14f. “A Newcomer: The Bank Director as Conductor. His Name: Emil Bardach [...]”

After the death of his father, Emil Bardach (1874–1953), took over the banking business A. Bardach together with his brother. The private bank traded mainly in securities and foreign exchange. After the “Anschluss” of Austria in March 1938, the Viennese Banking Association (Wiener Giro- und Cassen-Verein) was appointed as the “overseer,” (“kommissarischer Verwalter”) who ubsequently “liquidated” the company in 1939.

Currently, it has not been possible to determine where Emil Bardach completed his musical training. Many newspaper articles have described his outstanding artistic achievements as a concert pianist, vocal coach and conductor. Of particular note were the house concerts which he held regularly in his apartment at 23/15 Schottenring in the first district.

Following the “Anschluss” of Austria, the Nuremberg Laws prevented Emil Bardach from exercising his livelihood, forcing him to sell his musical instruments, sheet music, books, and many other possessions. Initially, he tried to emigrate to Great Britain to join his two younger brothers, Otto Bardach (1878–1952) and Paul Bardach (1884–1955). In February 1941, he managed to escape to the USA with his second wife, Olga Bardach née Schlesinger (1876–1956). Emil and Olga Bardach chose Brazil as their final country of exile and lived out their days in Rio de Janeiro.

His daughter from his first marriage, Anni Bardach (1899–1940), was a patient in the psychiatric clinic in Gugging and did not survive the Holocaust. Bardach’s sister, Marianne Bardach (1895 – died following deportation on 02.11.1941), had to stay behind in Vienna to take care of her mother, who died in 1941. Shortly afterwards, Bardach’s sister was deported to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto; she did not survive the Holocaust. Neither Emil Bardach nor his brothers returned to Austria after 1945.

Within the holdings of the ub.mdw* (mdw University Library), sheet music prints of Johann Sebastian Bach were discovered. These prints contain provenance hints linked to Emil Bardach. They came into the possession of the ub.mdw* Library in May 1992 through a donation from the harpsichordist and university professor of the mdw*, Isolde Ahlgrimm (1914–1995). Based on current research, these sheet music prints are deemed to have been stolen property and are to be returned to the rightful heirs.