Irene Aue-Ben-David Appointed Director of the Jewish Museum in Hohenems

Der Standard, November 19, 2025

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000297129/irene-aue-ben-david-wird-leiterin-des-juedischen-museums-in-hohenems

As of April 2026, the 52-year-old historian will succeed Hanno Loewy, who is retiring. She was unanimously recommended by the selection committee.

Historian Irene Aue-Ben-David will take over as director of the Jewish Museum Hohenems in April 2026. The 52-year-old will succeed Hanno Loewy, who is retiring after more than twenty years as director of the museum. Aue-Ben-David has been director of the Leo Baeck International Research Institute for German-Jewish History in Jerusalem for ten years. She was unanimously recommended for the position in Hohenems by an international selection committee, according to a press release from the museum.

Aue-Ben-David, born in Hildesheim, Germany, received her doctorate in modern history from the University of Göttingen. Until 2017, she worked primarily in Israel as a research assistant, project manager, and curator. Since 2015, she has headed the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem, which conducts research in the field of German-Jewish history and culture and communicates the liberal values and experiences of German-speaking Jewry to a broad public.

According to a press release from the museum, the historian impressed the commission “with her professional excellence, leadership qualities, analytical and communication skills, commitment, and enthusiasm.” Aue-Ben-David will come to Vorarlberg on December 15 for an initial meeting with the museum team and a press conference.

Advertised in May

The board of the Jewish Museum's sponsoring association followed the unanimous recommendation of the selection committee in making the appointment. The position was advertised internationally in May, followed by a two-stage application process with hearings of the candidates before the committee. The Jewish Museum is sponsored by the city of Hohenems, the state of Vorarlberg, and the Friends of the Jewish Museum Hohenems. (APA, November 19, 2025)

Jewish Museum Celebrates 130 Years

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), November 17, 2025

German original: https://wien.orf.at/stories/3330334/

Vienna was home to the world's first Jewish museum, which opened 130 years ago. To mark this occasion, there will be an open house on November 23, 2025. Visitors will be able to view exhibitions at both museum locations free of charge.

At the Museum Dorotheergasse, visitors can learn about the permanent exhibition "Our City! Jewish Vienna to the Present Day“ from the perspective of the curator (1916–1938). There are also exhibition talks on the new show ”Black Jews, White Jews? On Skin Color and Prejudice," a mini Hebrew course, and a puzzle to participate in, which can be turned into a small newspaper, a so-called Mu-Zine.

Remembering the Shoah

At Judenplatz, the “Drüber & Drunter” tours take visitors beneath the square to the excavations of the medieval synagogue. The exhibition “Tell Me Where the Flowers Are” with photographs by Roger Cremers takes a critical look at the collective memory of World War II and the Shoah in Europe. And the play “The Rabbi on the Road” takes visitors on a historical journey from Vienna to Krems.

ORF Focus: Commemorating the November Pogroms of 1938 and “Jewish Vienna”

Kurier, November 14, 2025

German original: https://kurier.at/kultur/medien/orf-schwerpunkt-gedenken-an-novemberpogrome-1938-und-das-juedische-wien/403099565

ORFIII presents a new two-part series with former “ZIB” presenter and former museum director Danielle Spera. Numerous documentary premieres also on ORF2. An overview.

By Christoph Silber

Nov. 4, 2025, 5:30 a.m.

In commemoration of the pogroms on the night of November 9-10, 1938, ORF is showing a major multimedia program focus this week. ORF 2, ORF III, Ö1, and ORF ON are dedicating themselves to the victims of Nazi terror and the causes and consequences of anti-Semitism—up to the present day—in partly newly produced documentaries and feature films.

Starting on Tuesday, special attention will also be paid to the Jewish history of the federal capital. “Vienna has always been a Jewish city. Much of this is still very much alive today, but much has been lost forever,” says Danielle Spera in the two-part series Das jüdische Wien (Jewish Vienna). The former “ZIB” presenter and former director of the Jewish Museum talks about the multifaceted life of the Jewish community. The production, designed by Susanne Pleisnitzer, opens doors that would otherwise remain closed to many and calmly dispels anti-Semitic clichés. The two-part series will premiere on November 4, 2025 (part 1) and November 11, 2025 (part 2) at 8:15 p.m. on ORF III.

During the presentation of Das jüdische Wien (Jewish Vienna) on Tuesday evening at the Palais Epstein, Spera explained: “The two documentaries are intended to provide an insight into the past and present of Jewish life in Austria and, above all, the diversity of today's Jewish community.” Judaism in Austria has a long and important history with many tragic breaks, but also with many wonderful times. “Above all, we must remember what Jews have done for our country. But hardly anyone talks about that today; instead, we constantly talk about the Nazi era, about the war in the Middle East—even though we have a war on our doorstep that hardly anyone talks about.” Judaism is “a very joyful tradition, a more joyful religion that focuses on life rather than death,” Spera emphasizes.

Showing Connections

“Around the anniversary of Kristallnacht, we want to highlight historical connections and keep the dialogue about our shared past, present, and future alive,” says ORF III program director Peter Schöber. “Especially at a time when anti-Semitic attitudes are noticeably on the rise again, it is our responsibility as a public broadcaster to take a stand against exclusion, hatred, and anti-Semitism in particular, and to promote respect and cohesion.” This production, to which Spera contributed her expertise, is therefore “far more than a historical documentary; it is a contribution to raising awareness and a clear commitment to historical responsibility.”

Part 1 (November 4): Focuses on Jewish wedding and family life, religious practice (especially in Leopoldstadt), economics and patronage (Zedakah), and the great daughters and sons of Vienna (including Sigmund Freud, Arthur Schnitzler, and Hedy Lamarr).

