Pocket diary

This pocket diary records aspects of Lya Riley's daily life in Vienna in the mid- to late-1930s. Lya, the only child of Emil and Eugenie Kleinmann, was a teenager at this time and enjoyed a comfortable middle-class lifestyle.

The Kleinmanns were Jewish, and in the early twentieth century Vienna was an important centre of Jewish culture with 22 synagogues, over 50 prayer houses, and a range of Jewish libraries, schools, hospitals, clubs and political associations. At the start of 1938 the Jewish population of Austria was around 192,000 people – 4% of the total population – and in Vienna Jews comprised about 9% of the population. By November 1942, however, only 7,000 Jews remained in Austria. Lya’s family, and many thousands of others, were caught up in the maelstrom of war.

Intense Nazi propaganda had been circulating in Austria throughout the 1930s so when German forces marched into Austria on March 12, 1938, many citizens greeted them with enthusiastic support. Austria was incorporated into Germany the next day, and the Anschluss (union) was formalised through a plebiscite in April. Neither Jews nor Roma were allowed to vote.

Anti-Semitic actions and violence escalated quickly, and Jews were attacked, humiliated, and their businesses seized or looted. In addition, anti-Jewish legislation was quickly extended to Austria, initially focussed on expropriation and emigration. Between 1938 and 1940, 117,000 Jews left the country. Lya and her mother were among them, and the 1939 diary records their departure from Austria and arrival in England. Emil stayed in Vienna, and on 3 September 1939 Lya wrote: 'Declaration of war.  Fearful for Papa.' She would not see her father again, as he was murdered at Maly Trostinec in September 1942.

The diary is part of a collection of objects from Lya Riley (nee Kleinmann), which materialises aspects of her childhood in Austria, experiences during the Second World War (1939-1945), and life in New Zealand.

References:

• Riley, Lysette and Helen Riley-Duddin, 2021. Conversations and emails with curators Katie Cooper and Stephanie Gibson.
• Riley, Lysette, 2021. Unpublished biography of Lya Kleinmann, born 27 March 1921 Vienna.
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. n.d. Austria. Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/austria
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. n.d. Vienna. Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/vienna
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. n.d. Anschluss. Holocaust Bibliographies. https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/anschluss