Johann (Hans) Kotányi

Johann “Hans” Kotányi was born in Vienna as the only legitimate son—along with four sisters—of Jakob (János) Kotányi and his wife Sophie, née Sonnenfeld. His Jewish parents had emigrated to Vienna from Szeged, Hungary, and founded the Kotányi spice trading company in 1881, to whose name the suffix “Erste österreichische Paprikamühle” (First Austrian Paprika Mill) was later added. The company became known for its various paprika blends and was appointed a supplier to the Imperial and Royal Court in 1912.

Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary, the dissolution of the dual monarchy, and the expulsion of the Habsburgs, the company Kotányi—First Austrian Paprika Mill—expanded its product range and established additional branches in Budapest, Berlin, Munich, Boston, and New York.

After elementary school and the lower grades of high school, Hans Kotányi attended a commercial academy. Upon graduating, he began working at his father’s company. In 1920, he married Charlotte “Lotte” Altmann, who was also Jewish, and they went on to have a son and a daughter.

In 1925, Hans Kotányi took over management of the company from his father, who died in 1928. In 1934, the staunch Austrian joined the Fatherland Front.

On March 12, 1938, businessman Hans Kotányi witnessed the downfall of free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. The company itself was one of the first in Austria to be “Aryanized.” On March 16, 1938, Hans Kotányi was forced to sell his company to the “Aryanizer” Georg Kohl; an hour later, he was arrested by the Gestapo in his apartment and deported to the Dachau concentration camp on April 2, 1938, as part of the so-called “Prominententransport.” The situation and conditions of imprisonment at the Dachau concentration camp were so unbearable for him that on April 28, 1938, he slit his wrists and hanged himself at the same time.

The family emigrated to England. The company initially operated under the name “Owner: Georg Kohl,” and later under that name alone.

After the liberation of Austria and the restoration of the Republic in April and May 1945, Georg Kohl, who had been subjected to “Arisierung,” fled, whereupon the former authorized signatory, Theodor Rabner, took over management of the company. After the return of the family, who had emigrated to England, the company was restored to its rightful owners and resumed its original name.