Erich Weinberger
- Born on: 7.9.1916
- Birthplace: Vienna (Wien),
- Category: Diploma program
- Right of domicile: Wien (Wien),
The English version is based on a translation by Artificial Intelligence. The authentic version is the German version.
Erich was the son of Siegfried and Stella Weinberger, who was born in Vienna in 1891 as the daughter of Herschel and Jeanette Steiner. Erich's parents married in 1914 at the Vienna City Temple (1st District). Presumably after the marriage, the father became a partner in the carpet shop of his parents-in-law on Mariahilfer Straße 76 (7th District). In December 1926, he was accepted into the lodge B’nai B’rith Wahrheit - one of the "meeting places of the liberal enlightened bourgeoisie" (Patka 2009, p. 129) - under membership number 166.
Erich enrolled at the University for World Trade for six semesters between the winter semester 1934/35 and the winter semester 1937/38. The Jewish student was able to pass his diploma examination before the Wehrmacht marched into Austria. However, the intention to pursue a doctorate was thwarted by the 'Anschluss' of Austria. In September 1938, he left the parental home on Bellariastraße 8 (1st District). From Vienna, Erich went into exile in England. In Welwyn Garden City, he took an apartment at Knella Road 29 and started an apprenticeship as a welder at the nearby company Lincoln Electric Co. In December 1939, he continued his journey to the USA. Here, he survived World War II.
Presumably as part of the 'Aryanization' of the Austrian economy, the parents lost their carpet shop. While it was still listed in the Commercial Yearbook for 1938 with Erich's father as a co-owner, it had already been eliminated from the 1939 edition.
Source material
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Universitätsarchiv, Studierendenkarteikarte.
GenTeam. Die genealogische Datenbank, http://www.genteam.at [31. Mai 2014].
Meldeauskunft des Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchivs, GZ MA 8 – B-MEW – 173172/2013.
The National Archives (Kew), HO 396/99/076.
Brief von Dr. Herbert Posch und Katharina Kniefacz (Universität Wien) an Dr. Johannes Koll (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien) vom 13. Februar 2013.
Compass. Kommerzielles Jahrbuch 1938. Österreich, hrsg. von Rudolf Hanel, 71. Jg., Wien 1938, S. 1311.
Marcus G. Patka: Die israelitischen Humanitätsvereine B'nai B'rith für Österreich in der Zwischenkriegszeit und ihr Verhältnis zur "jüdischen" Freimaurerei, in: Frank Stern/Barbara Eichinger (Hrsg.): Wien und die jüdische Erfahrung 1900-1938. Akkulturation – Antisemitismus – Zionismus, Wien/Köln/Weimar 2009, S. 115-129.