Saggen quarter
March 2017 © Thomas Kleissl
15, Goethestraße
Alice Smetana, a 63-year-old merchant’s widow, née Hohenberg, lived at 15, Goethestraße. On the night of November 9 to 10, 1938, a group of NSKK or SA men reportedly broke into her apartment and damaged the telephone. This statement was made by Viktoria Kuen, the long-time housekeeper of Rabbi Dr. Josef Link at 24, Erzherzog-Eugen-Straße.
Paul Smetana, the younger son, left Innsbruck towards Bolzano after the annexation in March 1938, and emigrated to Australia. Johann (Hans) Smetana, the older son, his wife Alice, born Lustig and their two-year-old daughter Judith had to leave their apartment at 20, Erzherzog-Eugen-Straße and live with Alice Smetana for a few weeks until November 1, 1938. After the pogrom night, the desperate Laura Popper found temporary shelter with Alice Smetana. The older son also migrated with his family to Australia, but Hans returned with his wife and daughter to Innsbruck in 1951. Alice Smetana managed to escape to Switzerland and then to Palestine where she died in 1947.
update 20.10.2023
Translation:
Translated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT
Literature:
Michael Guggenberger < Unbekannte Täter im Novemberpogrom in Innsbruck > in: Thomas Albrich (Hg.) “Die Täter des Judenpogrom 1938 in Innsbruck”, Haymon Verlag Innsbruck-Wien 2016, S 361-366
References:
Hohenems Genealogie, Jüdische Familiengeschichte in Vorarlberg und Tirol – last visit 31.10.2017