“In my personal life I lived through different stages. There was one period determined by football, nothing but football; each Sunday we would go to see a match and I myself played in a team. Then came another period: politics. A very strong interest in politics and the attempt to understand this world that I only knew from party names so far. Contrary to today, people at the time had a very good feeling for who was a Jew. Today, with so few Jews around this is no longer so. Types like myself, with black hair and not quite immaculate Greco-Roman nose, were immediately recognized as Jews.” (Franz West)
Franz West (1909-85) remembers his youth in Vienna: the diverse Jewish population the Red Vienna labor movement and the rise of Austrofascism.
“In my personal life I lived through different stages. There was one period determined by football, nothing but football; each Sunday we would go to see a match and I myself played in a team. Then came another period: politics. A very strong interest in politics and the attempt to understand this world that I only knew from party names so far. Contrary to today, people at the time had a very good feeling for who was a Jew. Today, with so few Jews around this is no longer so. Types like myself, with black hair and not quite immaculate Greco-Roman nose, were immediately recognized as Jews.” (Franz West)