This image shows the hotel “metropole” in 1942. Where the “Leopold Figl-Hof” is today, the Hotel "Metropole" was located until 1945 - the headquarters of the Secret State Police Vienna. The Gestapo was the central authority of the Nazi terrorist state and, as the political police, was responsible for the implementation of the tyranny. It fought and suppressed political opponents of the Nazi regime.
People were persecuted for various activities and often arbitrarily – especially jewish people. Anyone who read forbidden books, expressed dissatisfaction with the National Socialist rulers or behaved in a friendly manner toward Jews had to reckon with this. Because these actions threatened the Nazi regime's ideological bases, such activities could be considered as acts of resistance towards the political oppression. This is even more true for Jewish people who suffered from anti-Semitic persecution. This made them draw from a much smaller scope of possible acts. Therefore, even their smallest actions can be considered as acts of resistance.