Woman in Gold

Somehow, stories of escape from Nazi occupation of Austria (1938) came together for me this weekend. Last Friday's post was about a Jewish boy who escaped to Britain. Then that night my husband and I went to see "Woman in Gold" which turned out to be a Jewish woman's (Maria) story of escaping Austria about that same time.

Nazis began to isolate and bully Jewish Austrians. Police barged into Maria's family home and stole their art - paintings, jewelry, and a cello. (If you saw the movie "Monuments Men," you know that they stole thousands upon thousands of art pieces.)

"Woman in Gold" was a painting of Maria's aunt, a family treasure, which ended up after WWII in an Austrian gallery as public property. Maria wanted to get it back. She loved Austria, so why the hard feelings against the land of her birth? Some Austrians collaborated with the Nazis, betraying the Jewish community.

Another Maria, another movie example of escape - "Sound of Music." The Von Trapps abandoned everything to escape to the West when the new Nazi command in Austria "offered" Capt. Von Trapp a position in their military.