Today a worldwide successful winery, the dark shadow of an arianization lies over the foundation of WINZER KREMS in 1938. This chapter of our history has been scientifically processed in the years 2018 to 2020. We are not able to undo what happened in the past. However, it is our duty to assume historical responsibility bythe exact documentation of the incidents in order to contribute to ensure that this will never happen again.
At the beginning of September 2018, triggered by the historians Bernhard Herrman and Robert Streibel, WINZER KREMS eG was confronted with previously unresolved aspects of its history in the NS-era. They concern some individual properties that were owned by the Jewish family Robitschek before the National Socialist annexed Austria and were subsequently arianized.
According to this background, the board of directors of WINZER KREMS eG decided to proactively deal with this issue.
Therefore Dr. Brigitte Bailer-Galanda, the renowned historian and former director of the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), has been engaged as a critical adviser.
We had been unaware of the historical and moral issues for a long time and wanted now to face the critical questions of this period. We regret deeply that we had not reacted appropriately before. We now made it our task to process these relationships scientifically.
This work was started immediately under the direction of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance and was completed by mid-2020. Find here a short chronology of our history reappraisal:
Paul Robitschek and his mother Johanna (photos: archives Bernhard Herrman)
On September 13th 2018, Juanita Robitschek, the niece of Paul Robitschek from Caracas / Venezuela visited WINZER KREMS.
On July 3rd 2019, WINZER KREMS presented an interim report on the reappraisal of the company's founding history and uncovered a memory plaque. The final report is expected to be ready in autumn 2019.
» Download interim report (pdf, German)
On August 6th 2019, the Israeli ambassador in Vienna, Talya Lador-Fresher, visited the WINZER KREMS. She was impressed by the professional processing of the history and the presentation of the memorial plaque.
Nov. 5th, 2019
Mrs. Brigitte Bailer-Galanda, head of the commission which was charged with the reappraisal of our founding history, informed us that new documents were found. Therefore the final report, which was announced for autumn 2019, will retard.
Juni 17th, 2020
In May 2020, the commission charged with processing the founding history of Winzer Krems completed the final report and handed it over to WINZER KREMS on June 17th, 2020.
The four authors of the publication:
In summary, the Aryanization of the Robitschek family´s possessions in the Sandgrube in Krems was on the one hand a complicated and on the other hand well documented process with different interests within the Nazi authorities involved. The restitution proceedings after the war lasted several years and ended with a settlement in 1949, which was quite usual in Austria in these times.
It is beyond discussion that a great injustice was committed at that time. Today, WINZER KREMS is aware of its historical and moral responsibility and, with the publication of the final scientific report, reaffirms its commitment to tolerance, diversity and the indivisibility of human rights.
>> download final report (pdf, german)*
>> download attachment - chronology (pdf, german)*
*Any further use of these documents requires the consent of the authors and Winzer Krems.
On Aug. 5th 2023, the decendants of Paul Robitschek visited WINZER KREMS.
