Jewish News from Austria

July, 2005
 

The first three articles of this summer issue are dedicated to outstanding individuals: Ambassador Ernst Sucharipa, who was a tireless negotiator on restitution matters; Ari Rath, former publisher and editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post; and Stuart Eizenstat, former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and Special Representative for Holocaust Issues.

You will find a press release by the Israelite Religious Community of Vienna welcoming the agreement that offered them an additional 18.2 million Euros for confiscated property/assets during the NS era. The press release is followed by two statements on the matter, by the Austrian Federal Chancellor and the Austrian Foreign Minister, respectively.

The research work of the Austrian Historical Commission has been completed. The result is a collection of 49 volumes with altogether 17,000 pages weighing 50 pounds and measuring eight feet in length.

Read about the results of the OSCE Conference on anti-Semitism in Spain; and the Israeli Ambassador’s appeal to Austria and the European Union. The U.S. Administration congratulated Austria’s government on the decision to submit the legal dispute over six paintings by Gustav Klimt to arbitration in Austria.

A group of Viennese has started an interesting project of personal remembrance. On the occasion of the inauguration of the new Theodor Herzl Museum in Jerusalem, the Austrian State Secretary for the Arts, Franz Morak, met with Israeli President Katzav and the Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin. Peter Singer’s fascinating memoirs on his grandfather, David Oppenheim, Pushing Time Away: My Grandfather and the Tragedy of Jewish Vienna, have come out in the Europa Verlag.


Yours sincerely,

 

Christoph Meran
Director
Austrian Press and Information Service
www.austria.org

Original Text Service (OTS) (06/23/05)

Austria’s Jewish Communities are shocked by the news of the sudden death of Ambassador Ernst Sucharipa.

On behalf of the Federal Chancellor, Dr. Sucharipa was involved in negotiations on restitution during 2000 - 2001 and worked closely together with Jewish members on matters affecting them. In the course of numerous discussions, he proved to us not only his profound knowledge of the material but also his understanding of the concerns of the victims and their descendants.

In appreciation of Dr. Sucharipa, the Israelite Religious Community would like to express to his family and friends our deepest sympathy. May his memory be eternally blessed.

The Israelite Religious Society in Austria:

Dr. Ariel Muzicant, President
Dr. Avshalom Hodik, Secretary General
Erika Jakubovits, Executive Director

For additional information please call the Israelite Religious Community at: 011 431-53104-0

Austrian Press Agency (APA) (06/05/05)

Plassnik presented citizenship to the former Editor-in-Chief of the "Jerusalem Post"

Jerusalem - At the age of eighty the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, Ari Rath, is once again an Austrian. At a reception in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik presented Rath with a "surprise gift" documenting citizenship. After having previously declined citizenship in the past, Rath submitted an application for naturalization in May of 2005.

Born in 1925 in Vienna, Rath was forced to emigrate in 1938 and went to Palestine where he gained initial journalistic experience as an assistant correspondent to the Special Meeting of the United Nations in New York that was called to solve the Palestinian problem. From 1975 to 1989, he was publisher and editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, which under Rath represented a liberal line. To this day he is still considered one of the most distinguished journalists in Israel.

Rath expressed concern to members of the Austrian press about the present tension between Ariel Sharon’s government and radical settlers over the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He feared that among the settlers some of the extremists could cause great damage.

Original Text Service (OTS) (05/03/05)

Vienna - Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel bestowed the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold upon former U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and diplomat, Stuart Eizenstat. In his capacity as Special Representative for Holocaust Issues, Eizenstat was instrumental in bringing about the Austrian Reconciliation Fund that came into existence in the year 2000.? "Today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Second Republic, the end of World War II and the liberation of the concentration camps. It is a year of reflection and it is the right moment to celebrate once again with Stuart Eizenstat the realization of the Reconciliation Fund," said Schüssel in his eulogy. He emphasized Stuart Eizenstat’s landmark efforts in achieving late justice for the victims of National Socialism.

Chancellor Schüssel recalled the infinite number of negotiations that finally led to the successful conclusion of the Reconciliation Fund. With the Washington Agreement that transpired with the help of Eizenstat, the essential gaps in post-war Austrian legislation were closed. The Federal Chancellor said: "During this time, Stuart Eizenstat revealed not only his fine diplomatic and legal skills, but also his tremendously dedicated commitment to the difficult issues involving restitution. Together we succeeded in changing the myth that everything possible was done which could have been done for the victims and forced laborers."


*Some 30,000 victims from 78 countries have been compensated over the past ten years. In addition, humanitarian as well as research projects are also continuing to be financed.

The Austrian Parliament (05/04/2005)


In terms of human rights, Austria can call the world to task.

