Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich Bürckel Materie Reichskommissar für die Wiedervereinigung Österreichs mit dem Deutschen Reich (Sign. AT-OeStA/AdR ZNsZ RK)

Copyright Holder: Österreichisches Staatsarchiv Contains records pertaining to the aryanization and expropriation of Jewish property and assets, racial laws, police, cultural matters, finances, propaganda and media. Among the documents is a large quantity of letters from private individuals to Nazi Governor Bürckel, including mail from citizens denouncing their Jewish as well as non-Jewish neighbors. On March 13, 1938, Reich Chancellor and Führer Adolf Hitler appointed Josef Bürckel as the Gauleiter (Nazi Governor) of Nazi-annexed Austria. By Hitler's special decree of April 23, 1938, Bürckel was also appointed the Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich (Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 407/1938). The Reich Commissioner was responsible for the transition and integration of Austria's state administrative functions into the larger German Reich. The position existed until March 31, 1940 when it was disbanded through Hitler's special decree of March 15, 1940 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 539/1940).