Austria: March 1938
Before the invasion, illegal Austrian Nazis had painted the pavements outside the Vaterlandische Front with slogans: DOWN WITH JEWS, KILL THE PARASITES, HEIL HITLER.
Members of the Vaterlandische Front had painted their own slogans: HITLER IS A HOMICIDAL MANIAC. DOWN WITH HITLER AND HIS NAZI THUGS.

The shocked Jews, plucked from the street at random, had to scrub off these slogans. Not one of them showed any emotion. Not a tear was shed, not even by the children. They kept on scrubbing. They kept on scrubbing long after the masters had left, but the paint could not be removed and eventually, one by one they shuffled off.

On our way back, from across the road, we saw a crowd of people in front of the Vaterlandische Front, staring at the pavement, white-faced and still.

Cars stopped; people stopped. A crowd quickly formed. The silence was occasionally broken by sharp commands.

We went closer. Young girls, young boys, old men, and old women on their knees were scrubbing the pavement. A girl of about ten held a big brush in her bleeding hand. "Acid", someone whispered. "There is more acid than water in those buckets." I smelled it. However hard the people on their knees scrubbed, the writing in red paint wouldn't come off. The brown-shirted youngsters jumped onto their cracked, bleeding hands to remind them and the Austrian nation who was the master.

The next day, and the day after that, no one came to work. And then I screwed up my courage and went downstairs, out of the door, and into the street. I took one look around and went back inside My heart thundered in my ears. Kohlmarkt was empty, as quiet as if the plague had struck. Enormous red flags with swastikas -- hundreds, thousands -- had been hung closely across the street, from one end of Kohlmarkt to the other; they formed a ceiling, blocking out everything. There was no sun, just swastika flags. No sky, just swastika flags. There was no God.

Later that same day, the frontiers of neighbouring countries were closed to refugees from Austria. We were trapped.

Poor deceived Austria. Poor defenseless Jews. Now the boots stop. What will they do? Take us from our homes? The streets are packed with Nazi supporters -- hysterical people. Dangerous people.

Shrieking, screaming, screeching of stopped cars. Shouted commands, running motors. Every scream, every shout seems directed at us [Jews]. Oh, God, how frightened I am. Then sudden quiet, followed by howls. Shattered glass, splintered wood. The lava of hatred erupts. Kicking boots leave at three a.m.

From: Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler, Trudi Kanter, 1984