The Vienna City Temple is to be extensively renovated after 36 years

Der Standard, September 12, 2024

German original: Der Wiener Stadttempel soll nach 36 Jahren umfassend saniert werden - Inland - derStandard.at › Inland

The largest and oldest active synagogue in Austria was the only one not to be completely burned down in 1938 nt, the listed building complex will be 200 years old in 2026.

The Vienna City Temple of the Jewish Community (IKG) in Seitenstettengasse is not only the largest synagogue in Austria, it is also the oldest that is still active. Only the Seitenstetten Temple was not completely burnt down by the Nazis during the pogrom night in November 1938. This also had to do with its location in the narrow city center.

"Come to its gates with thanksgiving, to its courts with praise!" is written in Hebrew above the street-side entrance. The synagogue is not only the spiritual center of the Jews, around 800 of whom come to services on the high holidays, it is also visited by around 12,000 people a year as part of guided tours, including many schoolchildren.

Local inspection

On Thursday morning, a brief site inspection took place with IKG President Oskar Deutsch, IKG Secretary General Benjamin Nägele, Chief Rabbi Jaron Engelmayer and architect Eric-Emanuel Tschaikner (KENH Architekten ZT GmbH). They told the media representatives about the comprehensive plans for the city temple and the community center in Seitenstettengasse.

The listed building complex, which was opened in 1826, was designed by Austrian architect Joseph Kornhäusel in the neoclassical style. Rather inconspicuous on the outside, as prescribed by the laws for non-Catholic sacred buildings at the time, the city temple only reveals its full beauty when you enter it. Guests are particularly impressed by the sky-blue dome with 600 stars.

However, it has been 36 years since the last renovation. In the fall of 2025, after the major holidays (Rosh ha-Shanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as well as Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles), extensive work will therefore begin and be completed as planned in the fall of 2026 - before the holidays. The renovation of the community center will then begin in 2026. In the same year, the ICG will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the temple.

A lot has been planned for this time: including the restoration of the street-side and listed windows, the renovation of the façade of the ensemble, an improved fire protection concept including necessary conversion work, the renewal of the entrance situation and the foyer, the activation of a second staircase, the redesign of the foyer and the adaptation of security precautions. The Seitenstetten Temple was the scene of terrorist attacks in 1979, 1981 and 2020.

Barrier-free places

Furthermore, the sanitary facilities are to be renovated and made partially barrier-free, floors and furniture need to be repaired or replaced, and the lighting, building services, ventilation, acoustics and heating are to be renewed and made energy-efficient. The prayer pulpit is also to be adapted, prayer benches replaced and additional barrier-free spaces created.

This will cost around 9.8 million euros, with the IKG inviting the whole of Austria to contribute to the financing through donations. "Today I am proud to be able to say: The City Temple, like Judaism itself, belongs to Austria," said IKG President Oskar Deutsch on Thursday, "it is a symbol of our republic and therefore affects us all. The City Temple and the community center stand for a lively Jewish presence."

Deutsch invites "the entire population to get involved" and support the project: "Every donation helps us. In doing so, you are sending a signal for an open, democratic and diverse Austria." Incidentally, for donations of 2500 euros or more, one of the stars in the dome will be dedicated to the donor.

Jewish Community Accuses ORF of “Spreading Hamas Lies”

Der Standard, September 6, 2024

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000235564/israelitische-kultusgemeinde-wirft-orf-verbreitung-von-hamas-luegen-vor

ORF rejects accusation of tendentious reporting. Jewish Community: “Claims by terrorists” in “Weltjournal” stir up sentiment against Israel

Vienna – On Wednesday evening, the Austrian public broadcaster ORF aired the documentary Gaza War – Hell on Earth, which reports on the suffering in Gaza, “narrated by Palestinian journalists in Gaza, by doctors and paramedics – and from the perspective of a child,” as stated in the announcement. Now the The Jewish Community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde - IKG) has made serious accusations against the ORF, accusing the public broadcaster of “uncontradictedly spreading narratives of the terrorist organization Hamas”.

Update: The ORF rejects the accusation of tendentious reporting. The report “Gaza War – Hell on Earth” in the Weltjournal shows the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population in the face of the massive Israeli military attacks on Gaza that followed the bloody Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7 and continue to this day. Palestinian reporters, doctors and children from Gaza talk about how they are experiencing the war. Since the outbreak of the war, the Weltjournal has repeatedly shown the effects on both the Israeli and the Palestinian side.

The ORF refers to the contributions “The Iron Fist of Hamas”, shown in October 2023, “Terror attack October 7 - how could it happen?” (November 2023), “Gaza – Fight for Survival” (April 2024), “Israel's Critical Voices” and “A Turning Point – Israel after October 7”. “On the upcoming anniversary of the Hamas massacre in Israel, the Weltjournal on October 2, 2024, will once again devote extensive coverage to the victims of the unprecedented terrorist attack,” the ORF announced upon request.

“This concoction poses a threat to our community. But it is also unjournalistic and damages people's trust in the ORF, where many reputable journalists strive daily to provide the best, namely correct, information. Dangerous programs like the Weltjournal also damage the reputation of the entire media house. Trust in foreign reporting has now reached an all-time low. It is high time that the ORF took countermeasures and that objectivity and journalistic integrity were restored in the Weltjournal,” said IKG President Oskar Deutsch. On Wednesday, the Weltjournal had presented Israel ”in an unprecedented light as the ultimate evil and disseminated Hamas propaganda that had long since been refuted.”

“It is legitimate, journalistically imperative and also humanly necessary to document and report on the suffering caused by war,” said Deutsch. ‘Every child who is harmed in a war is an apocalypse in itself. But blaming one side, namely the Jewish side, over and over again, is wrong and spreads antisemitism,’ said Deutsch. The “spread of this Hamas propaganda” is “endangering Jewish life worldwide”.

In a statement, Deutsch reports that the IKG's antisemitism reporting office has recorded “an increase in hate mail and decidedly antisemitic graffiti on house walls” after the documentary was broadcast on ORF, including, according to IGK, calls for violence against Jews. Protective measures have been increased. Deutsch: “A connection with the Weltjournal of September 4, 2024 cannot be confirmed, of course, but it cannot be ruled out either.” He demands “corrections, structural and personnel consequences” from the ORF.

The ORF also stated in response to the allegations: “As a public media company, the ORF has an obligation to provide the general public with comprehensive information about current events and topics. Since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, the ORF's TV, radio, and online news formats have been reporting extensively and in detail on the events in Israel and the Gaza Strip, as well as on the international dimension of the conflict.”

The ORF continues: “In order to paint a comprehensive picture of the events, the ORF media, in accordance with their mandate, are dedicating themselves not only to current reporting but also to the background of the conflict and, in this context, are taking into account the assessments of various experts, descriptions of those affected in Israel and the Gaza Strip, as well as statements from political representatives.” (red, Sept. 6, 2024, after publication of ORF statement added)

Jewish Military Cemetery Reopens

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), August 22, 2024

German original: https://wien.orf.at/stories/3270092/

The Jewish military cemetery of the First World War at Vienna's Central Cemetery was reopened today after a two-year renovation. The ceremony, which included a wreath-laying, was framed by guards of honor from the police and the army, as well as Jewish prayers.

Together with the Jewish Community, the Ministry of the Interior has spent around 250,000 euros over the past two years on the restoration of around 450 graves of Jewish soldiers from the First World War and the local monument.

Opening with a guard of honor and prayers

On Thursday, Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) reopened the Jewish military cemetery in the presence of Minister of Defense Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) and Oskar Deutsch, President of the Jewish Community in Vienna. The ceremony, which included the laying of wreaths, was framed by guards of honor from the police and the army, as well as Jewish prayers.

“It is part of our responsibility to remember all those who lost their lives in the two world wars. Today, we remember the Austro-Hungarian soldiers of Jewish faith in the First World War as an expression of a modern and contemporary culture of remembrance,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) in a statement. The contribution of Jewish soldiers was not only forgotten after the First World War, but their families were then expelled or murdered in the Holocaust. The Ministry of the Interior is legally responsible for the preservation and maintenance of war graves from the First and Second World Wars.

