| A fervent Austrian patriot, Otto opposed the Nazi Anschluss in Austria in 1938 (the Nazis codenamed their plan for a military invasion of Austria "Otto" because they planned to invade immediately if he was restored to the throne)[citation needed] and, sentenced to death by Hitler, chose to leave Europe altogether. Otto spent most of the war years in Washington, D.C. (1940 � 1944), after escaping from Belgium to Paris with his mother, former Empress Zita, and other family members. His uncle Max, Duke of Hohenberg, and Prince Ernst of Hohenberg were arrested in Vienna by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp until the end of the war. |
|
