ABSTRACT
In the case of Austria between 1938 and 1945, the situation was different — indeed, profoundly schizophrenic. The exiled Austrian author, Hilde Spiel, describing her impressions on returning to Vienna in 1946 as a British war correspondent, speaks of a ‘schizophrenic spiritual condition’. The fact that the Social Democratic leadership, showed so little interest in Austria’s independence, helps to understand a further significant factor: the weakness of the Austrian resistance during the Second World War. As the war drew towards a close, the activities of the exile groups shifted from a defensive stance towards a constructive programme — planning the revival of cultural life in Austria after the war. The chapter describes three main phases in the development of that condition: enthusiasm for the Anschluß, the Free Austria Movement, and the challenge of reintegration after 1945. Among the most illuminating is the testimony of Hilde Spiel, whose career combines the most signifiant features of both exile and reintegration.
