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Disclaimer
Friday
Aug132010

Dear Readers,

This year marks the 15th Anniversary of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, which has been instrumental in reaching out to many Austrian Holocaust survivors in the U.S. The Embassy of Austria in Washington, DC, hosted a commemorative event. On this occasion an anniversary publication was presented. We are also pleased to feature an interview with U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ambassador Douglas Davidson on the occasion of his visit to Vienna.

Moreover, we have included a number of articles on recent cases of restitution of art works, such as the famous Schiele painting, “Portrait of Wally,” which was part of the holdings of the private Leopold Foundation.

Other topics highlight recent cultural events as well as several high-level visits of Austrian politicians to Israel, including that of the Austrian Prime Minister and members of the Austrian government.

I would like to take this opportunity to bid farewell to all the readers of Jewish News from Austria. During the last four years I was pleased to provide you with a broad range of articles on topics of interest occurring within the Jewish community in Austria, including social and cultural news, along with news on restitution, which were published in Austrian media sources.  I would like to thank the entire team of the Press and Information Service for their continued support and tireless assistance during that time as well as the readers of this online newsletter for their feedback. I wish my successor Alice Irvin, who will arrive in August, as well as the team of the Press and Information Service, all the best and continued success in the future.

With my best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Wolfgang Renezeder
Director of the Press & Information Service
Embassy of Austria


Friday
Aug132010

New Man in Washington

Illustrierte Neue Welt (May/June 2010)

Ambassador Douglas Davidson was appointed U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues in April, 2010.

Click to read more ...

Friday
Aug132010

Fifteenth Anniversary of the Austrian National Fund

Austrian Press Agency (05/14/2010)

Commemoration at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

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Friday
Aug132010

Remarks by Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat on the Occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the Austrian National Fund and the General Settlement Fund 

In 2010, the Austrian National Fund will celebrate its 15th anniversary, under the inspired leadership of Hannah Lessing and with the support of the broad Austrian political leadership. It has been a record of great success, vision and leadership.

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Friday
Aug132010

The Global Prevention of Genocide: Learning from the Holocaust

Salzburg Global Seminar (www.salzburglgobal.org)

At an international conference hosted by the Salzburg Global Seminar in Salzburg, Austria, from June 28 – July 3, 2010, made possible by a generous grant of 75,000 euros from the Austrian Future Fund, educators, NGOs, policy makers and other experts working in the fields of both Holocaust studies and genocide prevention gathered to consider the root cause of modern genocide and explore ways in which Holocaust education programs can be developed to effectively combat contemporary expressions of racism, anti-Semitism and ethnic conflict in different regions of the world.

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Friday
Aug132010

The Wallenberg Foundation Proposes to Mexico and Austria to Erect Monuments to Holocaust Savior

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation Website http://raoulwallenberg.net/

The creator of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, Baruch Tenembaum, has proposed to the heads of state of Mexico and Austria that both countries erect commemorative monuments to pay tribute to Gilberto Bosques Saldivar, the Mexican diplomat who helped a great number of people persecuted by the Nazis during WWII.

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Friday
Aug132010

Six Million Euros Earmarked for Auschwitz Foundation 

Federal Chancellery (03/15/2010)

Austria will contribute 6 million Euros to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation to ensure the preservation of the former concentration camp as a memorial. This was the official message conveyed by Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger to his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski in Warsaw on March 3, 2010. "This is a duty arising from our history," underlined Spindelegger at a joint press conference.

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Friday
Aug132010

Six Million for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation from Austria

Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial (02/24/2010) (http://en.auschwitz.org.pl)
 
Austria has joined the countries declaring financial support for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation with a contribution of €6 million. The purpose of the Foundation, called into being last year by Professor Władysław Bartoszewski, is to set up a perpetual fund to generate income that will be assigned to the long-term conservation program at the Auschwitz Memorial.

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Friday
Aug132010

Spindelegger: It is Imperative Not Only to Commemorate But Also to Take Action

Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (05/04/2010)

Austrian Foreign Minister on Memorial Day against Violence and Racism

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Friday
Aug132010

Turks in Vienna: The History of a Jewish Community 

Jewish Museum Vienna (www.jmw.at)

Year 1492 was a fateful one for Spain. It was the year in which the Reconquista finally ended eight hundred years of Arab Muslim rule, the Jews were expelled from the country and Christopher Columbus set off on a journey that was to lead to the discovery of the New World.

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Friday
Aug132010

Commemorating NS Victims and the Liberation of Mauthausen Sixty-Five Years Ago 

Austrian Federal Chancellery (05/10/2010)

Sixty-five years ago on May 5, 1945, the National Socialist concentration camp of Mauthausen, was liberated by U.S. troops. Since 1989, May 5 has been observed as Remembrance Day Against Violence and Racisim.

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Friday
Aug132010

First Muslim-Jewish Conference Held in Vienna

Austrian Press Agency (05/11/2010)

“The first step for young people to create together the power to forge a link between possibility and reality - the pronunciation of our names is no barrier for friendships.”

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Friday
Aug132010

“Garden of Religions:” Focusing on Current Jewish-Christian Relations

Austrian Press Agency (APA) (04/27/10)

Exhibition depicts a transformation in relations and ongoing conflict

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Friday
Aug132010

Torches for Tolerance

The Vienna Review (04/01/2010)

At the “Dance of Lights Against Rosenkranz,” thousands demonstrated against a far-right candidate for president

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Friday
Aug132010

Federal President: NS Victims as a “History Lesson” for Rosenkranz

Austrian Press Agency (APA) (04/20/10)

Event by “Letter to the Stars” sends a “warning against xenophobia”

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Friday
Aug132010

Jewish Cemetery as a Field of Learning

Austrian Press Agency (05/21/2010)

An event within the series, “Speaking about the Holocaust,” in the Jewish Museum

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Friday
Aug132010

Jewish Museum Vienna: Ernst Toch’s Life as Geographical Fugue

Jewish Museum Austria (www.jmw.at)

The exhibition, “Ernst Toch. Life as a Geographical Fugue,” will be shown at the Jewish Museum Vienna from June 23 – October 31, 2010.

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Friday
Aug132010

New Memorial Stones as Reminder of the Fate of Jewish Residents in Leopoldstadt

Austrian Press Agency (04/27/2010)

Vienna – The residents of a residential building placed “memorial stones” before the City of Vienna’s renewal project located at Große Stadtgut-Gasse.

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Friday
Aug132010

Jelinek’s ‘Rechnitz:’ The Horror of Silence

The Vienna Review (06/01/2010)

At the Wiener Festwochen, a powerful ensemble theater piece takes another step in Austria’s reconciliation with the past

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Friday
Aug132010

National Library: Symbolically Handing Over and Repurchasing NS Looted Property

Austrian Press Agency (06/01/2010)

 Some 8,363 publications are handed over to the National Fund and repurchased. Rachinger says, “It is sad and shameful that so much time had to pass”

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