Israel Compared to Nazis: Conditional Sentence

ORF, August 5, 2024

German original: https://salzburg.orf.at/stories/3267915/

A man from Salzburg was sentenced at the regional court on Monday for comparing Zionists and Israel to Nazis on the internet – for incitement, incitement to hatred against Israelis and Jews. The 50-year-old man asserted in court that he was a pacifist who wanted nothing more than for all wars to end.

The 50-year-old published five pictures of children bleeding and killed in the Gaza Strip on social media. According to the prosecution, he wrote: "Zionists are Nazis and all those who support these monsters." He published this after the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, said the man from Salzburg.

He was under the influence of strong painkillers at the time. His words were "politically incorrect". He is a pacifist in the spirit of the Indian national leader Mahatma Gandhi, who practiced passive resistance and encouraged people to oppose all forms of war.

Judge: "Anti-Semitic comparison, often on the internet"

The judge said that it is illegal to make a completely indiscriminate comparison between Zionists who advocated the founding of a Jewish state and National Socialists and their mass murders. This comparison is antisemitic and often appears on the internet. And the judge said that a signal must be sent against this increasingly powerful current, which leads to hatred and discord.

His sentence is seven months' imprisonment on probation – for incitement. It is already legally binding. The convicted man sees this conviction as an opportunity – presumably to weigh his words on the internet more carefully.

Surprising Discovery at the Jewish Museum

ORF, August 4, 2024

German original: https://wien.orf.at/stories/3267695/

A surprising discovery was made during archive work at the Jewish Museum Vienna: historical files from the possession of the Jewish Community Vienna (IKG) from the time of National Socialism and the immediate post-war period were discovered.

"The files that have been found bear witness to the National Socialist policy of extermination of the Jewish population of Vienna," says museum director Barbara Staudinger. "But they also tell of the immediate post-war period and the situation of the displaced persons."

Patient books, escape documents and a death register

"This is another piece of the puzzle that will help to provide a complete documentation of the crimes of the National Socialists, but also of the new beginning of Jewish life in Austria." The documents are now to be returned to the Jewish Community. The files include, for example, two patient books from the Rothschild Hospital from the years 1938/39.

From 1938 to 1943, the hospital of the Jewish Community was the only one in Vienna that was open to Jews. The bundles of files also contain documents relating to the flight of Viennese Jews to Cuba and the USA, as well as a death register of the Jewish Community.

Archive only discovered in storage room in 2000

Similar finds have been made in the past. The archive of the Jewish Community, which had been recovered after 1945, was only rediscovered in a storage room in Vienna's 15th district in 2000.

The files now discovered in the Jewish Museum Vienna belong to this archive. "This find once again clearly shows how important historical research is, even within museums," says Staudinger. "Without it, the files would probably never have been found."

Collection online from fall

The archive holdings of the Jewish Museum Vienna are currently being digitized. This involves research and inventory work. For example, bundles of files are being opened and the documents and papers they contain are being individually recorded for the first time. This work is being done in preparation for the museum's own online collection, which will be published in the fall.

Anti-Semitism: one in Three Jews is Considering Leaving Austria

Kurier, July 11, 2024

German original: https://kurier.at/politik/inland/juden-eu-antisemitismus/402923550

According to a recent report, 80 percent of Jews feel threatened by the growing anti-Semitism in the EU.

The vast majority of Jews in Europe continue to be affected by anti-Semitism in their daily lives.

This is the conclusion of a survey by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which was conducted before the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Israeli army offensive in the Gaza Strip.

80 percent of respondents believe that anti-Semitism has increased in the five years prior to the survey. Among the participants in Austria, 76 percent felt the same way. For the year prior to the survey, 38 percent in this country reported having been the victim of anti-Semitic hostility – similar to the EU average. Five percent were also attacked in that year.

Security concerns in public

These experiences lead many people to feel compelled to conceal their Jewish identity in public. In Austria, 29 percent of Jews never wear Jewish symbols in public because of security concerns. Among all study participants, the figure was as high as 48 percent. For 66 percent (EU: 76 percent), this was at least occasionally the case.

70 percent of those surveyed felt that they were at least occasionally held responsible for the policies of the Israeli government because of their Jewishness (EU: 75 percent). Three-quarters of the study participants across Europe felt the same way.

The FRA report at a glance:

• Increasing anti-Semitism: 80% of respondents believe that anti-Semitism has increased in their country in the five years prior to the survey.

• Hate on the internet: 90% of respondents have been confronted with anti-Semitism online.

• Anti-Semitism in public: 56% of respondents were confronted with anti-Semitism offline by acquaintances and 51% encountered anti-Semitic content in the media.

• Anti-Semitic harassment: 37% of respondents said they had been harassed in the year prior to the survey because of their Jewish identity.

• War in the Middle East: 75% of respondents said that they were held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government because they are Jews.

• Living in hiding: 76% conceal their Jewish identity at least occasionally.

• Emigration: Almost half of the respondents (45%) had thought about emigrating in the five years prior to the survey. In Austria, the figure was 31%.

"Jewish life severely restricted"

"Europe is experiencing a wave of anti-Semitism, partly fueled by the conflict in the Middle East," warns FRA Director Sirpa Rautio in a statement on the report. "This greatly restricts the possibility of a safe and dignified Jewish life."

It is the third FRA report on anti-Semitism. For this, around 8,000 Jews from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary were surveyed in the first half of 2023. According to the EU agency, 96 percent of Jews in the EU live in these 13 countries. In Austria, 363 people were interviewed. The agency estimates that the Jewish population in this country is 13,650.

Survey: Many Jews in the EU are Afraid

ORF, July 11, 2024

German original: https://religion.orf.at/stories/3225828/

The vast majority of Jews in Europe continue to be affected by anti-Semitism in their daily lives. This is the conclusion of a survey by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

The study was conducted before the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Israeli army offensive in the Gaza Strip. 80 percent of those surveyed believe that anti-Semitism has increased in the five years prior to the survey.

Among the participants in Austria, 76 percent felt the same way. For the year before the survey, 38 percent in this country reported having been victims of anti-Semitic hostility – similar to the EU average. Five percent were also attacked in that year.

"Wave of anti-Semitism"

These experiences lead many people to feel compelled to conceal their Jewish identity in public. In Austria, 29 percent of Jews never wear Jewish symbols in public for security reasons. Among all study participants, the figure was as high as 48 percent. For 66 percent (EU: 76 percent), this was at least occasionally the case.

70 percent of respondents felt that they were at least occasionally held responsible for the policies of the Israeli government because of their Jewishness (EU: 75 percent). Three-quarters of the study participants across Europe felt the same way.

"Europe is experiencing a wave of anti-Semitism, which is partly fueled by the conflict in the Middle East," warns FRA Director Sirpa Rautio in a press release about the report. "This severely limits the possibility of a safe and dignified Jewish life." The development jeopardizes the success of the EU's anti-Semitism strategy, which was adopted in 2021, FRA Director Rautio added.

Third FRA report

This is the third FRA report on anti-Semitism. To produce it, around 8,000 Jews from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary were surveyed in the first half of 2023. According to the EU agency, 96 percent of Jews in the EU live in these 13 countries. In Austria, 363 people were interviewed. The agency estimates that the Jewish population in this country is 13,650.

Thoughts of a Cosmopolitan Citizen

Kurier, July 7, 2024
German orginal: https://kurier.at/kultur/gedanken-eines-weltlaeufigen-buergerlichen/402921602

Martin Engelberg reflects on his Jewish identity in the context of Austrian contemporary history and politics.

By Rudolf Mitlöhner

Martin Engelberg is unlikely to be a member of the next National Council. The Jewish psychoanalyst, publicist and management consultant has been a member of the ÖVP since 2017: an asset in terms of cosmopolitanism, intellectuality and elegance – qualities that would suit the House in general and the People's Party in particular in the future.

Now Engelberg has written a book: "Absolutely Jewish" (the author thanks KURIER culture editor Thomas Trenkler for "reading the manuscript and providing valuable suggestions"). Engelberg draws a broad, autobiographically connoted bow. What constitutes "Jewish identity" for him? "Seclusion, discrimination and persecution" over the centuries have produced specific "virtues of Judaism": "starting again after disasters", "optimism", "creativity".