Vienna - "It is clear that the world has still not fully learned the lessons of Mauthausen and of the Holocaust when we consider the killing fields of Cambodia, the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, the genocide in Rwanda, and now another in Darfur. Austria has the moral stature to speak to the world." With these words, the former U.S. Under Secretary of State, Stuart Eizenstat, who contributed considerably over the past few years to solving restitution issues, closed his speech in Parliament’s historical assembly hall. Eizenstat was the main speaker at the Commemoration Day Against Violence and Racism.

In a thank you speech eliciting sustained applause from the audience, Eizenstat recalled the liberation of Mauthausen sixty years ago as well as the contribution made by the United States toward Austria’s independence. Around 200,000 people were kept as prisoners at Mauthausen; between 105,000 and 119,000 of them were exterminated, and about one third of them were Jews. Mauthausen, opened a few months after the Anschluß, served a double purpose: Elimination of political prisoners and Jews as well as the extraction of profit through the use of slave laborers. Within the entire network of Nazi concentration camps, Mauthausen was designated as the only Class III camp (entailing "extermination by work," and "return not desired.") The cruelty of the Nazi guards remains to this day beyond human comprehension.

"How then do we properly honor the victims who died, those fortunate enough to survive, and their families and at the same time make this special Commemoration Day against Violence and Racism relevant to today’s 21st century world?" Eizenstat asked. "We know we can’t restore the past. We cannot bring back to life musicians and writers, poets and artists, entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists, farmers and shopkeepers, ministers and rabbis and, yes, we can’t bring back to life mothers and fathers, and children never able to add their spark to the world. All of these people are irreplaceable."

"But, permit me to suggest three ways of remembering," continued Eizenstat, "in many of which Austria is taking the lead, and commendably so: First and foremost is to perpetuate the memory of those who suffered by telling the brutal and harsh truth of Mauthausen and of Austria’s complicated role in World War II. And this, Austria is now doing," Eizenstat stated. "Austria is not alone among nations in struggling with the passage of time to confront the past." He then added that it took his country, the United States, 40 years to come to terms with the forced internment of Japanese-Americans in U.S. camps. And even more so, there was the long road towards the emancipation of American slaves. Too, we have only recently seen how Japan’s inability to fully face its past has caused tension throughout Asia, he contended.

For decades after the war, Austria did not confront its involvement in Nazi crimes because Austria "confirmed in assuming this attitude by the Moscow Declaration - viewed itself as "the first victim of Hitlerite aggression," Eizenstat continued. While no one can precisely date when Austrians began to face the full picture of their wartime involvement, there were two precipitating events, he maintained: The official reception of Reder after his discharge from imprisonment in Italy and the Waldheim debate. Then several courageous Austrian political and religious leaders acted out of conscience and conviction, Eizenstat continued, mentioning the names of Cardinal König, Federal Chancellor Vranitzky and Federal President Klestil. He, moreover, recalled the creation of the Historical Commission chaired by Clemens Jabloner, the unveiling of the Holocaust memorial in Vienna’s Judenplatz as well as the initiatives undertaken to teach young people about the Holocaust.

A second way of remembering is by doing justice to living survivors and the families of victims during their lifetimes and, beginning in the 1990s, Austria has done just that, said Stuart Eizenstat. The Holocaust was not only history’s gravest and most systematic genocide; it was also the greatest theft in history. Austria has made efforts to rectify this wrong, Eizenstat continued, making reference to the National Fund, which was created in 1995, well before there was international pressure. In addition, Austria was the first country to agree to contribute to a Reconciliation Fund for Nazi Victims; it was also the first country, and virtually the only one, to incorporate into its national legislation the Washington Principles on Art from the Washington Conference in 1997 dealing with looted art.

Eizenstat then spoke about the General Settlement Fund, the sum of which 200 million dollars, has not yet been disbursed because of the lack of "legal peace" for Austria in U.S. courts. "I hope that all the parties, including the U.S. judges responsible for this unconscionable postponement of justice, will be inspired by today’s commemoration to act immediately. I intend to intervene on my own in the case to stress the human dimension of the delay," Eizenstat announced.

However, he also added that it is critically important for Austria to rededicate itself to support and sustain the tiny but vibrant Jewish community that has emerged in the years after the war, contending that it is, moreover, painfully evident that anti-Semitism in Europe did not end with the Holocaust. All forms of anti-Semitism in Europe did not end with the Holocaust. All forms of anti-Semitism should be forcefully condemned and, where appropriate, punished.

The third way of remembering is to apply the lessons learned from the terrible crimes committed in Mauthausen by turning the Commemoration Day Against Violence and Racism into an agenda of action, Eizenstat concluded, mentioning Austria’s commitment to human rights as an example.

For full text, see:
http://www.parlament.gv.at/portal/page?_pageid=908,707658&_dad=PORTAL&P_PK=2005