Part 2 (November 11): Covers Jewish holidays, Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), the role of women (salonnières), the diaspora, and Jewish memorial culture in Vienna (stones of remembrance).

Other ORF III premieres in this extensive focus include a visit by Karl Hohenlohe to the Jewish Museum Vienna in the series Aus dem Rahmen (22:40) and an episode of Geschichte Heute – Österreichs vertriebene Genies (Saturday, 19:50). In it, experts talk about the targeted attack of National Socialism on universities, the biographies of the victims, and what the expulsion of knowledge later meant for the country.

Also on Tuesday, Viennese filmmaker Peter Mahler will be working on his complex family history in a first broadcast on ORF 2 (11:05 p.m., ORF2). Here, “the contradictions of many families after the Second World War, which were hidden behind a wall of silence, were revealed. It is precisely this wall that I want to break through with the film,” says Mahler.

Documentary Premieres on ORF2

“kreuz & quer: Eine Familie – Zwei Welten” (Cross and Cross: One Family – Two Worlds)

Broadcast date and time: Tuesday, November 4, 2025, 11:05 p.m., ORF 2 and ORF ON

Content: Filmmaker Peter Mahler searches for traces in his family history that unite two extreme poles: a Jewish grandfather (Peter) who had to flee to the USA as a child, and another grandfather (Joachim) who was an active Nazi persecutor of Jews as an SS officer.

Theme: The film confronts relatives in Austria and Germany with the question of how the SS officer could have been a likeable grandfather, and sheds light on the wall of silence after the Second World War. Emotional moments include excerpts from letters written by the great-grandmother about fear and terror during her flight.

“The Passport Forger – Resistance in the Underground”

Broadcast date and time: Friday, November 7, 10:35 p.m., ORF 2

Content: Tells the story of the young German Jew Cioma Schönhaus, who lived in the Berlin underground in 1943 and forged identity papers for persecuted Jews. The film uses original audio recordings of Schönhaus.

Topic: Jewish resistance and survival in the Nazi underground.

“The Guardian of Memory – Daliah Hindler”

Broadcast date and time: Sunday, November 9, 12:30 p.m., ORF 2

Content: Daliah Hindler in her memorial and remembrance work in Vienna, in particular the laying of the “Stones of Remembrance” (memorial stones for the victims of the Holocaust).

Topic: Never forgetting the victims of Nazi persecution and those whom Vienna lost to the Holocaust.

Further Productions

Anti-Semitism has spread like a plague throughout the centuries, as Robert Gokl's productions on ORF2 show: In People & Powers: Old Hatred, New Delusion – Anti-Semitism – History of a Deadly Prejudice (Friday, 11:20 p.m.) and in the documentary Old Hatred, New Delusion – Anti-Semitism after 1945 (Sunday, 23:05) the causes and consequences of violent anti-Semitism and documents how anti-Semitic prejudices and hatred of Jews continued to have an impact after 1945. The topic of anti-Semitism has taken on frightening relevance due to the heated discussions surrounding Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023 and Israel's subsequent war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Among the fictional classics featured in the program are the television film Martha Liebermann – Ein gestohlenes Leben (Wednesday, 12:10 a.m.) by Marco Rossi about the widow of painter Max Liebermann, with Thekla Carola Wied as the Jewish title character. In Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning masterpiece Schindler's List (Friday, November 7, 12:10 a.m.), Liam Neeson plays the role of German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who used his position and good relations with the military during the Nazi era to save more than 1,000 Jewish workers from certain death in concentration camps with the help of his accountant Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley).

Ö1 questions, among other things, the work of remembrance without eyewitnesses in Punkt eins: How can we talk about the Holocaust after 80 years? (Friday, 1:00 p.m.) with Patrick Siegele, head of “Holocaust Education” at OeAD – Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalization.

On Saturday, Operation Epsilon and the mother of atomic bombs are on the program of Hörbilder (9:05 a.m.). In this feature, Susanne Ayoub documents the internment of ten German nuclear scientists in April 1945, shortly before the end of World War II.

The ORF.at network and ORF Teletext will also commemorate the November pogroms and provide information about memorial events. TV programs focusing on this topic will be available to stream on ORF ON (including a video collection), and numerous historical recordings, documentaries, and personal memories are available in the video archive “Österreichs Zeitzeuginnen und Zeitzeugen” (Austria's Contemporary Witnesses).

When Mistrust and Betrayal Permeated Neighborhood Life

Der Standard, November 9, 2025

Gudrun Springer

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000295311/als-misstrauen-und-verrat-das-nachbarschaftliche-leben-durchdrangen

Thousands of Jews were denounced, arrested, and deported in November 1938. Historians are researching how these events radically changed a neighborhood in Vienna's Neubau district.

Josef Hugel ran a guesthouse at Kaiserstrasse 32 in Vienna's Neubau district. The local Nazi scene was already networking there when the NSDAP was still banned. “Business was good nonetheless, or perhaps precisely because of that,” explains historian Regina Fritz from the Institute of Contemporary History at the University of Vienna. But soon the outsider would become a profiteer of the Nazi regime.

Regina Fritz, together with historian Philipp Rohrbach from the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute (VWI), is researching what happened in the neighborhood between Kaiserstrasse and Urban-Loritz-Platz at the time of the “Anschluss” in 1938 and afterwards. The two gave the STANDARD an insight into their research, which they intend to continue and which shows what it meant for victims and perpetrators to live next door to each other.

After Austria's “Anschluss” to the German Reich in March, Jews experienced a wave of violence. Non-Jews were involved and some denounced their neighbors. “Neighborhoods, places of everyday coexistence, became places of fear, mistrust, and violence,” Fritz summarizes the developments.