"Stable value system"

Perhaps it is these virtues that allow Engelberg to counter the widespread narrative of an increase in anti-Semitism. "In my personal experience, traditional anti-Semitism has become less prevalent over the last few decades," he writes, referring to Austria. But in general, he also believes that "Jews in Western countries are better off today than ever before in history". The author also very clearly rejects the instrumentalization of the Nazi era and the Holocaust for current political debates, for example in the confrontation with the FPÖ. The latter cannot be "effectively and, above all, permanently combated by a cordon sanitaire. Certainly not by inappropriate and inappropriate criticism and Nazi comparisons."

The author defends Sebastian Kurz against accusations of populism and credits the former chancellor with a "very stable liberal-conservative value system". And what's more: "Sebastian Kurz's rejection of almost uncontrolled immigration is also very directly related to the protection of this value system."

The most touching part: the words that Engelberg finds for his wife Danielle Spera and his three – now grown-up – children.

Forgotten Places: A Look at Austria's Jewish History

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), June 23, 2024
German original: https://orf.at/stories/3361136/

Before 1938, 200,000 Jews lived in Austria. During the Nazi era, tens of thousands were murdered and over 100,000 were driven out. Today, around 15,000 Jews live in the country. The Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments has now compiled a list of Jewish sites in Austria, from medieval prayer houses to Jewish cemeteries, reports ZIB1. ORF.at has created an interactive map from this list, which allows users to discover Jewish history.

One of these places is the Jewish cemetery in Frauenkirchen in Burgenland. The last burial there took place in 1956: a family had fled to freedom across Lake Neusiedl during the Hungarian uprising, but their little daughter drowned. The Jewish cemetery was the place where the girl could be buried according to religious rites. There is no longer a gravestone.

The Catholic basilica in Frauenkirchen is a popular destination for many day-trippers, but the Jewish cemetery in the immediate vicinity is abandoned and forgotten. Around 400 Jews lived in the Seewinkel district before the Second World War, but only one returned after the war. The Jewish community was wiped out by the Nazi regime.

Over 400 of these Jewish memorials and monuments, which the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments has recorded in a directory, are shown on the interactive map above. The map includes around 300 places of worship and over 70 cemeteries, offering an insight into Jewish history. The memorials range from synagogues dating back to the Middle Ages to well-preserved cemeteries, such as the one in Frauenkirchen.

Few people visit the cemetery

In Judaism, the dead are not to be disturbed, and graves are not to be disturbed. They are believed to remain until the resurrection of the dead. To visit the cemetery today, you have to get the key for the cemetery gate from the municipal office. The number of gravestones shows how large the community once was.

Right next to the cemetery gate is a small, single-storey building: the Tahara House. This is where the dead were washed and prepared for burial. The cemetery caretaker had a small apartment in the building, and the entrance gate is a slight reminder of its former function: the round arch above the entrance is made of colored glass, giving it the appearance of a modest church window. The door itself is locked; the owner uses the building as a storage room and access is not permitted.

Hardly any Jewish returnees to rural communities

"In Burgenland there were the famous 'seven communities'," explains Paul Mahringer from the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments in an interview with ORF. "There was a vibrant Jewish community here for centuries. Today, everything is owned by the Vienna Jewish Community. Hardly anyone from rural Judaism has returned to their old homeland." The seven communities, seven towns in what is now northern and central Burgenland, became places of refuge for Jews expelled from Vienna in the 17th century.

The Esterhazy princes granted protection to the "highly princely Esterhazy Jews", as they were officially known, in return for substantial payments. In most regions of Austria, Jews were not allowed to take up residence until the second half of the 19th century. It was only the 1867 Basic Law that granted them freedom of settlement. Before that, they were dependent on the goodwill of the local princes: they could place Jews under their protection and usually made a good profit from doing so.

Sheltered in the shadow of the castles

Just how necessary it was to protect the noble patron can be seen in Gattendorf, twenty kilometers north of Frauenkirchen. The "Judenhof" is built directly onto the baroque palace. This close structural connection shows, on the one hand, that the protection was meant seriously, and on the other hand, that the Esterhazy family owned enough palaces: Gattendorf Palace was no longer used as a residence by them very early on, but as a granary.

Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts wohnten jüdische Familien mit rund 250 Mitgliedern in diesem dörflichen Schutzgebiet und Ghetto. Es gab eine Synagoge und eine Mikwe – ein Bad für die rituellen Waschungen. Heute stehen nur noch die ehemaligen Wohngebäude, seit Jahrzehnten unbenutzt. Die Synagoge wurde im Jahr 1996 abgerissen – mit Genehmigung der zuständigen Behörden.

Hier habe sich in den vergangenen Jahren einiges geändert, so Mahringer. „Das hier ist der letzte Überrest des ländlichen, dörflichen Judentums des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts. Es ist das sozialhistorische Zeugnis einer Lebensweise, die ausgelöscht wurde. Es ist sozusagen eine dreidimensionale geschichtliche Quelle.“ Die jüdische Bevölkerung von Gattendorf und Frauenkirchen war arm. Aufgrund ihrer Religion waren sie von Handwerk und Landwirtschaft ausgeschlossen. Was blieb, war der Kleinhandel.

A testament to poverty and hardship

The "Judenhof" makes the poverty and hardship of life at that time tangible. The building is cramped and unadorned, completely lacking in the monumental features that one otherwise associates with the term "monument". According to Mahringer, at least the roof has been renovated. The owner had received funding from the Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, but also had to meet certain requirements for the preservation of the building.

However, few people are happy when the monument conservationists come. "Can we finally tear it down?" was the first thing the neighbors said when we came for the first time to inspect it," says Mahringer. But the building was – unlike the synagogue – classified as worthy of protection. "That doesn't mean that it has to be made freely accessible. It doesn't have to be a museum," he explains, "but it can't be allowed to fall into disrepair any more.

The view of what should be preserved for future generations has changed. They are now also witnesses to everyday life, they are also a reference to poverty and the struggle for survival, not just to splendor and pomp.

A painful reminder of the Holocaust

The testimonies of Austria's Jewish history are still particularly sensitive in terms of perception: the family that owned a Jewish prayer house in a small community in the Vienna Woods refused to allow the ORF team to inspect the building – for fear of further visitors.

The relationship with Judaism is still a special one in Austria. It is a shared history, but it is not an easy one. The Jewish cemetery in Frauenkirchen shows this in an almost painful way: the only new stone at this otherwise abandoned place is dedicated to the Rosenfeld family: grandparents, mother, two little girls, born in 1936 and 1938. They all died on the same day, June 15, 1944, in the Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz.

Fritz Dittlbacher (text), ORF News, Sandra Schober (data), Lukas Krummholz (image), sofe (editing), all ORF.at

This report accompanies the program ZIB1, ORF2, June 23, 2024.

How a Poet from Lviv Speaks for the Victims of Babyn Jar

Der Standard, June 20, 2024
German original: https://www.derstandard.de/story/3000000225039/wie-eine-lyrikerin-aus-lwiw-die-opfer-von-babyn-jar-zur-sprache-bringt

Ronald Pohl

Marianna Kijanowska's band "Babyn Jar. Stimmen" gives the Jewish dead of the Kiev massacre of 1941 their right to be heard.

It is "Grandpa Yakov" who knows what is in store for him and the other Ukrainian Jews. The old man has been shot. The feathers of his pillow are "piercing through" his sickbed. In Marianna Kijanowska's collection of poems, Babyn Jar. Voices are subject to names like things, strictly lower case.

The Jews in Kiev had few possessions left in September 1941. The clothes they were wearing, including a wedding dress that no longer made sense after the groom had been murdered by the Nazis' special forces. Some of the elderly were clearing household items into the attic. But Grandpa Yakov "cries and begs us for death." He "asks quietly / whether we realize that it is now time for us to die too." Pause. "Then he screams, 'Get out of here, but kill the cat first.'"

