Otto Rothstock

Who is Otto Rothstock?

Otto Rothstock was the assassin of Hugo Bettauer.

As a young member of the Nazi party, Rothstock was enraged by Bettauer's satire of Nazi anti-semitism in his popular work, The City Without Jews. On March 10, 1925 Rothstock entered Bettauer's office and shot him five times at point-blank range. Hugo Bettauer died on March 26, 1925 from his wounds.

At his trial, Rothstock justified what he had done as necessary to save German culture from the menace of Jewish degeneration. He was found to be insane at the time of his crime, and was freed 18 months later.