 |
Activities
in Austria
Seyss-Inquart
participated in the last stages of the Nazi
intrigue which preceded the German occupation of
Austria, and was made Chancellor of Austria as a
result of German threats of invasion.
On
12 March 1938 Seyss-Inquart met Hitler at Linz
and made a speech welcoming the German forces
and advocating the reunion of Germany and
Austria. On 13 March he obtained the passage of
a law providing that Austria should become a
province of Germany and succeeded Miklas as
President of Austria when Miklas resigned rather
than sign the law. Seyss-Inquart's title was
changed to Reich Governor of Austria on 15 March
1933, and on the same day he was given the title
of a general in the SS. He was made a Reich
Minister without Portfolio on 1 May 1939.
On
11 March 1939 he visited the Slovakian Cabinet
in Bratislava and induced them to declare their
independence in a way which fitted in closely
with Hitler's offensive against the independence
of Czechoslovakia.
As Reich Governor
of Austria, Seyss-Inquart instituted a program
of confiscating Jewish property. Under his
regime Jews were forced to emigrate, were sent
to concentration camps, and were subject to
pogroms. At the end of his regime he cooperated
with the Security Police and SD in the
deportation of Jews from Austria to the East.
While he was Governor of Austria, political
opponents of the Nazis were sent to
concentration camps by the Gestapo, mistreated,
and often killed.
Criminal
Activities in Poland and the Netherlands
In September 1939
Seyss-Inquart was appointed Chief of Civil
Administration of South Poland. On 12 October
1939 Seyss-Inquart was made Deputy Governor
General of the General Government of Poland
under Frank. On 18 May 1940 Seyss-Inquart was
appointed Reich Commissioner for Occupied
Netherlands. In these positions he assumed
responsibility for governing territory which had
been occupied by aggressive wars and the
administration of which was of vital importance
in the aggressive war being waged by Germany.
As Deputy Governor General of the
General Government of Poland, Seyss-Inquart was
a supporter of the harsh occupation policies
which were put in effect. In November 1939,
while on an inspection tour through the General
Government, Seyss-Inquart stated that Poland was
to be so administered as to exploit its economic
resources for the benefit of Germany.
Seyss-Inquart also advocated the persecution of
Jews and was informed of the beginning of the AB
action which involved the murder of many Polish
intellectuals.
328
|  |
