The faith and actions of Greta Andrén, missionary to the Jews of Vienna, 1938–41

Abstract

In this microhistorical study of the Swedish Mission to the Jews (Svenska Israelsmissionen) in Vienna, I explore the everyday life and work of the deaconess Greta Andrén (1909–71) during the time of the Nazi occupation of Austria. Andrén’s actions are presented and related to the parts of her faith that are revealed in the sources. From this I distil a triad of meaningful categories, namely her work, the children she worked with, and God. These resulted in her sustaining an on­­going state of over-exertion during her wartime refugee work.

Keywords

• Svenska Israelsmissionen
• Greta Andrén
• Microhistory
• Mission history
• Vienna
• Holocaust