Peter Blau - Early Life

Early Life

Peter Blau was born in 1918 in Vienna, Austria shortly before the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was born into a Jewish family as fascist power within Europe grew and Hitler’s influence within Austria became increasingly evident. Hitler’s rise to power and WWII would impact Blau’s life tremendously, claiming family, culture, and nearly his own life, however promise and opportunity also laid in his future. At the age of seventeen, Blau was convicted of high treason for speaking out against the repression demonstrated by the government through articles he wrote for the Socialist Worker’s Party, an underground newspaper distributor. He was coincidently released shortly after his instatement when the ban on political activity was lifted due to the National Socialists’ rise to power. When Hitler arrived in Austria In 1938 Blau attempted to escape to the independent Republic of Czechoslovakia, his sister was sent to England, and the rest of his family decided to stay in Austria. Blau’s attempt to flee proved unsuccessful; he was captured by Nazi forces, tortured, yet was once again released and made his way to Prague. With the help of his high school teacher, Blau obtained a travel permit to America in order to study. He would have to briefly occupy a French labor camp due to complications with his visa. He finally arrived in Le Havre, France where he received a refugee scholarship to Elmhurst College in Illinois through an American G.I. Blau earned his degree in Sociology, paving the way for his future work in sociological theory.