Julius Madritsch

Who is Julius Madritsch?

Julius Madritsch was a Viennese Austrian businessman who helped to save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust.

In the spring of 1940 Madritsch came to Kraków to avoid enlistment in the German Wehrmacht. Being a trained draper, he was appointed trustee of two Jewish confectionery stores, Hogo and Strassberg. Madritsch soon learned that he could make more money by manufacturing textiles. At the end of 1940 Madritsch was able to open a sewing factory in Kraków that employed about 800 Jews and Poles with 300 sewing machines. Similar to Oskar Schindler, Madritsch gained a reputation as a good man who treated his Jewish workers well; he was "wonderful to his Jews".

In Kraków Madritsch saved the lives of thousands of Jews and also sought to make their lives more bearable. He employed many workers with no professional experience or training. Together with his factory manager Raimund Titsch, he provided humane and comfortable working conditions. Every worker received enough bread each day to enable him to sell part of it and buy other foodstuffs. Jews were allowed to make contact with Poles outside the factory.