Hans Fischböck papers

The Hans Fischböck papers consist of correspondence, official documentation, biographical materials, and photographs, documenting Fischböck's National Socialist career which involved the systematic expropriation and Aryanization of Jewish properties and assets in Nazi-annexed Austria and the Nazi-occupied Netherlands; Fischböck's flight to Argentina after the war; his life and work in Latin America; and his eventual return to Germany and Austria. It contains official certificates of promotion and commendations issued to Hans Fischböck by high-ranking Nazi officials including Adolf Hitler, Hans Frank, and Walther Funk; official communication from Austrian politicians in the days before the Anschluss, such as Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas and Minister for Commerce and Transportation Julius Raab, and from Reichsstatthalter Arthur Seiss-Inquart following the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany; post-war papers and photographs from Latin America including official documents issued by Latin American authorities, some of which bear fake names for Hans Fischböck, his wife, and their son; correspondence and protocols of meetings in Buenos Aires between Mannesmann GmbH and Nicolussi SRL Aspersion concerning Fischböck; personal photographs from the 1930s until ca. 1965; biographical documentation including Fischböck’s family tree compiled for his SS membership application; and newspaper clippings about the international search for Hans Fischböck and the discovery of his whereabouts in Germany in 1966. Series 1. Biographical material of Fischböck includes handwritten curriculum vitae from 1940, a telegram regarding his death in 1967 and his printed death notice. Genealogical documents consist of records related to Hans Fischböck’s ancestors, including birth, death, and marriage certificates dating to the 1800s, family trees, and his SS-Ahnentafel documentation. Some records bear German and Argentine authenticity certifications. Also included are postcards, the bulk of which are from the 1950s, from friends and family addressed to Hans and Eva Fischböck in Buenos Aires as well as postcards sent by Fischböck to his wife from Germany, Austria, Italy and Brazil. Includes at least one postcard from Essen, Germany written in 1959 by Hans to Eva in which he informs her of successful meetings. They settled in Essen around 1960. Additionally, there are clippings, including a 1966 interview published in the Salzburger Nachrichten, June 24, 1967 and newspaper clippings pertaining to the search for Hans Fischböck by Simon Wiesenthal. Series 2. Nazi documents consists of certificates, correspondence, and position appointments relating to Hans Fischböck’s Nazi career. Correspondence contains a letter dated February 18, 1938 from the Austrian Minister for Commerce and Transportation Julius Raab addressed to Generalsekretär Hans Fischböck appointing him as a consultant in matters dealing with economic relations to the German Reich; communication dated March 11, 1938 addressed to Staatsrat Dr. Hans Fischböck from Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas and countersigned by Arthur Seiss-Inquart in which Miklas informs Fischböck that he appoints him “on the recommendation of the Chancellor” (i.e. Seiss-Inquart) as Federal Minister for Commerce and Transportation; and a letter dated June 11, 1938 from Reichsstatthalter Arthur Seiss-Inquart addressed to Minister Hans Fischböck concerning his compensation. Position appointments signed by various officials include: kommissarischer Präsident der Industrie- und Handelskammer Wien; kommissarischer Leiter der Wirtschaftskammer Wien; Vorsitzender des Vorstands der Österreichischen Kreditanstalt; Wehrwirtschaftsführer; Ratsherr der Stadt Wien; Mitglied des Beirats der Deutschen Reichsbank; Staatsrat; Beirat für die Angelegenheiten der Kämmerei Wien. Series 3. Latin American documents include affidavits of identification, visas and immigration paperwork, passports, identification cards and papers related to Hans Fischböck, his wife Eva, and son Wolfgang after they immigrated to Argentina in 1951 under false identities. The affidavits include one (“Testimonio”) dated August 21, 1953 and protocolled by the Argentine authorities which states that Jacobo Schramm is an alias for Juan Carlos Cristián Fischböck and that they are one and the same person, that his wife is Eva Susana Waldtraut Kristen and not Frieda Eva Kristen de Schramm and that their son is Wolfgang Fischböck and not Wolfgang Schramm. Supporting documentation. Thermal copies of an affidavit dated August 21, 1953 differ, but are protocolled by the Argentine authorities which states that Jacobo Schramm is an alias for Juan Carlos Cristián Fischböck and that they are one and the same person, with attached official documentation and handwritten curriculum vitaes for Juan Carlos Cristián Fischböck and Eva Susana Waldtraut Kristen. The thermal copies of the curriculum vitaes bear the stamp of the Buenos Aires Civil Registry office on the back, dated June 3, 1954. Photocopies of same affidavit bearing the authenticity stamp of the Argentine “Division Prontuarios” dated December 4, 1989. Series 4. Photographs include a photograph album and loose photographs depicting Hans Fischböck and his family in Austria, Germany, and Buenos Aires. Where there are some photographs in the late 1930s or early 1940s, the bulk are post-war. The photograph album included a depiction of Fischböck in the late 1930s/early 1940s sitting at his desk in his office, most likely either in Vienna or in The Hague; Fischböck in the 1950s sitting at his desk in the office of the Nicolussi firm in Buenos Aires; family and friends in Europe; the Fischböck family in Buenos Aires, and on vacation in Latin America; and Eva Fischböck and her son Wolfgang spending the winter holidays with her parents in Germany, 1951. Loose photographs include depictions of the Fischböck family in Buenos Aires and possibly Germany, social events with friends, a group photograph labeled by typewriter on back “Verlobung im Hause Elleder 20.10.1956” and handwritten on back “Von links nach rechts. Dipl. Ing. Elleder (Wolfis Firmpate) neben Hans, der keinen Bart hat und in Wirklichkeit schöner ist. Eva, elegant aufgezäumt mit Federhütchen und vollem Schmuck. Frau Elleder, Generaldirektor May (oller Berliner!) von Mannesmann”; and a group photograph depicting Hans, Eva, and Wolfgang Fischböck on the tarmac in front of a Lufthansa jet with several other persons. Handwritten in pencil on the back: “Ruth Keichl [?] Wolfgang Hans Eva Fischböck Hans Keichl [?] Carlos Stanger [?].”

The Hans Fischböck papers are arranged as four series: • Series 1. Biographical material, 1876-1992 • Series 2. Nazi documents, 1938-1943 • Series 3. Latin American documents, 1939-1989 • Series 4. Photographs, circa 1930s-1965