7 August 1918, Wednesday

Vienna. Having interrupted his studies at the College of Technology, Bruno Schulz departs from the city with the intention of returning to Drogobych.

Vienna* was on the verge of bankruptcy, its inhabitants were malnourished, diseases were spreading, especially tuberculosis, and hospitals were overcrowded. Literally everything was scarce: food, clothing, footwear, cleaning products, medicines and, above all, coal. On the fronts, the troops of the Central Powers suffered more and more defeats. The significant discrepancies between the working class and the wealthy part of the bourgeoisie contributed to growing unrest. Red banners of demonstrating workers were fluttering in the streets of Vienna. A wave of strikes was rolling through the city under the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” The longer the war lasted, and with it the deepening poverty, the more anti-Semitism grew. The Jews were blamed for the difficult situation1. Schulz showed up at the visa office to finally check out of the city. (js) (transl. ms)

  • 1
    The Viennese press, especially the social-Christian newspaper Reichspost, repeatedly published anti-Semitic sentiments, accusing Galician Jews of parasitism, secret trade, luxurious life at the expense of the impoverished society, cooperation with the Bolsheviks, and avoiding military service (Im Epizentrum des Zusammenbruchs. Wien im Ersten Weltkrieg, Herausgegeben von Alfred Pfoser, Andreas Weigl, Wien 2013, p. 668; Der Morgen, 7 July 1918, p. 9, Reichspost, 12 February 1918).