Homelessness and living conditions in the "collective flats"

Often, families were allocated flats that had already been occupied and shortly after the allocation they were forced to leave these flats again. These actions often happened at very short notice, which led to temporary homelessness. This was also the case with Jessy Winkler or Judith Hübner. Unfortunately, she and her family could no longer count on the help of their neighbours:

"[...] that's how we stood overnight with our furniture [...] on the street, in Rittergasse, with all our stuff. [...] First and foremost it was cold. [...] But the worst part was the humiliation. [...]" [1].

There was excessive overcrowding in the collective flats. There were hardly any cooking or heating facilities, the sanitary conditions were precarious. The situation of the Jews in the collection centers continued to deteriorate. In particular, the ban on bathrooms in the collective flats from 1941, initiated by Anton Brunner, further worsened the situation of the Jewish population. Due to the poor hygienic conditions, there was an increased incidence of diseases in the collective apartments. Susanne Metschl (Novaragasse 32, 1020 Vienna) described it as follows:

"[...] I often heard through the doors - there were people who died, who rattled in the night. [...] You couldn't call a doctor. [...] They were no longer allowed to go out on the street at 8 o'clock in the evening. [...]".[2]

Sources:

[1] Quoted from: Michaela Raggam-Blesch, „Sammelwohnungen“ für Jüdinnen und Juden als Zwischenstation vor der Deportation, Wien 1938 - 1942. In: DÖW (ed.), Jahrbuch 2018: Forschungen zu Vertreibung und Holocaust (Wien 2018) bzw. M. RAGGAM-BLESCH, 2018. p. 85 f.

 [2] Michaela Raggam-Blesch, Sammelwohnungen“ für Jüdinnen und Juden als Zwischenstation vor der Deportation, Wien 1938 - 1942. In: DÖW (ed.), Jahrbuch 2018: Forschungen zu Vertreibung und Holocaust (Wien 2018) bzw. M. RAGGAM-BLESCH, 2018. p. 94.