One of the young people who engaged in the zionist movement at Marc-Aurel-Strasse 5 was Martin Vogel. In his interview he tells how he and other youngsters experienced everyday life at the zionist school where they were prepared for a life in Israel. He also mentions how they coped with exclusion during Nazi rule.
Martin Vogel was born in Vienna in 1922. His father was an assimilated Jew and his mother was Christian. They lived in poor circumstances in the Third District. He received Jewish religious education, celebrated his bar mitzvah in the Leopoldstadt Temple, but observed both the most important Christian and Jewish holidays with his family.
The Austrian Scout Association, which Martin had joined as a child, was disbanded like many other organizations after the so-called Anschluss. Looking back, this was the most drastic experience for the then 15-year-old after the National Socialist takeover. After continuing to work illegally, Martin joined the Jewish sports club, Makkabi, in the second district for boxing which served as a means of self-defense. Invited by a friend he became a member of the left-wing Zionist youth association Hashomer Ha'zair where he soon led a group himself.
After the so-called Anschluss, Martin was classified as a "Geltungsjude," but thanks to the protection of his "aryan" mother, he was able to survive until the end of the war as a forced laborer for the Wehrmacht near the Vienna Prater.
Martin Vogel was liberated in Vienna by the Red Army. He married a woman he got to know in a summer camp for jewish youth which took place in Austria right after the war. They had two children and grandchildren. In Vienna he worked as a lawyer for the Municipality until his retirement in 1984. Martin also continued to be involved in the Jewish sports club Makkabi.
His interview was recorded in 1998 in Vienna, Austria.