Reinhold Duschka

Reinhold Duschka (1900-1993) was an Austrian iron worker who from 1939 until April 1945 hid the Jewish Chemist Regina Kraus and her 10-year-old daughter Lucia (later Lucia Heilman) from the National Socialist regime. In 1990, he was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for his actions.

Life

In the 1920s, Duschka worked as an iron worker out of a workshop in Mollardgasse in the 6th district of Vienna, Austria. He became friendly with Rudi Kraus and Regine Hildebrandt, who married and had a daughter in 1929, called Lucia. They were unable to obtain transit papers, nor did they have the money for passage by ship. In 1939, their apartment was confiscated by the National Socialist regime as part of widespread confiscations of Jewish property.

Duschka offered to shelter them in his workshop in full knowledge that he was putting his own life in danger. He cared for the two fugitives throughout the war, regularly providing food and clothing which he bought on the black market. Duschka found them alternative accommodation in a summer house in Hütteldorf, where they stayed hidden until the end of the war. He explained to his neighbours that they were relatives from Germany.

After the war, Duschka rebuilt his workshop and continued his work there until his retirement.

In 2018, Austrian novelist Erich Hackl published the novel Am Seil based on Duschka's story.