A particular wave of violence erupted on the night of November 9-10, 1938. The Nazi leadership staged this as a “spontaneous” outbreak of violence in response to an assassination attempt on German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a 17-year-old Polish Jew. Herschel Grynszpan wanted to take revenge for the humiliation and mistreatment of his parents and relatives. The diplomat died two days later, which the Nazis used as an excuse to carry out pogroms against Jews.

Thousands of Arrests

In Vienna, all synagogues were destroyed or vandalized. Jewish shops were demolished and looted, as were around 2,000 apartments. More than 6,500 Jewish men were arrested in Vienna alone, and more than half of them were deported to the Dachau concentration camp. Over 20 Jews were murdered in Vienna, including at least five people near the temporary collection point set up in the former school building at Kenyongasse 4.

This brings us back to the neighborhood in Vienna's Neubau district. The school building had been converted into a temporary detention center where arrested Jews were held due to a lack of space in conventional prisons. The brutality of the conditions there is reflected in the words of Emanuel Fuchs, a man who was imprisoned there for several days: "I was sent to Dachau. Compared to Kenyongasse, Dachau was a vacation home," the eyewitness later said in an interview that can be read in the Austrian Heritage Archive. Fuchs describes, for example, how prisoners had to do gymnastics exercises at night and were beaten and humiliated in the process, or how two men were forced to set fire to a fellow prisoner's beard.

From Outsider to Block Warden

Gasthaus operator Hugel was very active in Neubau and often involved in denouncing Jews. He had already been a member of the NSDAP for six years when the Anschluss took place. The man, who was almost 50 years old at the time, did not hold a high rank, but as a simple member he played an important role at the local level: “Since the days of the Anschluss, he had held the position of block leader,” explains Philipp Rohrbach.

Block wardens had various tasks. They were responsible for collecting contributions and spreading Nazi propaganda, but they were also “the eyes and ears of the regime, who in many cases actively supported the persecution of opponents of the regime and Jews through denunciations,” explains Rohrbach. Fritz and Rohrbach were able to reconstruct what this man's involvement meant in concrete terms for people in the neighborhood based on trial records and other contemporary documents.

According to these documents, in November 1938, Hugel and other Nazis broke into the paper goods factory owned by the Wolf family—Hugel's landlady Olga and her son Friedrich—at Seidengasse 33 and stole money. They then robbed the Wolfs' apartment of cash, jewelry, and securities. When the court ruled on the attacks on the family in 1947, the trial records stated that it was proven “that assets had been confiscated. However, it cannot be proven what ultimately happened to these assets,” which was apparently considered a mitigating factor. According to the files, it could theoretically have been the case that the assets were used to pay taxes or settle debts.

The Wolf family was deported to Łódź on October 15, 1941. Friedrich, who had converted to Catholicism in 1925, was murdered in Litzmannstadt on April 4, 1942, and Olga died on May 22, 1942.

Robbery and Deportation

Near the Wolfs' paper goods factory at Seidengasse 38, Moritz Kubin ran a linen and knitwear shop, above which he also lived with his wife Therese. In the summer of 1938, they were required to pay ten percent “Jewish property tax” on the business; shortly thereafter, Moritz Kubin died. His wife Therese then requested that the tax be reduced because the warehouse had been robbed—and Hugel's name appears again in connection with the robbery.

But not only there: Paul Husserl, who lived at Kaiserstrasse 34, stated during questioning before the People's Court in 1947 that Hugel and another Nazi had rung the doorbell of the apartment on the morning of November 10, 1938. They had demanded the apartment key from the father and told the seriously ill mother to leave her bed and the apartment. The defendant said, “Just wait, you Jews, now you'll get what's coming to you.” The family had to move to another apartment, where about 15 Jews from the neighborhood were already waiting. They had to remain there for 36 hours without food or drink. Paul Husserl's parents were murdered in a concentration camp.

In the spring of 1945, shortly before the end of the war, Hugel was assigned to Mauthausen as a member of the fire department to guard the concentration camp. Two years later, a trial was opened against him, but his role in Mauthausen was not mentioned. Husserl was the only Jewish witness who could testify against Hugel. A guilty verdict was also handed down. “All the other persecuted people from the small neighborhood in Neubau whose fates were discussed in the trial against Hugel either did not return from the camps,” Fritz summarizes, “or died shortly after their return home as a result of the abuse.”

(Gudrun Springer, November 9, 2025)

Search for Mass Grave of Nazi Massacre in Rechnitz Unsuccessful

Der Standard, November 3, 2025

Karin Kriechmayr

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000294722/suche-nach-massengrab-des-ns-massakers-in-rechnitz-blieb-erfolglos

The remains of the 180 Hungarian Jews who were murdered 80 years ago at the end of the war remain missing. However, the new excavation was not entirely in vain.

To this day, it remains a mystery where exactly the remains of the approximately 180 Hungarian Jews who were shot on the night of March 24-25, 1945, on the outskirts of Rechnitz in Burgenland are located. Just a few days before the end of the war, Nazi officials led by local NSDAP leader Franz Podezin shot the forced laborers in one of the most gruesome crimes of the final phase of the war. They had been housed in the so-called Kreuzstadl because they were too sick and too weak to continue working on the construction of the “Southeast Wall” to defend against the approaching Red Army.

The mass grave was first searched for between 1966 and 1969, with further excavations taking place in 1993, 2017, 2019, 2021 – and now, in October 2025. The exact location could not be determined until now because the majority of the local population had remained silent about it.

As reported by the province of Burgenland, the search carried out between mid- and late October on an area of around 200 square meters was also unsuccessful. In addition to the evaluation of historical sources and aerial photographs, the excavations were based on research results from the Vienna University of Technology, which applied a newly developed geophysical investigation method to search for human remains.

Important Findings

According to the press release, this rules out the possibility that the mass grave of Hungarian Jewish forced laborers is located in the area investigated. The important finding remains that another suspected site brought into play by several sources can be ruled out as the location of the mass grave.