The enormity of the massacre at Babyn Jar is based on the particular diligence of the Nazi murderers. 34,000 Jews, among them a disproportionate number of the elderly, women and children, were driven into a ravine on the outskirts of Kiev on September 29/30, 1941 and shot in large numbers.

It is one of the most infamous aspects of Soviet politics that for a long time no commemoration of this major crime took place. The Jewish victims were not singled out in any way, but rather the unity of all Soviet citizens was emphasized from a class point of view.

Shostakovich's setting

It took courageous "people's poets" like Yevgeny Evtushenko, who wrote a poem entitled Babi Yar in 1961, to provide the first clues, after which Shostakovich set the text to music in his 13th symphony. It immediately became a worldwide success.

Author Marianna Kijanowska, born in Lviv in 1973, trampled on the memory of the Jews in Ukraine: unintentionally, as a child she played with fragments of stone slabs in the marketplace. Only later did she realize that they were grave slabs from the Jewish cemetery, which had been abandoned.

Her memorial for the victims of Babyn Jar comprises 65 voices: the victims realize the inevitability of their fate. They accept it; often they examine the testimonies of themselves and their peers. Just by naming their names, a space of resonance is created: Alik, Avram, Khaviva, Yanyk, Yasha, Lyalya, Lyova, Mykola, Shoryk, Zilya, Zylunya... "The last cup will soon be handed out," it says in one of the heart-rending litanies.

In fact, some of these tentative poems resemble prayers. Claudia Dathe's translation weaves a dense web of phonetic references. She makes assonances (vocal consonance) audible. The effect is archaic, as both the author and translator make use of an elementary vocabulary based primarily on two- and three-syllable nouns. With sporadically interspersed verses such as "und blutschwarze mohnblüten quellen" (and blood-black poppy blossoms well up), the boundaries of good taste are almost reached.

Guilty respect

Who is authorized to speak on behalf of so many people who were killed – and yet not to inappropriately appropriate the fates of others? Through her project, which she pursues with great seriousness, Kijanowska pays her guilty respect to the victims. It was a large number of local militiamen who assisted the German murderers: they carry out their dirty work here under the cover and collective term "polizaj".

Babyn Jar. Stimmen was written in 2017, and Kijanowska says that the process cost her her hair. The book was distilled from hundreds of attempts. It is a pressing reminder to take up the history of Ukrainian collaborators. Such acts of self-reflection seem to be absolutely necessary – especially now, when the invasion of Russian aggressors on Ukrainian soil is costing countless victims, including those of war crimes.

"We are all Jews now," says one of the many breathtaking texts. It is not false appropriation that points the way to coming to terms with guilt and disinterest; it is the speaking of empathy, which only great, crazy authors can command. In a theologically unprecedented poem, one of the doomed speaks the following scandalous couplet: "The only thing that is difficult is that I could not say goodbye to God / so I have to believe, even if it is without salvation." (Ronald Pohl, 20.6.2024)

Marianna Kijanowska, "Babyn Jar. Stimmen". Poems in Ukrainian and German. Translation and epilogue: Claudia Dathe. €24.70 / 160 pages. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2024

International Jewish-Christian Council Meets in Salzburg

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), June 19, 2024

German original: https://religion.orf.at/stories/3225514/

The annual conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) is taking place in Salzburg this year from Sunday. The council is the umbrella organization of all Jewish-Christian societies.

The conference, which is being organized jointly with the Coordinating Committee for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Austria and the University of Salzburg, is entitled "Holiness: A Religious Imperative and a Moral Obligation?" and will run until June 26.

The conference will open on June 23 with the presentation of the renowned Seelisberg Prize for outstanding services to Jewish-Christian dialogue. This year's prize goes to Edward Kessler, founder of the Woolf Institute in England, which specializes in interreligious dialogue.

Theologian: "Take up every interreligious thread of conversation

Theologian Gregor Maria Hoff, who is involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue, told Kathpress that the conference is particularly timely: "The fact that the ICCJ conference is taking place in Salzburg is a special opportunity for us to strengthen the Jewish-Christian dialogue in a way that will also have a public impact.

Particularly in times of increasing antisemitism and especially against the backdrop of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the task of picking up every interreligious thread of conversation arises. That is why Muslim participation is also planned for each panel of the conference."

Muslims also involved

The speakers include the Viennese pastoral theologian Regina Polak, the Linz-based fundamental theologian Isabella Guanzini, the Innsbruck-based Islamic religious education teacher Zekirija Sejdini, the Salzburg-based religious scholar Martin Rötting, the Bamberg-based Judaist Susanne Talabardon, the General Secretary of Religions for Peace, Azza Karam, and the Romanian Orthodox theologian and former General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Ioan Sauca.

The invitation to the conference states that there are both overlaps and differences between the three major monotheistic religions in the concept of holiness. Thus, religious practices that are qualified as "holy" can "connect us in dialogue" and represent a "valuable resource of strength" – but they can also be abused politically.

"Right" and "wrong" concepts of holiness

"We know that extremist ideas of holiness can lead to violence, inter-communal conflicts, political intransigence and instability." The conference will therefore also address the question of how this danger can be adequately countered and how a distinction can be made between a "correct" and a "wrong" concept of holiness, according to the organizers.

In addition to the expert discourse, interreligious networks are to be established or strengthened and the Christian-Jewish dialogue is to be further deepened on a personal level through a combination of lectures, plenary discussions, workshops and a cultural program (such as a trip to the nearby European Capital of Culture, Bad Ischl), according to Hoff.

Award of the Seelisberg Prize

The Seelisberg Prize for outstanding services to Jewish-Christian dialogue will also be awarded for the third time during the conference on the opening evening (June 23). This year's winner is Edward Kessler, founder of the Woolf Institute in England, which specializes in interreligious dialogue, as the ICCJ announced on its website.

Kessler is not only the founder and president of the Cambridge-based institute, but also "a leading thinker in the field of interreligious relations, primarily in the field of Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations," the ICCJ said in a statement. Kessler is also socially and politically active – in 2022, for example, he founded an independent commission for the integration of refugees in the UK.

Seelisberg Prize awarded for the third time

He has written twelve books focusing on Jewish-Christian dialogue and published two explanatory podcasts on faith and the Holy Land ("An A-Z of Believing" and "An A-Z of the Holy Land").

The prize is awarded in cooperation with the ICCJ and the Center for Intercultural Theology and the Study of Religions at the University of Salzburg, with its project on Jewish-Christian dialogue under the direction of Hoff. In 2023, Joseph Sievers, an expert in Jewish history and a theologian teaching at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, was honored with the award.

red, religion.ORF.at/KAP

New Book Presented: Regular Guests at Semmering

Kurier, June 14, 2024

German original: https://kurier.at/chronik/niederoesterreich/neues-buch-praesentiert-stammgaeste-am-semmering/402912472

This was life on the Semmering during the summer holidays: carefree vacation days enjoyed in local costume, personal sports in the alpine air, celebrities, artists and merchants who made the Semmering the center of social life. But for Jews, this carefree atmosphere was increasingly clouded by antisemitism.

The new book "Stammgäste: Jüdinnen und Juden am Semmering" by Danielle Spera aims to shed light on Jewish life in Semmering for the first time. Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner initiated the project and spoke of the "importance of maintaining the Jewish culture of remembrance in Lower Austria."

There used to be many Jewish communities in the province. The author spent a lot of time researching the book in Semmering, she said at the presentation last week. She spoke about many touching, oppressive, but also exciting and joyful moments during the conversations for the book. In terms of content, it begins "in the Middle Ages, then moves on to Jewish influence in railroad and hotel construction, to the villas that were built, to Jewish medicine and sport."

At the presentation, actor Markus Freistätter read three excerpts from the book, which is published by Amalthea Verlag. The presentation was accompanied musically by singer Ethel Merhaut and répétiteur and composer Belush Korenyi.

