Austrian exiles who found asylum in Mexico

The history and impact of the European exile in the cultural life of Mexico are analyzed today at a congress which gathers the experiences of Austrian artists who found asylum in our country after being victims of fascist persecutions in the decades of 1930 and 1940.

The congress “Mexico, Refuge Country” is organized by the Austrian Embassy to Mexico, the National Institute of Historical Studies of Mexican Revolutions (INEHRM), and the Cultural Center Isidro Fabela. The congress is part of the bilateral program “Crossed Histories. Mexico-Austria 2017-2019,” to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the diplomatic defense launched by the Mexican Government, during the Lázaro Cárdenas administration, against the Nazi occupation in Austria – the only international proposal of its kind.

A key figure in this historic chapter was Gilberto Bosques , then-consul of Mexico to Paris, who issued Mexican visas to over 30, 000 Jews, Soviets, communists, Spanish republicans, and German opposers.

Some of the Austrian refugees who found asylum in Mexico were writers Bruno Frei, Ergon Erwin Kisch, Leo Katz; musicians Ernest Römer, Carl Arwin, Marcel Rubin; doctors Elsa Volk and Marie Frischauf-Pappenheim; as well as theater actors Luise and Charles Rooner.

Today's program includes the participation of the current Austrian Ambassador to Mexico, Franz-Josef Kuglitsch, the screening of the documentary “Visa to Paradise,” and a concert with songs written by Austrian composer Marcel Rubin.

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