Nevertheless, the work has yielded important findings. A total of 26 samples were taken from different depths and positions in an identified anomaly area—an area where soil testing indicated elevated carbon concentrations. These are currently being examined in more detail.

In addition, further finds were unearthed during the excavations in the area of the Neolithic circular ditch. This is located directly beneath the area where the mass grave was believed to be. The ceramic fragments, stone tools, and other finds will now be scientifically evaluated.

Excessive Violence Without Consequences

The massacre on Palm Sunday 1945 was one of a series of acts of excessive violence committed by members of Nazi organizations and civilians alike in the final stages of World War II. Ten men are believed to have been involved in the massacre near the former Kreuzstadl farmstead in Rechnitz.

According to witness statements, around midnight, the local NSDAP leader Franz Podezin left a party at the nearby Batthyány Castle to shoot the forced laborers with a group of men. The next day, 18 survivors were forced to bury the bodies and were then murdered themselves. Their bodies are the only ones that Horst Littmann of the German War Graves Commission was able to locate in the fall of 1969. In 1970, they were exhumed and reburied in the Jewish cemetery in Graz. At the time, Littmann received anonymous death threats.

After the end of the Nazi regime, the massacre was the subject of two trials and a preliminary judicial investigation, but these resulted in only three convictions, none of which were against a principal perpetrator or for active participation in the crime. Podezin is believed to have gone into hiding in South Africa, where he died around 1995.

Today, the Kreuzstadl is only preserved as a ruin. On the initiative of the association RE.F.U.G.I.U.S., it serves as a memorial and monument to the murdered Jews. (Karin Krichmayr, November 3, 2025)

Antisemitism 2024

Parlament Österreich, April 2, 2025

German original: https://www.parlament.gv.at/fachinfos/rlw/Antisemitismus-2024

Publication of the 2024 antisemitism study

The 2024 antisemitism study is a continuation of the studies commissioned by parliament in 2018, 2020 and 2022, thus enabling a comparison over time. "The 2024 antisemitism study builds on the research commissioned by the Austrian parliament in 2018, 2020, and 2022, allowing for a comparison over time.

To access the full studies (in German), visit: https://www.parlament.gv.at/fachinfos/rlw/Antisemitismus-2024."

The study

The 2024 antisemitism study builds on previous surveys and expands the analysis of antisemitic attitudes to include new dimensions. In addition to the long-term development of antisemitic attitudes in Austria, the study systematically examines for the first time how difficult it is for many people to classify antisemitic statements and what influence the assessment of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 has on antisemitic attitudes.

Intention

The study continues the regular survey of antisemitic attitudes in order to document social developments and to make long-term trends visible. The continuous study provides a sound basis for political and social measures to combat antisemitism.

Method

The survey was conducted by IFES. In October and November 2024, 2,037 people were interviewed in a representative study across Austria. In addition, 1,080 people with Turkish or Arabic migration backgrounds were surveyed separately in order to analyze specific differences.

Antisemitism 2024 – Snapshot of young people

The 2024 antisemitism study conducted by IFES is a follow-up to the antisemitism studies commissioned by parliament in 2018, 2020 and 2022 and will be published in spring 2025.

A study on the attitudes of young people in Austria following the Hamas attack in October 2023 was conducted in advance in the summer of 2024. It examined the attitudes of 16- to 27-year-olds, particularly in relation to the Middle East conflict. Possible correlations between the assessment of the conflict and antisemitic attitudes were also recorded. The results were compared with the data from the special evaluation on antisemitism among young people for the 2022 antisemitism study in order to analyze changes since the attack.

Antisemitism is Increasingly a “Youth” Problem, According to Study.

Der Standard, April 2, 2025

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000264070/antisemitismus-wird-laut-studie-zunehmend-jugendliches-problem

Antisemitism is also on the rise among people with university degrees. The experts see one cause – especially among younger people – in media consumption.

Vienna – Antisemitism is increasingly becoming a “youth” problem. This is the conclusion of a study from 2024, which the Institute for Empirical Social Research (Ifes) has again conducted on behalf of parliament. According to the study, young people in particular – especially with regard to Israel – are more antisemitic than the older generation. In an interview with the Austrian Press Agency (APA), National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (Freedom Party of Austria, FPÖ) also sees the government as being called upon.

For the study, which has been conducted every two years since 2018, a total of 2,037 people aged 16 and older throughout Austria were interviewed by telephone and online in October and November of last year. An additional sample of 1,080 people included 577 people with a migration background from Turkey and 503 people with a migration background from an Arabic-speaking country.

The study also shows stagnation and, in some cases, slight declines in some antisemitic attitudes: 13 percent of those surveyed continued to hold manifest antisemitic attitudes, compared to 15 percent in 2022. Latent antisemitism also remained at the same level, at 33 percent (2022: 32 percent). Conspiracy theorists, people who know little about Judaism and anti-Americans were more likely to be antisemitic.

“Trivialization of National Socialism”

However, younger people were found to have more pronounced antisemitic attitudes, although a higher level of formal education tends to protect against traditional antisemitism. Not only with regard to Israel-related antisemitism – especially after the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 – but also with regard to other statements, young people agreed more often than older people. For example, around 15 percent of those under 25 years of age were of the opinion that many things are exaggerated in reports about concentration camps.

The statement “Given Israel's policies, I can well understand that people have something against Jews” was agreed with by 31 percent of respondents, either completely or somewhat, which corresponds to an increase of eight percentage points. The statement “The Israelis basically treat the Palestinians no differently than the Germans treated the Jews in the Second World War” also received more agreement, with 35 percent (2022: 30 percent). For project coordinator Thomas Stern, such statements are “definitely a trivialization of National Socialism.”