Exhibition on the Robbery of the Jewish Population During the Nazi Era

Der Standard, June 6, 2024

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000223218/ausstellung-ueber-die-beraubung-der-juedischen-bevoelkerung-in-der-ns-zeit

System of enrichment: the double exhibition “Robbery”, which sees itself as a temporary memorial, is running in the Vienna Museum and the Jewish Museum

Olga Kronsteiner

It is not just any Beethoven bust whose days in the Vienna Museum's collection are numbered. It was the only one made by Franz Klein in 1812 after a life mask of the composer and served as a model for later depictions. Until the National Socialists seized power, it belonged to Wilhelm Kux, a banker with good connections to Red Vienna.

In his private life, he was passionate about music: on the board of directors of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and as a collector of string instruments, autographs and works of art. He was able to save most of his assets when he fled to Switzerland. But not the Beethoven bust, which was seized by the Nazi authorities and entered in the “Register of Nationally Valuable Works of Art.” Wilhelm Kux had no choice but to sell the bust to the municipal collections.

“Packing” and “unpacking”

This is one of twelve cases that exemplify the different forms of appropriation in a double exhibition: In twelve video installations each, the curators deal with the process of robbery as an act of “packing” in the Museum am Judenplatz (curator: Hannes Sulzenbacher) and that of incorporation as “unpacking” in the Wien Museum (curator: Gerhard Milchram).

The double exhibition is called Raub, although “Gier” would probably have been a more appropriate alternative, as Sulzenbacher notes. In any case, considering the historical circumstances, in which a system of enrichment was established even before the official orchestration, which not only benefited museums - but also neighbors who helped themselves to the inventory of refugees' homes, keeping some and selling others in the “Pfandl.”

In economic terms, the Dorotheum was even one of the biggest profiteers - with the forced auctions of Jewish women's jewelry, some of which were auctioned off directly in apartments. Not to mention all the art auctions that were acquired via the in-house appraisers, who had previously drawn up the appraisals for the declaration of assets.

Documents that could later have provided information about the origin of supposedly anonymous loot were destroyed until shortly before the auction house was privatized in 2001. The legally prescribed retention period had long since expired. In the end, 32 million dollars from the privatization proceeds flowed into the compensation fund.

Between 1938 and 1945, the Municipal Collections had acquired 1478 objects from the Dorotheum alone, the origin of most of which is still unclear even after 25 years of systematic provenance research since 1999: the previous owners of exactly 1205 objects are unknown.

Successful search for heirs

This was not the case with the Beethoven bust mentioned at the beginning, which Wilhelm Kux had to sell for 3000 Reichsmarks. To the delight of the then director of the Städtische Sammlungen, who was worried about competition, specifically from the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, which would probably “do everything in its power to get hold of this precious piece”.

In 2008, the Vienna Restitution Commission declared the bust “eligible for restitution”. The search for an heir proved difficult and a legal successor was not found until 2023. “The handover of the bust is currently being prepared”, as the exhibition catalog states. (Olga Kronsteiner, 6.6.2024)

Until 27.10.

“Robbery” at the Wien Museum

“Robbery” at the Jewish Museum

“Robbery:” Jewish Expropriation in a Video Show

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), June 5, 2024

German original: https://wien.orf.at/stories/3259997/

The Jewish Museum Vienna (JMW) and the Wien Museum have realized an exhibition without original objects with their cooperation project “Robbery”. It focuses on the systematic expropriation and robbery of Vienna's Jewish population after the Anschluss of Austria.

It is an attempt to “tell the story of the Holocaust in a different way,” says JMW Director Barbara Staudinger. In museums, you only get to see the objects in a video installation. “Robbery” is an “unconventional exhibition” that was deliberately conceived as an “artistic installation” and a memorial, added Vienna Museum Director Matti Bunzl during a press tour on Wednesday. “I think this is extremely appropriate.”

Twelve exemplary cases were selected by the curator duo Hannes Sulzenbacher and Gerhard Milchram. From March 1938, a “gigantic robbery” was possible in Vienna. “People knew: now we have a clear path,” explained Sulzenbacher. “That's another reason why we considered whether we should perhaps call the exhibition ‘Greed’ rather than ‘Robbery’.”

Videos show robbery

But how to make the robberies carried out by both private individuals and institutions comprehensible and vivid? The decision was made to create videos about the cases. The focus is on the looted objects, from everyday objects such as watches to works of art, which are shown on the displays in the Jewish Museum and unpacked again in the Wien Museum.

Filmmaker Patrick Topitschnig is responsible for the visual concept, bringing the objects up close and having them carefully handled by gloved hands. The originals themselves, however, are not shown. “It's almost like a memory,” says Sulzenbacher. “The aim is to make the withdrawal tangible. We want to turn this absence into a presence.”

Personal stories and “anonymous prey”

Among the twelve cases and fates presented - the exhibition texts also present the personal stories of the original owners, and the QR code allows visitors to delve even deeper - are the sugar manufacturer Oscar Bondy and lawyer Siegfried Fuchs, as well as “anonymous loot” from the Dorotheum. The auction house was one of the biggest profiteers of the looting of the Jewish population at the time, as many objects were resold here.

Between 1938 and 1945, around 1,500 objects from the Dorotheum that were suspected to have come from Jewish owners went to the municipal collections. However, in many cases it is extremely difficult to determine the previous owners, not least due to the lack of records. Some of the objects were also mass-produced.

25 years of urban restitution research

In this context, Bunzl referred to the importance of provenance research, saying that museums must remain self-critical and ask themselves the question: “How do you deal with shortcomings in the history of your own institution?” Milchram in turn referred to 25 years of restitution research by the City of Vienna, on which a comprehensive publication was recently published and which also provided the impetus for “Raub”. He made it clear: “These 25 years are no cause for celebration, but rather an opportunity to reflect on how quickly a society can tip over into the inhumane.”

St. Pölten Illuminates Jewish Culture

ORF, June 5, 2024

German original: https://noe.orf.at/stories/3259982/

The "Jewish Weekends" will present a broad spectrum of Jewish culture away from clichés on the weekends of June 7-9 and June 14-16. The festival will take place at the former synagogue in St. Pölten, the Bühne im Hof and the Festspielhaus.

At the "Jewish Weekends," Austrian premieres of international ensembles will meet programs that local artists have designed especially for the festival, according to a press release. The programs range from Jewish Renaissance and Baroque music to classical music, singer-songwriters, jazz and avant-garde.

The first weekend is themed "Between Ghetto, Emancipation and the Eternal." In addition to the opening concert "From Romanticism to Broadway" with Sharon Kam on clarinet and Matan Porat on piano, visitors can also look forward to the Klezmer trio Kroke with "From Kazimierz to the World" and the world premiere of "Encounters with Splendor. A Journey through the Hebrew Alphabet" with the Michel Godard Quartet featuring Nataša Mirković.

"Being Jewish. Of Complex Identities" is the theme of the second weekend: historian Benjamin Grilj will talk about "Odessa's Jewish History. The Turbulent 20th Century." The Andrej Prozorov Trio will musically recall this period with "Am Schwarzen Meer" and Dan Rosenberg will talk about the creation of "Shoah and Survival in Poland. The 'Silent Tears' Project," while "Silent Tears. The Last Yiddish Tango" with Olga Mieleszczuk, Lenka Lichtenberg, Dan Rosenberg and the Payadora Ensemble will see an Austrian premiere.

Director Guy Nattiv: “The Hatred of Jews Remains, it Breaks my Heart”

Der Standard, June 4, 2024

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000222449/guy-nattiv-ich-bin-nicht-mit-dem-einverstanden-was-netanjahu-macht

“Golda”, Nattiv's intimate play about Israel's ex-President Golda Meir during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, is currently showing in cinemas. How relevant is Israel's history?

Interview
Valerie Dirk

In 2018, Israeli director Guy Nattiv won an Oscar for his short film Skin, which deals with racist violence in the American neo-Nazi scene. The success opened the doors to Hollywood, and a feature-length version of the material was made by legendary indie studio A24 in 2019. At this point, the filmmaker, who was born in Tel Aviv in 1973, had already been living in the USA for several years. His film Golda, which is now in cinemas, portrays Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir at a crossroads in her career: during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. British actress Helen Mirren plays Golda Meir with an Oscar-nominated mask and a constantly burning cigarette.

STANDARD: How are you doing at the moment, especially as an Israeli filmmaker in the USA?

