Luck and a letter to freedom
Published in The Australian Jewish News
May 10, 2018
“Get out of Austria fast.”
It was the dire warning that Dr Hans Glaser would receive in 1938 from the most unlikely of people – an undercover Nazi and newly appointed District Commissioner for the Germans.
“I was able to remove your records from the police department, but even I have no jurisdiction over the duplicates that the Gestapo have,” he told Hans over the telephone.
“And I know that you are listed for concentration camp in the next four weeks or so.”
Hans was a passionate trout fisherman, and the only Jewish member of an elite Viennese fishing club. It was this love for trout that would ultimately save the lives of him and his family – the undercover Nazi was one of his fellow fishermen.
Upon the tip-off, Hans entered a state of desperation. He vaguely remembered hearing family gossip that a distant cousin with the surname ‘Borer’ had emigrated to Australia in the 1920s.