Erika Freeman, who was expelled by the Nazis, donated personal memorabilia and documents to the House of Austrian History (hdgö) in Vienna on Monday. The renowned psychoanalyst was then allowed to enter the balcony of the Neue Burg, where Adolf Hitler announced the “Annexation” to the German Reich in 1938. It was her ‘vengeance on Hitler’, it said in advance. “A Jewish revenge, no blood, just joy, freedom and hope,” Freeman said.
As a Jew, Erika Freeman had to flee from the National Socialists as a child. “They hoped they would never see us again,” Freeman said, but “now here I am,” smiled the 95-year-old, who has been a citizen of both an American and an Austrian citizen since this year — and has exercised her right to vote, as she said at the media event on Monday. The balcony is also known as the “Hitler Balcony”. “Now the balcony isn’t his anymore,” Freeman says. It now reads “the young 95-year-old lady, Jewess, survived, came back and still loves the country.”
“When people change, the country changes”
“You can still love a country even if it hates you,” Freeman said. “It happened to us. But the country is the people. And when people change, the country changes. The only question is whether you want that.” The balcony is “a beautiful place.” Freeman spoke out in favor of making it accessible to the public, which hdgö has been campaigning for a long time. “Such a beautiful place. You don’t throw this beauty away.”
Freeman said of that day in March 1938, when Hitler spoke to thousands of enthusiastic Austrians at Heldenplatz: “He screamed very loudly. You don’t have to say much when you scream. You think that someone has something important to say – but that is not true. When you scream, you know it’s not important.’ You should listen to the silent voices. And: “Don’t make yourself important, make yourself useful, then you are important.”
Week of action against anti-Semitism
Freeman, accompanied by Margit Fischer (“meine Heimatgeberin”), presented the museum with several testimonials, including the Nazi passport with a red J for both Jews and Austrians, and the Holland-America Line ticket, which they received from Rotterdam in February 1940. received brought to New York. This is “a very special moment” for the house, director Monika Sommer emphasized. The presentation took place on the occasion of the week of action against anti-Semitism in the exhibition space “Discard Hitler – from the cellar to the museum”.
“I was born in Vienna, but they didn’t let me stay Viennese for long,” Freeman said. Her mother was able to hide from the Nazis, but died a few weeks before the end of the war in a bombing raid in 1945, and her father escaped from Theresienstadt concentration camp. Freeman became a famous psychoanalyst. In old age, she approached her hometown again.
“Hatred Isn’t Healthy”
“We must not forget that the children learn a lot from us,” she warns. “Hatred too. And hatred is not healthy.” At the same time, Freeman spoke out for optimism, even though many would be pessimistic about the current world situation. “If you feel something is not right, see if there is light somewhere,” she said. “If you have only flour and water , do you already have bread.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