Nattiv: It's generally a difficult time, both for Israelis and Palestinians. I've lived here for almost eleven years and feel more like a Jewish American than an Israeli. But the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. worries me a lot. As a descendant of Holocaust survivors, I am very aware of what my grandparents suffered in Poland and Romania. And now I am experiencing things that are similar to their stories. The hatred towards Jews.

STANDARD: How does this hatred manifest itself?

Nattiv: Shortly after October 7th, five minutes from my house, someone tried to break into the rabbi's house. He was naked and shouting “I will kill Jews, I will kill Jews.” Fortunately, it ended with his arrest, but it was terrifying. There were also some statements made during the student protests at the universities. When I moved here, I thought America was a safe place for Jews. But antisemitism is more present than it has been for a long time. Not only Israelis are experiencing this, but also American Jews. The war might end soon, but the hatred of Jews remains. That breaks my heart.

STANDARD: You spoke about the university protests. Can you also understand some of the demands?

Nattiv: I myself agree with the protesters on many points. I also don't agree with what Benjamin Netanyahu is doing. I am against this government, it is sick and extreme. Netanyahu should resign along with his extremist cabinet. I can understand the students, but it seems that half of the protest camps are not students at all. They are mainly activists who very often use antisemitic rhetoric. Many Jewish students told me that they wouldn't even come to campus without being called a “dirty Jew.” A Jewish professor from Columbia University was not allowed into his class. They go through hell. I'm a big supporter of free speech. But smashing windows, burning Israeli flags and writing “Zionism is Nazism - go back to Europe” is not freedom of speech. There's a big difference.

STANDARD: Your film Golda celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale in February 2023 and is now being released in cinemas. What is the significance of a film about Israel's first and only female prime minister at this point in time?

Nattiv: The film is much more important now than it was before October 7, 2023. Golda Meir was stubborn, she didn't believe anyone. She stood at the head of a young, traumatized nation just 30 years after the Holocaust. People lived in constant fear of being wiped out and they fought hard against it. Golda made history as the world's first female prime minister, but her cabinet was the definition of a dysfunctional government. In 1967, after the Six-Day War, Israel believed itself to be unbeatable. They saw themselves as the king of the Middle East. Golda Meir received a massive slap in the face for this, and Israel realized that you can't do whatever you want in the region. That you have to give back conquered land.

STANDARD: Do you see parallels with the current government?

Nattiv: Absolutely. In both cases, it was a blind government that is unwilling to talk about what lies ahead. But the difference between Golda and Bibi Netanyahu is that Golda took responsibility and resigned. She understood that the Yom Kippur War was a huge failure. Bibi, on the other hand, is glued to his chair because he is afraid of going to jail as the man responsible for that failure. He will kill more and more people, even though he has already lost the war. That's the difference between Golda, who thought of her country, and Bibi, who only thinks of Bibi. Golda was also a friend of the Americans. And she knew how to talk to them. Bibi does the opposite, he does everything to humiliate Biden.

STANDARD: Golda Meir is also a controversial figure, especially in Israel.

Nattiv: That's because she was the face of failure. She also did not accept the Mizrachis, the Jews from Asia and Africa. Nor did it deal with the Palestinian issue because it was dealing with a war that threatened its very existence. In 1973, three Arab countries attacked Israel. The Munich assassination also took place during her term of office. Yes, she was controversial, but these are the most interesting figures.

STANDARD: Golda is not a classic biopic, but a condensed chamber play. Why this form?

Nattiv: When I came on board, Golda was planned as an 80 million dollar film by Amazon. Helen Mirren had already been hired and the script was ready. It was supposed to be a classic war movie. I then asked: Where is Golda? And why is it written as if it's about the British army, not the Israeli army? When I was revising the script, Covid came. Due to the pandemic, we lost the budget, and the screenwriter and I decided that we had to bring the war into the room instead of showing it.

STANDARD: Were there any role models?

Nattiv: I was very influenced by The Last Act, G. W. Pabst's movie about Hitler. I love these closed, claustrophobic war chamber plays. Golda couldn't go to the front because she was ill. This gave me the opportunity to make a study of this old, dying woman, while the worst war Israel has ever experienced is being fought outside. The sound was also very important to me, inspired by The Conversation by Francis Ford Coppola. The fact that we were allowed to use real sound recordings from the war was an asset.

STANDARD: Smoke, birds, archive recordings - you show a lot of metaphors and hidden meanings ...

Nattiv: Thank you for noticing that. The smoke is meant to symbolize the inability to see each other. It is the smoke of war. Golda's constant cigarette smoking also symbolizes her self-hatred. She smokes herself to death. And as the state of her body deteriorates, so does the state of the country. The birds are called freedom birds in Israel. Every October they come in flocks and are interpreted as a sign of the future. Just like the birds that were used in coal mines to indicate danger. So when these birds fly into the chimney, it points to the coming apocalypse. And the shows playing on TV in the background indicate the escapism that has taken place at the same time. They are silent because Golda couldn't be part of it.

STANDARD: How did you feel about the excitement surrounding the casting of Golda Meir with Helen Mirren, a non-Jewish actress?

Nattiv: Golda's grandson said he saw his grandmother in Helen. Not physically, but mentally, in that cleverness, wisdom and cheeky manner. When I met her and she told me that she had lived in an Israeli kibbutz for a year in the 1960s, and I saw that she understood what it was like in Israel back then, I felt at ease with her. I also put her in the middle of an ensemble of Israeli actresses. That felt right. (Valerie Dirk, 4.6.2024)

Guy Nattiv is a 51-year-old Oscar-winning director from Tel Aviv. His next project “Tatami” is about an Iranian judoka and is an Israeli-Iranian co-production. He lives in the USA with his wife, actress Jaime Ray Newman, and two daughters.

A New Wave of Hatred

Der Standard, June 1, 2024
German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000222359/eine-neue-welle-von-hass

Antisemitism and right-wing extremism are becoming more prominent again

Column
Hans Rauscher

In Saxony-Anhalt, in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, three young people burned a copy of Anne Frank's diary. The incident fits in with the recent accumulation of antisemitic, racist and Nazi-friendly events in Europe, especially in Germany and Austria.

But it has a special quality, of which more in a moment. The headlines are currently dominated by the “foreigners out” riots of the more or less privileged youth in discos on Sylt or in Carinthia. What is being spouted to the sound of an Italo hit could perhaps be explained as follows: Young people of both sexes are obviously letting out their deep-seated resentments about the immigration of young, often quite aggressive men from the Middle East; one could almost speak of “territorial warfare.”

Antisemitism, which is also rampant, has overlaps, but is not quite the same thing. On the one hand, there is of course massive antisemitism on the part of Muslim immigrants; but alongside this, there is a new antisemitism on the part of the “natives” that demands more intensive examination.

The East German boys between 15 and 16 must have been aware of the symbolic significance of the diary of Anne Frank, who was almost the same age: The girl from a German-Jewish family hid from the Nazis in a Secret Annex in Amsterdam and wrote down her thoughts before she was betrayed to the Gestapo in 1944 and murdered in 1945. And they must have deliberately obtained this world-famous book in order to make an antisemitic gesture.

A few years ago, members of the ÖVP-affiliated action group at the Juridicum Vienna shared photos of “Anne Frank nudes”. They showed a pile of ashes. However, this deeply misogynistic and antisemitic perversity was perpetrated by young members of the middle and upper classes.

A study by TU Berlin, which analyzed the comments in the online editions of middle to upper class media such as Süddeutsche and FAZ, Le Monde and the Guardian, fits in with this. According to the study, hate comments have tripled and the tone has become much more aggressive. “On 7 October 2023, antisemitism suddenly emerged that is specifically characterized by the glorification of violence against Jews,” says Matthias Becker, head of the study.

Strongly Entrenched Antisemitism

The antisemitism taboo based on the memory of the Holocaust is presumably weakening among young people. Social media act as a multiplication machine and accelerant. The excessive war waged by the Israelis in Gaza allows a distorted “right-wing narrative.” The wave towards the right in Europe and the USA is taking antisemitism with it. And ultimately, it is probably the case that what has always been there and has never completely disappeared is becoming more visible today.