Antisemitism far more pronounced among people of Arabic and Turkish origin

As in the previous two years, antisemitism was far more pronounced among people with roots in Turkey or an Arabic-speaking country. And there were far more negative prejudices among people with strong patriarchal thinking. But antisemitism is also on the rise among people with university degrees. Eva Zeglovits from the Institute for Empirical Social Research (Ifes) sees one cause – especially among younger people – in media consumption. Young people hardly consume traditional media anymore, but mainly get their information from social networks, which often reinforce conspiracy myths, for example.

For Stern, the alarming results among young people are above all a mandate for the education system. “Holocaust education needs to be completely rethought,” he says. Austria has done a lot in terms of teaching, “but I don't think it's enough anymore.” It is up to politicians to ensure that the Holocaust and its effects on the present are included in the curriculum, because “antisemitism lives on.”

Rosenkranz open to Holocaust center

President of the National Council Rosenkranz also sees “one or two things that could be improved” in school education about the Holocaust, and not only in the education department. He is also open-minded about the idea of a Holocaust center, as proposed by the Jewish Community Vienna (IKG), which, according to the government program, should at least receive a feasibility study. In this regard, it is also “very important to have a localized opportunity, especially in Vienna,” said Stern.

In principle, Rosenkranz was pleased that the parliamentary study on antisemitism will continue to be prepared. “The fact is that antisemitism continues to be a persistent danger for the cohesion of society and our fundamental state values,” warned the Freedom Party member. (APA, April 2, 2025)

Educational Mandate for the Future

ORF, March 24, 2025

German original: https://science.orf.at/stories/3229432/

Holocaust education seeks to commemorate the murder of six million Jews in an educational way. 80 years after the end of the Nazi regime – in the age of TikTok and Co – the methods have changed, but not the goal of “never again”.

But what exactly does Holocaust education mean? The term itself is controversial. “Holocaust” is derived from the Greek and means “utterly burned”. Many Jewish organizations – including Yad Vashem in Jerusalem – prefer the Hebrew term “Shoah”. This means “catastrophe” and makes it clear that this was a unique crime: the systematic murder of six million Jews.

An international obligation

The increased focus on the Holocaust in the 1990s led to the founding of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). In 1998, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson, together with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Bill Clinton, initiated the International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research. Almost simultaneously, several European countries began to critically examine their own Nazi pasts.

Two years later, 46 states agreed on the Stockholm Declaration at the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust – the document is still regarded as a policy paper for Holocaust education today. Since 2013, the task force has been called the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). It is an intergovernmental organization to promote Holocaust education, research and remembrance, of which Austria is also a member. “The idea that international member states send delegations and enter into dialogue is the strength of the IHRA,” says Patrick Siegele, head of Holocaust Education at ERINNERN:AT and a member of the Austrian delegation to the Education Working Group. ERINNERN:AT is the OeAD program for teaching and learning about National Socialism, the Holocaust and the prevention of antisemitism through education.

Critical reflection in the age of TikTok and Co.

Holocaust education is aimed at teachers, students, and schoolchildren. At a time when fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors are able to tell their stories, the internet and social media are becoming important sources of information. Holocaust denial and distortion have increased massively online in recent years, as shown by the “History under attack” study conducted by the UN and UNESCO.

“That's why it's important that young people learn not to believe everything they see on TikTok,” says the educator. The Holocaust was the result of social processes, political decisions and individual actions. This is precisely where Holocaust education comes in, shedding light on the victims, the perpetrators, the bystanders and the helpers. The multi-perspective approach promotes understanding of these interrelationships. The teaching goes far beyond the mere learning of facts.

Committed to “never again”

What is taught depends on the teachers. There is no single history lesson. In Austria, World War II, National Socialism and the Holocaust are dealt with in an interdisciplinary way: in history lessons and in subjects such as German, ethics or religion. The aim of learning about National Socialism at school is to promote critical historical awareness in order to do justice to the motto ‘never again’. The aim is to give students the tools they need to make ethically and morally enlightened decisions. After all, “history is always used for contemporary needs,” explains Ljiljana Radonić, deputy director of the Institute for Culture Studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

This is particularly evident in the way the Holocaust is dealt with and the sensitive issues surrounding national co-responsibility. The skills acquired in class help young people to understand that the way history is told can change as a result of new findings. One example is the increasing focus of science and Holocaust education in recent years on the genocide of Roma and Sinti. However, the findings are only slowly being incorporated into history lessons.

Instead of disturbing...

Today, the Holocaust is covered more comprehensively in schoolbooks than it was 20 years ago. Shocking images of piles of corpses and other deliberately disturbing teaching methods are no longer used. “In the past, these images and reports were intended to evoke emotional consternation. Today we know that this is more likely to trigger defensive reactions,” says Gudrun Blohberger, head of the education department at the Mauthausen Memorial. Visiting a memorial site clarifies the content of Holocaust education. However, Gudrun Blohberger warns that this cannot be a “vaccination against forgetting”....

Orientation towards life stories

Holocaust education addresses young people through so-called biographical learning, with eyewitness accounts and private photos or personal objects. Engaging with the everyday lives of Jewish children is also intended to draw attention to their own lives. By searching for clues, schoolchildren can learn about the effects of the Nazi regime and the crimes of the Shoah in their local area. These child-friendly learning materials offer emotional access points to inspire empathy for the victims.

Digital offers are also increasingly being used. For example, a learning app was developed for the ERINNERN:AT program with escape stories from children and young people. They tell how they came to the United States, Great Britain or Palestine via Kindertransport or other routes. Many students have also experienced escape, racism or antisemitism.

Compare yes, equate no

The way the Holocaust is dealt with has developed from a national to a European and global culture of remembrance, which poses challenges for Holocaust education. For example, Anne Frank is very popular in Japan, but she is not remembered as a Jewess, but as a childlike, innocent victim at a universal place of horror: Auschwitz. This narrative is completely detached from the context of the Shoah.

