Suicide Was Wrong
How can Nino Lo Bello, who claims Vienna as his hometown, make so many mistakes all in one sentence in “Austria Underground” (Feb. 14) regarding an incident in Austrian history that has been said to have contributed to World War I? It wasn’t Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary who died at Moedling.
It was Crown Prince Rudolf, the only son of Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, who committed suicide, which was in the imperial hunting lodge at Mayerling. Baroness Maria Vetsera (not a commoner) committed suicide with Rudolf. Ferdinand, who succeeded Rudolf as heir, was assassinated in the summer of 1914 in Sarajevo, Serbia (Yugoslavia), which in turn started World War I.
WALTER N. WALDAU
Anaheim
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