In an extremely revealing survey commissioned by Parliament in 2020, twelve percent of respondents agreed with the sentence: “It is not just a coincidence that the Jews have been persecuted so often in their history; at least in part, they themselves are to blame.” This paradigm of blame reversal roughly illustrates the extent of strongly entrenched antisemitism in Austria. (Hans Rauscher, 1.6.2024)

Celebrity Lawyer Wagner Charged After pro-Palestine Rally

APA, Der Standard, May 24, 2024

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000221489/nahost-promi-anw228ltin-wagner-nach-pro-pal228stina-kundgebung-angezeigt

The lawyer was charged with incitement to hatred. The meeting in Vienna's city center was broken up by the police on Thursday evening after slogans were raised.

Wien – Am Donnerstagabend ist in der Wiener Innenstadt eine Pro-Palästina-Kundgebung aufgelöst worden, nachdem Teilnehmende laut Polizei wiederholt einschlägige, gegen den Staat Israel gerichtete Parolen skandiert hatten. Vier Personen, die an der Versammlung teilgenommen bzw. dabei eine Rede gehalten hatten, wurden wegen Verhetzung angezeigt, teilte die Landespolizeidirektion am Freitag mit. Unter den Angezeigten befindet sich die Promi-Anwältin und Strafverteidigerin Astrid Wagner.

Im Gespräch mit der APA bezeichnete Wagner die Anzeige als "ungeheuerlich" und unterstellte der Polizei ein amtsmissbräuchliches Vorgehen. Sie sei von der Demo-Veranstalterin eingeladen worden, im Rahmen der Versammlung ihre "juristische Expertise" darzulegen. Sie habe dabei aus "Urteilen von Verwaltungsgerichten" zitiert, denen zufolge der Satz "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free ("Vom Fluss bis zum Meer wird Palästina frei sein") "nicht grundsätzlich illegal" sei, sondern "nur dann, wenn er in einem bestimmten Kontext verwendet wird", sagte Wagner. Das sei keine Verhetzung. Sie deswegen anzuzeigen sei nicht rechtens: "Das ist Amtsmissbrauch. Als Polizist muss ich wissen, was eine Verhetzung ist. Es gibt keinen Anhaltspunkt, dass da etwas Strafbares ist. Nie im Leben ist das eine Verhetzung."

Wagner will gegen Anzeige vorgehen

Die Polizei habe die Demonstration "willkürlich" und "ohne erkennbaren Grund" aufgelöst, so die Anwältin. Fünf schwerbewaffnete Polizisten hätten sie verfolgt und zur Identitätsfeststellung aufgefordert: "Das war eine absolut bedrohliche Situation. Ich bin behandelt worden wie eine Terroristin. In meinem ganzen Leben ist es mir noch nie so gegangen."

Wie die Landespolizeidirektion dazu per Presseaussendung mitteilte, war die Kundgebung an sich angemeldet und genehmigt worden. Als immer wieder antiisraelische Parolen ertönten, sei die Versammlung – die laut APA-Augenschein an Ort und Stelle friedlich verlief – mit 20 bis 25 Teilnehmenden gegen 18.30 Uhr behördlich untersagt und aufgelöst worden. Das Landesamt Staatsschutz und Extremismusbekämpfung (LSE) habe man über die Vorfälle verständigt.

Wagner will nun "mit allen rechtlichen Möglichkeiten" gegen das polizeiliche Vorgehen zu Felde ziehen. Gegenüber der APA kündigte sie eine Anzeige wegen Amtsmissbrauchs, eine Maßnahmenbeschwerde gegen die Amtshandlung und eine Klage wegen Kreditschädigung an. "Das lasse ich mir nicht bieten", insistierte sie. Sie erwarte sich für das, was ihr widerfahren sei, "eine persönliche Entschuldigung vom Herrn Innenminister". (APA, 24.5.2024)

Austria is Now Stepping Up Security at Jewish Institutions

Heute, May 19, 2024

German original: https://www.heute.at/s/oesterreich-bewacht-juedische-einrichtungen-nun-verstaerkt-120037348

On Saturday, the federal government announced that it would be stepping up its surveillance of Jewish properties and institutions, especially in Vienna.

The federal government has decided to take measures to further strengthen the protection of Jewish institutions in Austria, according to a statement from the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) on Saturday. The threat situation in Europe and Austria has changed since the “brutal and inhuman terrorist attack by Hamas on the state of Israel” on October 7, 2023.

Jewish institutions in particular have become the focus of radicals and extremists throughout Europe. The Federal Ministry of the Interior had already implemented increased security measures “in close consultation” with the Jewish Religious Society. These measures are now being further intensified in cooperation with the Austrian Armed Forces, it is said.

These are the new measures

• The Austrian Armed Forces will further strengthen the security police assistance mission for the protection of objects, especially in the federal capital Vienna.

• All measures will be permanently adapted to the current security situation - above all in close cooperation and collaboration with the Jewish Religious Society.

• The Austrian Armed Forces support the surveillance of objects worthy of protection and Jewish institutions in order to jointly ensure greater security.

“We are further strengthening the protection of Jewish institutions. We do not accept anti-Semitic harassment, attacks or assaults on Jewish institutions and will punish them with the utmost determination. The Jewish community in Austria has a reliable partner in the Federal Government,” said Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP).

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) added that both the police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution were taking “consistent action against all forms of radicalization and extremism in Austria”. “An attack and agitation on and against the Jewish community is also an attack against our nation. We are therefore increasing the personnel resources of the Austrian Armed Forces by 50 people for the necessary protection of Jewish institutions,” concluded Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP).

In a nutshell

• The federal government has decided to strengthen the protection of Jewish institutions in Austria due to the threat situation following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel

• Increased security measures will be implemented in cooperation with the Austrian Armed Forces to prevent anti-Semitic attacks

• Federal Chancellor Nehammer emphasizes the government's determination to punish attacks on Jewish institutions, while Interior Minister Karner and Defence Minister Tanner support the measures against radicalization and extremism

Rector of the University of Vienna: “We Must Prioritize the Safety of Our Jewish Students”

Der Standard, May 18, 2024

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000220647/rektor-der-uni-wien-muessen-die-sicherheit-unserer-juedischen-studierenden-in-den-vordergrund-stellenInterview

Interview
Anna Giulia Fink, Oona Kroisleitner

Sebastian Schütze on the pro-Palestinian protests on campus, the rules of the discourse and hardened fronts

There is fierce debate and controversy at universities around the world. The protests for a quick end to the Gaza war began at universities in the USA. They have gradually spread throughout Europe - and have now even spilled over into Austria.

Activists recently camped out on the campus of the University of Vienna for three days to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people. Shortly after they pitched their tents on a meadow in the old general hospital on Alsergrund, hung up their banners and distributed flyers, the University of Vienna distanced itself from the protest. Two days later, the tent camp was cleared by the police.

The University of Vienna is the largest university in the country and has been headed by Sebastian Schütze as Rector since October 2022. It was his second occupation in his short time in office. Two years ago, hundreds of students occupied a lecture hall under the title “Earth is burning” - also on the grounds of the Old General Hospital. They demanded stricter measures in the fight against climate change.

Universities traditionally provide the framework for major social debates. But how much controversy does a university actually have to put up with? When can and when must the university management intervene? Who are the young people who claim to want to support the people in Gaza, but who others say are anti-Semites? In the STANDARD interview, Schütze explains the university's actions. Evictions, the ending of a protest by the university, are always only the “last resort”, he says.

STANDARD: The University of Vienna quickly distanced itself from the pro-Palestine camp. Nevertheless, it continued for a few days. How much protest does a university have to tolerate?

Schütze: A university must allow protest. That's why we always take a look first when something happens: What is it about? Who is involved? In which direction is it going? We did the same in this case. In the beginning, solidarity with Palestine was shown, but then it moved more and more in the direction of the intifada camp. Legitimate criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu's government or calling for solidarity with Palestine is of course fine. But if it goes in a direction that has anti-Semitic undertones, then that is not acceptable. As a university, we have to prioritize the safety of our Jewish students and staff.