The Shoah is also instrumentalized as a universal symbol for genocides, dictatorships and state violence for ideological purposes. Experts such as the pedagogue Patrick Siegele warn that the Holocaust is becoming an empty metaphor. “There is no crime against humanity in which a group of people were persecuted and murdered with this will to destroy. Holocaust education does not reject comparison, but it does reject equating.”

This equating of other victim groups with those of the Shoah is present in European remembrance culture. Political scientist Ljiljana Radonić points to the crimes of Stalinism and state socialism in former Eastern European countries. “In the museums that have been opened in post-socialist countries since 1990, the fates of national victims are told with private photographs and touching stories, while the victims of the Shoah remain anonymous numbers.” This leads to hierarchies of victims.

“Talking about all victims”

“The demand that Auschwitz not happen again is the very first demand of education,” wrote the philosopher Theodor W. Adorno. Holocaust education is therefore also a social obligation. In Europe, a recurring resentment against Holocaust remembrance is evident. Many want to finally “close” the subject. This so-called demand for closure has been around since 1946. “You can't say, we've talked enough about Jewish suffering, we should now talk about all the others, no, we should talk about all together, about all marginalized victims,” says Radonić.

International days of remembrance such as January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, are important for this political and social examination of the Shoah. “Holocaust education, however, must not stop at these symbolic dates,” emphasizes pedagogue Patrick Siegele. “It must create the conditions for each generation to answer for itself the question of what history has to do with the individual and the present.”

Barbara Volfing, ORF Wissen

Shalom Oida! JFW25 - Jewish Film Festival Vienna 2025

JFW, March 2025

German Original: https://www.jfw.at/presskit

From March 11 to March 25, 2025 at Village Cinema Wien Mitte and Metro Kinokulturhaus (Vienna, Austria)

www.jfw.at

www.facebook.com/ViennaJewishFilmFestival

www.instagram.com/juedisches.filmfestival.wien

The Jewish Film Week is a festival of diversity for everyone who wants to broaden their horizons, is interested in background information or simply loves high-quality films.

Around 50 current feature, documentary and short films will be presented at the 33rd JFW this year; most of them are Austrian or European premieres. This time, the focus is on the diversity of Judaism, ranging from ultra-Orthodox to secular, but also on the effects of the worldwide increase in anti-Semitism and the war in the Middle East. Female filmmakers are strongly represented; around twenty productions come from women who, in their work, sometimes devote themselves to decidedly female life plans.

About half of the productions shown come from Israel. On the one hand, they deal with the specific political and social conditions in the country, but they also address global issues such as flight and emigration, being an outsider, the effects of war and constant threat on everyday life, peace activities, the power of religious fundamentalist communities and, last but not least, the most diverse types of relationships and families – including in the LGBTIQA+ area.

In addition, sophisticated comedies and films that combine challenging topics with subtle humor are a fixture of the program. The Shoah is addressed in several productions, as is the global shift to the right.

Films such as “Saving the Children” about the little-known rescue operation carried out by courageous citizens of the town of Le Chambon, or “The Story of Anette Zelman”, a true story about a young woman who was denounced by her boyfriend's father, commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps.

Tanya Gersh, a naive Jewish American woman working as a real estate agent in a small town in Montana, had to learn the hard way what right-wing extremism means. A media hoax accusing her of conspiring against the mother of a neo-Nazi in her neighborhood led to two and a half years of public anti-Semitic terror against her by “Proud Boys” and other right-wing extremists who declared their support for Donald Trump.

The documentary “Troll Storm” not only describes these frightening events, but also reveals the roots of Trump's success, among other things.

With “Running on Sand”, director Adar Shafran manages to combine migration and racism with situation comedy without losing the thematic seriousness. Shortly before his deportation, a refugee from Eritrea is mistaken for a star footballer and plays along – without having the slightest idea of football. “The Vanishing Soldier” on the other hand is about an 18-year-old Israeli who, instead of continuing to fight in Gaza, secretly travels to his girlfriend in Tel Aviv, causing a nationwide stir because he is thought to have been kidnapped. In “Bliss” Sasson Gabai and Assi Levy play an older couple who, despite their problems, have retained their love and sense of humor.

The extent to which ultra-orthodoxy interferes with people's lives or even destroys them when it comes to sect-like communities is portrayed particularly drastically in the documentary “In the Name of the Father”. It deals with the victims of the cult surrounding the Israeli-American Hasidic Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Shick.

A completely different way of being religious is shown in “Sabbath Queen”, the portrait of the pious, unconventional and queer Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, who founded the open-to-all Shul/Lab synagogue in NYC. “Matchmaking 2” is the sequel to the Israeli box office hit of the same name. Set in an ultra-Orthodox environment, it is a delightful comedy about the complicated search for true love.

In the Hungarian comedy, “All About the Levkoviches”, the opening film of JFW 25, a son who has become Orthodox meets his secular father again for the first time after years of estrangement. The little grandson and self-assembly furniture play an important role in the mutual rapprochement, which is full of obstacles.

At the festival opening, French sociologist Michel Wieviorka will speak about the topic “Combating anti-Semitism among young teachers and students”.

https://www.hamburger-edition.de/autorinnen-autoren/detailseite/person/michel-wieviorka/

The film program is complemented by panel discussions on the topics of “Diversity in Judaism” and “Jewish Life in Vienna”, a public discussion on the situation in Gaza, talks with filmmakers and an appearance by the entertainer Lea Kalisch, known as “Rebbetzin Lea” , who combines Yiddish, tango, girl power and sensuality in her debut film “Un Tango Para Rachel” and in her performance.

