Duschka Reinhold

Duschka, Reinhold Reinhold Duschka (b.1900 in Berlin) lived in Vienna during the 1920s. He was the owner of a workshop that produced metal objects d’art. During this period he befriended Rudi Kraus and Regine Hildebrandt. Kraus and Hildebrandt married, and in 1929, had a daughter who they named Lucia (later Heilmann). In 1938, Kraus, who was an engineer, traveled to Iran on company business. He wanted to send for his wife and daughter, but with the outbreak of war in September 1939, Regine was no longer able to acquire travel permits. At this time, the Nazis had already confiscated their apartment, as a property belonging to Jews. Recognizing their desperation, Duschka offered to hide Regine and her daughter in his two-room artist’s workshop. Regine accepted his offer, living with her daughter in one room of the workshop, while Duschka managed his business from the second room. In the winter of 1944, when the allied air forces bombed Vienna, the building was hit and burned down completely. Duschka transferred the mother and her daughter to a small summer house that he kept in a Viennese suburb. The neighbors were curious, but Duschka told them that they were relatives from Germany. The two Jews survived the war. Duschka endangered himself by hiding Jews, a crime that could have led to deportation to a concentration camp, and eventually to death. He not only received no compensation for his activities, he also spent a great deal of his own money to supply the women with food and clothing from the black market. He also provided textbooks for Lucia, who, being unable to attend school, was taught by her mother. After the war, Duschka continued to operate his business as before. The mother and daughter remained in Vienna. Lucia became a doctor, married and raised a family. On March 7, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Reinhold Duschka as Righteous Among the Nations.