STANDARD: The camp was based on the protests in the USA - also in its demands.

Schütze: The situation in the USA is completely different to that in Vienna. That also has something to do with our history. Regardless of that, a critical discussion doesn't start with banning things or, for example, canceling cooperation with Israeli universities or the Erasmus program with Israeli universities, as has been demanded. For me, that is the opposite of diversity of perspective. How do we want to remain in dialog if we no longer talk to each other and no longer ensure that people can see for themselves on the ground or come to us? That's the wrong approach. The call for a boycott of Israeli institutions is also one of the central demands of the BDS movement, which is clearly classified as anti-Semitic in Austria and Germany.

Various groups had called for the occupation of the Vienna campus, including the BDS movement mentioned by Schütze. The “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement is a loose international association that advocates a boycott of Israeli goods. Der Funke is also said to have been significantly involved in the campaign. The Trotskyist organization is repeatedly criticized for its positions on Israel. Among other things, it has called for an “intifada until victory”.

A group calling itself “Palestine Solidarity Encampment Vienna” raised demands on social media, while “Camp4Palestine” organized the day's programme on site. According to the police, around 100 people, some of them organized, others students or people who sympathized with their positions, followed the call at the beginning on 6 May. In the end, there were still around 40 when the police carried out the eviction on the night of May 9. Prior to this, the security authorities had identified a radicalization at the Altes AKH.

STANDARD: But how does the university actually decide that it has gone too far?

Schütze: Issues like this are highly complex and characterized by a great deal of sensitivity on all sides. That's why we took a close look at the camp. We also followed the international protest that started in the USA and is now taking place throughout Europe. At a university, freedom of expression is a very valuable asset - evicting or ending a protest can only ever be the last resort.

STANDARD: Where do you see the limits of freedom of expression at university?

Schütze: For me, the limits are reached when the freedom of one person comes into conflict with the rights and freedoms of others. We have a very open space for discourse at the university, which we want to maintain. However, this requires rules. For me, these are no longer respected when freedom of expression is used for positions that are openly racist, openly anti-Semitic, openly glorifying violence; or for positions that argue directly against the foundations of our democracy. It should be possible for us to have objective, fact-based discussions - even on controversial topics.

The worldwide demonstrations against the Israeli military operation in Gaza began immediately after it started. People also took to the streets in Austrian cities to demonstrate against Israel's reaction to the massacre by the terrorist organization Hamas on 7 October.

Universities soon became the centers of these demonstrations - especially those in the USA. From mid-April, tents were set up at Columbia University and Harvard, rooms were stormed and halls occupied. This was followed by the University of Amsterdam, the Science Po in Paris, the Technical University of Berlin and the British University of Oxford - to name just a few examples. And finally: Vienna.

However, the University of Vienna is not the first university in Austria to be affected by the issue. At the end of last year, a video made the rounds that was recorded by the representative body of Jewish students in Austria (Jüdische österreichische Hochschüler:innen, JöH) as part of a protest action. It showed a speaker calling for the Hamas attack to no longer be mentioned: It had never happened. The filming JöH president Alon Ishay was urged to leave. He stayed. In the end, he had a “constructive conversation” there, Ishay said later. The art university distanced itself and condemned the “completely unacceptable” scenes.

STANDARD: Why are these debates erupting like this at universities?

Schütze: Traditionally, there has always been a lot of space and freedom for discussion at universities. That's right, and it will stay that way. The responsibility is great, we are fully aware of that.

STANDARD: In other countries, debates at universities are much more radical than in Austria. Are you worried that this “culture war”, as it is called in the USA and Germany, for example, will also become tougher in Vienna?

Schütze: We have done a lot to ensure that it is possible to talk to each other in a reasonable way and that this hardening of fronts, which then culminates in a so-called culture war, does not occur. It must be the aspiration of a university to find common ground in discussions, even when there are opposing positions. That is the responsibility of the university and also of those who study or teach here.

STANDARD: What can universities do to counter the growing radicalization?

Schütze: Even a university does not exist in a vacuum. We operate within a larger discourse space that we can only influence to a limited extent. What we can do is work within the university to ensure that positions are discussed with objective arguments and that it is also allowed if someone has a different opinion. However, especially with the war in the Gaza Strip and criticism of Israel, we can see that this radicalization is taking place. We are therefore considering which formats are suitable for enabling dialog at the university.

The slogans that were already written on posters in other cities were also found on the banners in Vienna. Among other things, Israeli warfare was criticized and a ceasefire was called for. Many banners accused Israel of “genocide” - and the University of Vienna of “complicity” due to its cooperation with Israeli educational institutions. According to most international law experts, the accusation of systematic genocide is unfounded. In its response to South Africa's complaint, the International Court of Justice also did not declare genocide to be plausible, but that the Palestinians were entitled to protection from genocide.

Photos of banners with the inscription “Student Intifada Camp” also circulated on Twitter. The term “intifada” refers to the Palestinian uprisings against Israel that began in 1987 - initially against soldiers - and led to a wave of terrorist attacks against civilians from 2000 onwards. Since then, Hamas has repeatedly called for a new intifada - even after October 7.

Some condemn the protests against the Gaza war as an expression of hatred of Jews. Others see this as an attempt to discredit these voices. The fronts are hardening. However, this has not only been happening since the war in the Middle East flared up again. Opinions are already strongly divided on climate change, gender issues and measures in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Is this also dividing society?

STANDARD: What role do universities play in the overall social discourse and in the political structure?

Schütze: First of all, politicians are responsible for politics - this is a discourse space that is fundamentally different from ours. We have two different tasks with partly similar responsibilities and, if all goes well, similar intentions. For example, the university sees itself as having a very strong responsibility to promote democracy. But a university or academia has lost out if it gets involved in day-to-day business or allows itself to be taken over by certain political tendencies.

STANDARD: To what extent is it the task of a university to uphold and promote the rules of democracy?

Schütze: That is one of the central tasks of the university. Academically trained people contribute more knowledge and often also more commitment to civil society discussions, for example. This strengthens a democratic system. Education is one of the cornerstones of democracy and the preservation of democracy. This also includes a certain culture of discussion. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult in the wider political discourse. It is becoming more and more populist, less about the exchange of factual arguments and more about ideologies and confrontation. We will do everything we can to ensure that factual discussion can take place here, even on controversial topics, and hope that this will serve as a model for society.

A space of knowledge, fruitful exchange and progress - that is one view of the universities and the debates that students and lecturers conduct there. Another assessment is that the issues that universities, as well as the arts and cultural sector, deal with are increasingly elitist and unrealistic.

STANDARD: How great is the discrepancy between what is discussed at universities and what the general public is interested in?

Schütze: The two sides are not congruent and never will be. Nevertheless, universities make an important contribution to society - even with things that are not always immediately obvious what they are good for. It's about forming theories, developing new methods and discussing alternatives. One of the fundamental principles of science is I put forward a hypothesis in order to verify or falsify it. Falsifying it is also an important result because it makes the next step possible. Innovation and progress are based on this.

STANDARD: In the natural sciences, however, this process is often more comprehensible than in the humanities and social sciences.

Schütze: Let me give you an example: one of our major future topics that affects everyone is artificial intelligence. It is wrong to assume that it is enough to deal with the technology or the algorithms behind it. We also need to look at the ethical and legal issues that arise. We will not be able to tackle the topic without a social science perspective. And that applies to a great many topics. The same applies to climate change, for example.

STANDARD: Climate change, corona or genetic engineering, for example, are also topics where scientific skepticism is clearly evident.

Schütze: The debate about scientific scepticism must be conducted in a differentiated manner. It is true that it has increased or at least become more visible. But a large proportion of the population has also seen what science can achieve - for example in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. However, it is sometimes difficult to convey that it is part of the DNA of science to change your mind based on new findings.

Most of the courtyards on campus are now closed overnight due to “disruption and damage”. At least for the time being, this is to remain the case. The large courtyard where the demonstration took place and where several pubs are located will remain open. More security personnel are now patrolling there. (Anna Giulia Fink, Oona Kroisleitner, 18.5.2024)