Otto Rothstock
Otto Rothstock was an Austrian Nazi who assassinated Jewish writer Hugo Bettauer.
As a young member of the Austrian National Socialist 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. His lawyer, Walter Riehl, argued that his client was guilty but insane, with which the jury agreed. However within twenty months Rothstock was released as “cured” from a mental hospital. A fair amount of money was collected from the general public for him.
Rothstock was an unrepentant Nazi. In a 1977 interview on the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Rothstock reportedly boasted of Bettauer's "extinction".