New book by Gauss: criticism of left-wing hatred of Jews

Salzburg ORF, February 11, 2025

German Original: https://salzburg.orf.at/stories/3292853/

In his new book “Essays against the Zeitgeist and hatred of Jews”, the Salzburg writer Karl-Markus Gauss criticizes various actors in art, culture and at universities who locate themselves politically “left” and yet would spread anti-Semitism and massive propaganda against Judaism.

“Hatred of Jews has been driven far out into society by digital pulpit preachers who have hijacked important and legitimate causes such as anti-imperialism, anti-racism, and anti-colonialism.” Karl-Markus Gauss formulates this literal reproach in “Guilt of Ignorance”, the central text in his volume of essays against the zeitgeist and hatred of Jews, which was officially released on Tuesday.

Gauß against solidarity with Hamas murderers

Gauß deals, among other things, with the pro-Palestinian solidarity rallies that took place in the art scene and at universities immediately after the Hamas massacre:

“They know nothing, that's what makes them so unflappable. They have no idea, and that's where they get their conviction from. Their ignorance cannot be forgiven, because it is self-inflicted. These are not children from socially disadvantaged families, they have not broken off their schooling, these are students who have made it to a highly prestigious academy, and these fools from good homes are on their way to representing tomorrow's German society.”

Reversal of perpetrator-victim roles

Gauss was stunned not only by the reversal of the roles of perpetrator and victim that was practiced in this context (“The Jews were not declared perpetrators when they were massacred, but because they were massacred. Because nothing fuels hatred of Jews more than their persecution.”), but also by the composition of the groups that took part:

“It is said that only education can help against anti-Semitism. But that is wrong. Among the high-ranking members of the SS who propagated racial fanaticism and planned its implementation in the Shoa, there were numerous academics. The Austrian historian and cultural philosopher Friedrich Heer once described the horror that seized him when he was led to the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna for interrogation and walked along corridors where the names of high-ranking SS officials with doctorates and professorships were posted on the doors.

Has war long since also reigned in the private sphere?

The Salzburg author, publicist and essayist has added some articles already published in newspapers and magazines to his “ungeordneten Aufzeichnungen 2023/2024” (Disordered Notes 2023/2024).

Gauß also addresses the unsettling upheavals and failed friendships that extend into the private sphere: “It's war. I notice it in the sudden arguments I get into with some acquaintances, and in which we quickly become spiteful towards each other.”

In the new book, he also deals with Jean Améry and Boris Pahor, Theodor Herzl or Leopold Weiss and Eugen Hoeflich, “two Viennese high school students in Palestine”. In addition, there are texts being published for the first time, such as his speech given in May 2023 at the 78th liberation celebration of the Ebensee concentration camp or his acceptance speech for the Jean Améry Prize for International Essay Writing.

Accusation against colleague Gessen: “Reckless comparison”

Gauß has received many prizes in his career – but there is one he would prefer to give back, he hints: the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, which he received in 2021. The reason for this is a comparison made by the Russian-American essayist Masha Gessen, who received the prize three years before him: she compared the terrorist attack by Hamas with the uprising of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. “I take personal umbrage at Masha Gessen for this nefarious comparison.”

Presentations in Vienna and Salzburg

Gauss will present his new book at the Jewish Museum in Vienna on February 20th, starting at 6:30 p.m. On February 27th, he will be at the City Library in his native Salzburg, where the event will begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Panorama Bar.

Bibliography:

Karl-Markus Gauß: “Schuldhafte Unwissenheit. Essays wider Zeitgeist und Judenhass”, Czernin Verlag, 128 pages.

Tree Planted in Vienna to Mark the Jewish New Year

Mein Bezirk, February 13, 2025

German original: https://www.meinbezirk.at/leopoldstadt/c-lokales/baum-anlaesslich-des-juedischen-neujahrs-in-wien-gepflanzt_a7151826

On the occasion of the Jewish New Year of Trees, IKG Vienna President Oskar Deutsch and City Councillor for Social Affairs Peter Hacker (SPÖ) planted a tree in the courtyard of the Maimonides Center in Leopoldstadt.

VIENNA/LEOPOLDSTADT. Thursday, February 13, marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year of Trees, Tu biSchwat. One tradition that is already a fixed part of the program of the Jewish Community (IKG) Vienna on this day is the planting of trees at the Jewish Maimonides Center in Leopoldstadt.

This year, IKG President Oskar Deutsch and City Councillor for Social Affairs Peter Hacker (SPÖ) planted a cherry tree in the courtyard of the senior citizens' center. In honor of the supporter, the tree was named “Peter” after the city councilor himself.

Hacker is pleased about the cooperation between the city and the IKG: “We are proud that the Jewish community is growing and are happy to support it. Also because it is a great part of a colorful city. Just as we imagine life in our city.”

Rootedness of generations

The traditional tree planting has several important meanings in Judaism. The planted cherry tree not only stands for the rootedness of Viennese Jews in the Land of Israel, but also for responsibility towards generations.

Auch Hacker sieht die Baumpflanzung als einen symbolischen Akt, nicht nur im Hinblick auf die Verantwortung und Geschichte der Stadt: "Ich mag auch die Idee, einen Baum zu verpflanzen, der sich verwurzelt und dadurch auch den Standort definiert."

Schönborn Receives Star in Vienna IKG City Temple

ORF, February 12, 2025

German original: https://religion.orf.at/stories/3228848/

On Tuesday evening, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn was honored by the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG) Vienna for his services to Jewish-Christian dialogue with the dedication of a star in the dome of the city temple.

According to a statement, the former Archbishop of Vienna had significantly shaped the exchange between religions for over three decades, said IKG President Oskar Deutsch. In doing so, Schönborn had also drawn attention to the fact that Christianity was based on Jewish roots and that Jesus was a Jew.

