Page - 44 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

44 chapter 1 Bauer lookedold forhis57years.107Nevertheless,hedidnot stopwritingand publishinguntilhis finalhours.His last twoarticlesweregrief-strickenmoral demands. In ‘Nach derAnnexion’ (‘After theAnnex’), he called for a critical instead of reactionary approach to Austria’s Anschluss: a common struggle against fascismalongsidetheworkingclassofGermany. ‘Ichappelliereandas GewissenderWelt’(‘IAppealtotheConscienceoftheWorld’),whichhewrote just hours before his death,was dedicated to the 300,000Austrian Jews and mass deportations toDachau concentration camp.Hepleaded to save those whoweretargetedbythefascist terror. Thematerialpresentedinthischaptercontainsonlythemostimportantevents inBauer’s vast theoretical andpolitical activity andpolitical directionof the sdap.Readerswill find that the followingchapters examine these themes in moredetail,yetwewillsometimesneedtoreacquaintourselveswiththisbasic chronology–afterall, it is impossibletoabstractthephilosophical, social,and politicalconceptsofadedicatedsocialist fromhispracticalactions. 107 SeeLeserandBerczeller 1977,p. 140.