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About a year ago, de Waal, who fled Vienna as a child of the Nazi regime, expressed his desire to regain Austrian citizenship. The formalities have now been completed successfully, said Mayor Ludwig.
Victor de Waal, who had to flee Vienna from the Nazi regime with his family as a child, is now an Austrian citizen. Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) announced this on Friday. De Waal, who was 90 at the time, came to Vienna for the first family reunion after the expulsion in November 2019. At the time, he had expressed his desire to regain citizenship.
The basis of the decision is the regulation that has been in force since the previous year, according to which the descendants of victims of the Nazi regime with foreign citizenship also receive Austrian citizenship through the so-called notification. In Vienna, the 35 municipal department is responsible for this and has already made positive decisions in 950 cases, as it was called today. Among them is now also Victor de Waal.
Family reunion in Vienna
He was received in November 2019 by Mayor Ludwig along with numerous members of the extended Ephrussi family at the Vienna City Hall. The occasion at that time was the opening of the exhibition “Die Ephrussis. A journey through time” at the Jewish Museum, which was dedicated to the history of the family who lived in the Palais Ephrussi on the Ringstrasse.
The family reunion at the town hall was led by Victor de Waal, who had played at the Viennese Palais Ephrussi as a child. He grew up in Switzerland, with a Dutch passport, and knows Vienna by visiting his grandparents. Victor de Waal is the father of Edmund de Waal, author of the book “The amber-eyed hare. The hidden legacy of the Ephrussi family”. During the visit, Victor de Waal expressed his desire to obtain Austrian citizenship, the mayor reported. In a letter, Ludwig personally informed Victor de Waal that all formalities have been completed successfully, he said.
Important family
The Ephrussis are considered one of the most important European Jewish families of the 19th and 20th centuries. They originally come from Odessa, Russia. The Ephrussis were successful grain traders and financial entrepreneurs who were also active in Vienna from the mid-19th century. Ignaz Ephrussi finally had a Ringstrasse Palais built by architect Theophil Hansen in the 1870s, today at the Universitätsring 14.
In 1872 he was knighted by Emperor Franz Joseph I. However, after the Austrian “Anschluss” in 1938, the palace was immediately “Aryanized” and the family was expelled. Furniture and works of art were stolen from the palace. As early as 1945, the Ephrussi family sought restitution. According to the city, many of these procedures have not yet been completed.
(WHAT)
