Ross Allen Baker was born on November 13, 1886, in Greencastle, Indiana, to Philip S. and Luemma Allen Baker. His father was a chemistry professor at DePauw University. Ross received a BA in chemistry from DePauw and a PhD in 1914 from the University of Wisconsin. He married Helen Fredericka Porter on December 30, 1914. The couple had five sons: Philip, Porter, Frederick, Stanley, and Raymond. He held various teaching positions throughout the US and in England. He was a national counselor for the Boy Scouts of American and helped write the merit badge booklet. During World War I (1914-1918), Ross served in the Chemical Warfare Service specializing in the use of mustard gas. He later became active in efforts to have nations ban the use of biological and chemical weapons in the League of Nations, and later in the United Nations. He was active in several professional associations. In 1928, he was a US delegate for an International Union of Chemistry meeting at the League of Nations and, in 1938, a US delegate to the International Congress of Chemistry in Rome, Italy. In 1937, Ross held a position as professor of chemistry at the City University of New York. During the 1930s, there had been technological advances in optics and photography in European universities and American scientists sought to emulate this work. Ross received a sabbatical leave to take courses in microchemistry at the University of Vienna. Ross, his wife, and three of their five sons lived in Vienna from early 1937 until May 1938; summers were spent in travel. In May 1938, the family accompanied Ross to Rome and also witnessed public events for the summit meeting of Hitler and Mussolini. They travelled the rest of the summer and then returned to the US. Ross retired from San Diego State. He passed away, age 92, in 1978 in San Diego, Ca.
This film is featured in the Ephemeral Films Project: National Socialism in Austria. Watch the historic film through an innovative film player showing contemporary images, geographical mapping, and shot-level analysis here: http://efilms.ushmm.org/film_player?movieID=41&movieSig=EF-NS_041_USHMM&movieSpeed=18
A long line of people stand outside several buildings. This might show Jews lining up to try and get visas to leave the country. The cross on the bulding (visible at 01:16:08) is part of the flag of the city of Vienna and indicates that this is a government building. Nazis salute each other as they walk by the people in the line. A group of girls, probably members of the Bund Deutscher Maedel (BDM), march down the street. 01:16:30 A huge sign reading"Ja fuer den Fuehre" below large swastika flags. Shots of cars decorated with posters of Hitler's face. A group of Hitler Youth in the back of a truck reach down to pull another boy up onto the truck, while a bus decorated with pro-German propaganda drives past in the background. A group of boys and girls make pro-German decorations out of tree boughs. A group of Hitler Youth members march down the street. More shots of pro-Hitler signs and signs encouraging people to vote"ye" on April 10 (in favor of the union with Germany). 01:17:48 A long line of posters reading"Ja Ja J" on the windows of the Vienna post and telegraph office. The camera pans across poster after poster featuring images of Hitler and advocating a"ye" vote on April 10. One of the posters reads:"Warum bin ich Antisemit geworden? [Why did I become an antisemite?" advertising results from survey reports. The next posters show Hitler in profile. Pedestrians walk past walls covered in propaganda posters and the street is littered with leaflets and newspapers. People salute as they walk by the Loos Haus, which features decorations and a bust of Adolf Hitler. Two armed and uniformed men stand guard. Helen Baker's March 22 diary entry:"Papers all taken over by Nazis -- no news except that which is sensored [sic] by them -- Front pages plastered with propaganda" April 10 letter: Of course every building tries to outdo the others in decoration ... every private house or apartment must decorate -- with the marked exception of those inhabited by Jews... there are no flags on our house -- I just heard yesterday that the owner is a Jew as well as the porter -- We knew that the family in the apartment below us were Jewish but never suspected the others. They are not allowed to display the Austrian flag" May 1 letter:"The so-called vote was the biggest farce ever staged. Most people were asked to mark the ballot at a table in the presence of the Nazis. If they insisted on going into a booth, the envelope was opened immediately. A friend of ours purposely invalidated his by crossing out the"nei" instead of putting a cross in the"j"circle. He hadn't gone ten steps before he was called back, the"mistak" explained and a new blank furnished, while a man watched him vote right"
Election propaganda; Loos Haus