your left across the street. Cross Wipplingerstrasse but be careful as there is no pedestrian crosswalk here. Continue down that wide alley. You are now...

Stop here please.

In the center of Judenplatz, a basic yet elegant memorial reminds us of the Holocaust. Its concrete walls are shaped like an inside-out library containing 7,000 identical blan...

Continue down the alley until you see a large tall statue in the square which is also a parking lot.

Facing the statue, follow the sidewalk to your right. Take it all the way around the squar...

At the end of the sidewalk turn right onto Heideschuss. Walk one block, cross the sidewalk and continue straight. As you are aware, the theme of our walking tour today is “Tragedy and Justice.” ...

It is 1945 and the War has ended. A band of Holocaust survivors were determined to track down Adolf Eichmann and other Nazis who had escaped without a trace. These Jewish survivors were part of a...

In 1947, Haganah members Arthur Pier, Tuviah Friedman, and Manus Diamant broke the Eichmann case wide open when they successfully acquired a photograph of him — the only known photograph at the tim...

Continue walking through Freyung Square. The sidewalk will curve to the right and the road will turn into Schottengasse. Continue straight.

Vienna, the pearl of the Habsburg Empire, was in ru...

Continue walking straight and cross the next two streets.

While at Mösenbacher's apartment one evening, Diamant freely shared photographs of his travels in Europe.

As hoped for, Mösenbac...

We'll take a short break from our story so we can get through some directions.

At the Schottentor Ubahn station turn left and cross the pedestrian crosswalk. Then turn right and cross the cross...

With the city bike stations ahead of you, head toward the church. Stay to the left to walk on the path around the park. The Cathedral will always be on your right.

Now back to our story...

Diamant discovered the photo of Eichman while visiting with Mosenbacher and could barely contain himself. He raced back to his office as fast as he could to share his ...

Okay cross the pedestrian crosswalk and continue straight.

Cross the pedestrian crosswalk and immediately turn right, following the cobblestone path straight and then around the corner to the left. I'll let you know when to stop.

The Haganah sent the p...

Stop here.

The Haganah headquarters were located on the second floor of the building on the street corner ahead and to your right. You can identify it by the balcony around the corner office....

Now our plot really thickens. At the end of the war, Eichmann was on the run. He hid in the Alps masquerading as a low ranking Wehrmacht officer until he was captured by the U.S. Army. They had Eic...

Cross the crosswalk on your left and continue straight.

Take the pedestrian crosswalk in front of you to the corner then turn right and cross the street again. This street is Reichsratstrasse. You will be heading toward the Rathaus or Town Hall. This...

In 1948, Eichmann obtained an International Committee for the Red Cross humanitarian passport under the new alias “Ricardo Klement.” Relying on Nazi sympathizers and ratlines, Eichmann successfully...

Cross the street and walk towards the Rathaus in front of you. Walk to the front of the building.

Initially, Israel’s fledgeling intelligence agency, the Mossad, was skeptical. After reviewing ...

Stop here.

The majestic building in front of you is the Rathaus, the centerpiece of Vienna. On 9 April 1938, almost one month after declaring the Anschluss, Hitler returned to Vienna and delive...

The elegant building in front of you is the Burg Theater. Now, turn right and continue walking along the Ringstrasse.

This is the main thoroughfare where the medieval city wall stood. Emper...

Continue straight and cross the pedestrian crosswalks in front you. The Austrian Parliament will be on your right.

Alphonse Rothschild was an incredibly wealthy international banker. He was a...

On the opposite side of the street, you will see a large open area with palatial buildings behind a black fence. This is the Hofburg Palace, the home of the Habsburg Emperors. The large open area i...

Let’s cross this road. There is no crosswalk so be careful.

The last chapter of our story concerns the Kunsthistoriches Museum, one of the world’s most renowned art galleries.

Alphonse Rothschild's brother Louis was not as lucky. He was arrested boardi...

After World War II, Allied forces uncovered the Nazi-looted artwork in the Austrian salt mines of Alt Aussee near Salzberg and began the process of returning it to its rightful owners. Clarice Roth...

Stop here please.

In 1999, Austria finally passed a national restitution law and the Rothschild family was able to recover only 250 of their paintings. Today, Vienna’s major museums and galle...