Book presentation: “Austrian Again: Reclaiming a Lost Legacy” by Anne Hand

Since 2020, descendants of victims of National Socialism have been able to reclaim their ancestors’ lost Austrian citizenship. Around 40,000 people have since become Austrian citizens in this way.

One of them is Anne Hand. On Thursday, 26 March 2026, the young author will present her book “Austrian Again” at the Jewish Museum on Dorotheergasse in Vienna. In these memoirs, Hand takes readers with her on a journey as she sets out in search of her Austrian roots, rediscovering her family and herself in the process, and ultimately takes on Austrian citizenship. Her book is a meditation on the silence within families and the attempt to fill gaps in one’s own biography.

Anne Hand is an inspiring third-generation voice, and she powerfully describes the perspective of survivors’ grandchildren. She writes affectionately about her grandfather, an immigrant from Vienna whom she got to know as a child:

“He was my most important immigrant, the one I knew best, the person who first showed me, just by being himself, that the world is made up of all kinds of people, some talking differently or having different habits, tastes, and customs. And that is a wonderful thing.”

In conversation with Hannah Lessing, Managing Director of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, Anne Hand will discuss what it means to “return” to a country from which one’s own family was once expelled; how history shapes lives across generations; and whether a passport can “heal” a severed bond.

Join us for an evening of reflections on family history and identity, on memory, exile and the complex meaning of “home”.

• Venue: Jewish Museum Vienna, Dorotheergasse
• Date: 26 March 2026
• Doors open: 6.00 pm
• Admission: Free
• Language: The event will be held in English.

You can find more information about the book and register for the event on the Jewish Museum Vienna website.