A stunning work of narrative history revealing how and why Adolf Hitler targeted the children of the assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, making the Archduke’s sons the first two Austrians deported to the Dachau concentration camp. Hitler’s obsession with the Habsburg Imperial family became the catalyst for his vendetta against a vanished empire, a dead archduke, and his royal orphans. That hatred drove Hitler’s rise to power and led directly to the tragedy of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Through a decade of research and interviews with the descendants of the royal Habsburgs scholar, James Longo explores the roots of Hitler’s determination to destroy the Archduke’s family and uncovers the family’s courageous fight against the Führer, specifically the women, including the Archduke’s only daughter Princess Sophie Hohenberg. Their tenacity and courage in the face of betrayal and torture sustained the family during the war and in the traumatic years that followed.
Nonfiction
Hitler and the Habsburgs: The Fuhrer’s Vendetta Against the Austrian Royals
January 1, 2013
Discussion Questions
Courtesy of James Longo
- Your book contrasts Hitler’s neutral, even positive relationship with Jews in his early life, and his infamous antisemitism in his public life. How do you explain this contradiction?
- In your book, Hitler and the Habsburgs: The Fuhrer’s Vendetta Against the Austrian Royals, you highlight the role of women in fighting and defeating Hitler and the Nazis. What role did women have in this story, and why did you think it was important to highlight them?
- What was the relationship between the Austrian royals and Jews, and how did that relationship fuel Hitler’s hatred for both?
- The New York Journal of Books writes your book, “illuminates the demons driving Hitler from within” and cites the “the parallels between rise to power of Adolf Hitler and that of Donald J. Trump.” Was that your intent in writing this book? What are the similarities and what are the differences between these two leaders?
- You lived with three German families in three different parts of Germany when researching your book, what did that experience teach you about Germany, Hitler, and the rise of antisemitism today?
- Hitler’s contempt for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the United States is mentioned throughout your book, what was that all about?
- The book has been called a cautionary tale for today, and a survivors guide to trauma — what are the life lessons in this true story for readers?
- What sparked your interest in writing about a long-dead Archduke, his royal orphans, and a vanished empire?
Jewish literature inspires, enriches, and educates the community.
Help support the Jewish Book Council.