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9

SUMMONED FOR QUESTIONING on October 3, 1938, Maria Pfeiffer is clearly able to refute these accusations. But that is not the end of her problems. In May 1939 the Floridsdorf Tax Office informs her that Leopold Klagsbrunn has left behind unpaid taxes of 8376.85 reichsmarks, for which she, as the person who has taken over the business, is held liable. The major part of the demand—a round 7700 reichsmarks—consists of the tax on Jewish property and unpaid sales tax owed by the FAC, recently declared insolvent, which is being charged to the former president of the club. Since Maria Pfeiffer is unable to pay this sum, the tax office proposes having the house put up for compulsory auction. The justification for this measure is that Leopold Klagsbrunn is named in the land register as due a sum of 8,000 reichsmarks—the amount the buyer undertook to pay in installments. At this Maria Pfeiffer applies for that entry to be deleted, supporting her request with a list of all the payments she has made so far. This makes it clear that she has already paid the purchase price, apart from a small remainder, by settling the seller’s debts and contributing to his living expenses. Despite that, the Tax Office persists in its demands “since the inquiries conducted show that the value of the property taken over by you far exceeds the obligations of your predecessor.” It is not until July 1941 that it adopts the view of the Property Transfer Office that at the point when the Jewish Property Tax came into force both the house and firm were in Aryan possession, and the obligation to pay the installments noted in the Land Registry no longer applied, as could be seen from the satisfaction piece sent by Klagsbrunn from Rio de Janeiro. “Therefore the distraint on the installments has no basis in law and only prevents the deletion of the entry in the Land Register, to the disadvantage of an Aryan, without any prospect of procuring the sums of money for the Tax Office.” As well as that the Property Transfer Office recommended that the Tax Office drop its demand for payment of the Jewish Property Tax, because “none of the Jew’s assets were available,” and concentrate instead on Leo Klagsbrunn’s insurance policy. “Perhaps that asset is still tangible for the Tax Office.”

Just one month later, on August 19, 1941, the Vienna office of the Gestapo strips the Klagsbrunn family of their German nationality, orders the seizure of their property, “both movable and immovable,” to the benefit of the German Reich and, in agreement with the West Moabit, Berlin, Tax Office, which is responsible for the confiscation of forfeited assets, appoints the attorney, Dr. Stephan Lehner, as administrator. Once more Maria Pfeiffer has to furnish proof that she has already paid the purchase price for the house and business—in total 23,333.33 reichsmarks. Since the proceeds from the redemption of the policy—suddenly it only brings in 1481.40 reichsmarks—has already been called in by the Floridsdorf Tax Office in January 1942, all that he can lay his hands on is the Klagsbrunns’ jewelry, for the sale of which the Vienna office the Gestapo collects 12.48 reichsmarks. After the deduction of bank fees and transfer costs, that leaves a balance of ten reichsmarks that are credited to the account of the Senior Tax Officer of Vienna-Lower Danube.

At this point—the middle of May 1943—the Klagsbrunn family has long since settled in Rio de Janeiro. The journey there, however, took a whole seven months because of a long stay in Lisbon. We know that because twenty years later Kurt Klagsbrunn was to write under ‘Proof’ (of his claim to have fled Austria in August 1938) on a form of the Austrian Assistance Fund for victims of political persecution: “Passport no. A527775, issued by the police in Vienna June 13, 1934; withdrawn on September 5, 1938, by the German embassy in Lisbon.” There, in Lisbon, he receives a letter from London in which Eva Rhoden describes the experiences she and her sister had during their last days in Vienna.

Three Tearless Histories

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