© Photograph by Edith Tudor-Hart
Swastikas in Shadow, Vienna
Photographed about 1932
The precise date and location of this photograph are hard to pin down, but its meaning – a sign of the gathering Nazi threat – is unmistakeable. The Austrian Nazi Party grew in strength from the early 1930s, largely in response to a sharp downturn in the economy. It proved particularly popular amongst young people, many suffering long-term unemployment. In 1933, the Austrian Chancellor banned the Party imprisoning many of its activists in concentration camps. Tudor-Hart’s photograph eloquently points to the growing significance during the 1930s of anti-fascist politics for both the Austrian and British left.
