Harand Irene

Harand, Irene Irene Harand, born in 1901 in Vienna, was an author and politician who was a practicing Catholic. On the basis of her Christian beliefs, Harand was a vocal opponent of Nazism and its racist and antisemitic teachings. She served as Deputy Chairperson of the Christian Socialist Party, and founded the “World Association against Racial Hatred and Genocide,” an organization that boasted an international membership of 36,000 in 1936. When Hitler rose to power in 1933, Harand put out a pamphlet called “So oder So - Die Wahrheit über den Antisemitismus” (English: So or So – the Truth about Anti-Semitism). In 1935, she published a book that spoke out against Hitler, which she called “His Struggle,” as a response to Hitler’s own Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”). Together with Viennese lawyer Moritz Zalman, Harand also edited “Justice,” a weekly publication. Harand spoke out against the Nazis in other places in Europe as well. In 1937, “The Truth about Anti-Semitism” was translated into Polish. She lectured throughout Europe, causing the German ambassador in Vienna to protest her activities and the Austrian authorities to forbid her to hold meetings. Members of the Austrian Nazi party attacked her bitterly, and even threatened her life – threats that in Austria of the 30s were liable to be carried out – but she continued to speak out. She also helped Zionist youth movements in Austria and Poland such as Akiva and HeHalutz. When the Nazis annexed Austria in March 1938, Harand was on a lecture tour in England. She decided not to return to Austria, but to immigrate to the United States together with her husband. In America, she continued to fight Nazism and Antisemitism. She also used her connections in Europe to help save fugitive Jews, and continued to support the Austrian and Polish Zionist youth movements. In cooperation with Bnei Brith and Stephan Wise, she helped Austrian Jews get visas to the United States, eventually arranging entry papers for more than100 Austrian Jews. In 1943, she founded the Austrian Institute (Österreichische Institut) in New York, an organization that helped Austrian Jewish refugee authors and artists living in America to find work in their fields. On October 15, 1968, Yad Vashem recognized Irene Harand as Righteous Among the Nations.