Deutsch particularly emphasized Schönborn's reliable support of Jewish interests in public discourse and in politics – a unique connection between the Jewish community and the Christian churches in Europe, as it is practiced in Vienna. “We hold the Cardinal in high regard for his strong commitment to interreligious exchange and for always defending and supporting the Jewish community,” Deutsch continued.

Coming to terms with Christian antisemitism

At the same time, Deutsch pointed out that even after the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, Schönborn “always proved to be a rock-solid friend and warned against antisemitism – no matter what kind – and also actively took initiatives.” In addition, Schönborn, who was invited to a meeting of the Cultural Board on Tuesday as the first cardinal, spoke out against a ban on slaughter, according to Deutsch. He has also done important work in the area of Christian anti-Semitism.

In his acceptance speech, Schönborn said he was deeply moved by the gesture of the IKG: “It is a moving moment for me. It is very extraordinary that I am allowed to stand here, it moves me very much,” said the Cardinal. And also that a star now bears his name in the city temple touches him deeply.

Schönborn: the connection between Judaism and Christianity

In his acceptance speech, he also addressed one of his most important theological concerns: with the Council's declaration “Nostra aetate” (1965), the Roman Catholic Church had made a “Copernican revolution” and finally rejected the old theory of substitution, according to which the Church had taken the place of Israel. In the past, this doctrine had led Christians to intensify anti-Semitic resentment, with devastating consequences.

Today, it is clear in the Catholic Church, as in other Christian churches, that God's covenant with his people Israel – as Paul already emphasized – is irrevocable: “The new covenant is not substitution, that is a very crucial idea for understanding the irrevocability and thus the recognition of Judaism by Christianity”. Deepening this insight theologically and actually overcoming it has been one of his central concerns as a theologian and bishop and will continue to be so. After all, it is the deepest reason for the deep bond between Christians and Jews.

The Israeli Ski Team is Under Police Protection in Saalbach-Hinterglemm

Der Standard, February 9, 2025

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000256337/das-israelische-ski-team-steht-in-saalbach-hinterglemm-unter-polizeischutz

Lukas Zahrer from Saalbach-Hinterglemm

Increased security measures are in place for the association. Barnabás Szőllős talks about the advice from Israel to remove traces that would point to his team.

A little over a year ago, Barnabás Szőllős crashed face-first on the Streif in Kitzbühel so violently that he lost his helmet on impact. The Hungarian-born skier, who races for Israel, suffered multiple facial fractures and severe concussion. The all-rounder recovered over the summer, resumed training in November and got into shape for the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

“The first descent was still tough, but today was really fun,” said Szőllős after the second downhill training session on Thursday. A monster program awaits the 26-year-old in Pinzgau: Szőllős plans to start in all races. He withdrew from the super-G on Friday. On Sunday, he will take on the Schneekristall slope in the downhill (11:30 a.m.). In the second week of competition, the team combination with his brother Benjamin is scheduled, with Benjamin competing in the slalom. This will be followed by the qualifying races for the giant slalom and slalom, with the hope of two more races on Friday and Sunday.

Getting used to speed

Szőllős lives in Murau, and he and his brother and sister Noa form a private team. For speed training, he joins other nations. “Physically, I'm fine. I miss speed training to get that speed back into my body. You can't train that off-piste anywhere,” says Szőllős.

He gets his skis from the Vorarlberg-based manufacturer Kästle, and Uvex and Vist provide helmets and ski clothing. Some money comes from Israel to cover travel and accommodation at races. He says he pays the bulk out of his own pocket: “If we perform well at major events, we get a little more money from the association afterwards. To do that, we have to do well.”

Israel lettering removed from team clothing

The war in the Middle East is on Szőllős' mind, and he describes the situation in Israel as “difficult”. The National Olympic Committee advised the team to remove the Israel lettering from the team clothing. For security reasons. “We have to be careful. The racing suits still say Israel, but we should take everything off the clothing. For security reasons, it's better that we are bare,” says Szőllős.

Does he feel unsafe? ‘Not in Austria. Everything is safe there.’ There is a police presence in the Israeli team hotel around the clock. Szőllős: ”They are always at the reception and see who goes in and out.”

The sixth-placed athlete in the 2022 Olympics in the Nordic combined event has big plans for the World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. “It's very difficult without training,” he says. “But in Cortina four years ago, I was in the top 30 in everything. That would be very cool.” (Lukas Zahrer, 6.2.2025)

Leokadia Justman: Austria's Anne Frank

ORF, February 4, 2025

German original: https://religion.orf.at/stories/3228630/

The story of the Polish Jewess Leokadia Justman, who survived the Nazi era with the help of Tyrolean resistance fighters, has recently been discovered and documented. Her story is reminiscent of that of Anne Frank.

The discovery of Justman's life story is an important historical testimony. Her escape and rescue from the Nazis in Tyrol was documented by an interdisciplinary research project and can be seen in an exhibition at the Innsbruck Landhaus until October. The exhibition shows historical finds and documents the escape story. This was recently also published in German translation by Tyrolia Verlag under the title “Brechen wir aus!” (Let's escape!).

Justman's story was uncovered by Tyrolean contemporary witness Martin Thaler. Thaler remembered a young woman named Lotte, who his mother hid during the Nazi era. It later turned out that it was Justman, who had fled from the Warsaw ghetto to Tyrol under a false name. Her father, Jakob Justman, was murdered in the Reichenau concentration camp, while she and her friend Marysia were arrested by the Gestapo. Thanks to the help of five Tyrolean police officers and three women in the resistance, they were able to escape and survive.

Interdisciplinary research project

Innsbruck historian Niko Hofinger recognized the significance of the story and began researching it. He was supported by retired detectives Peter Hellensteiner and Toni Walder, who found evidence in police archives supporting the story's authenticity.

Catholic theologian and Jesuit Dominik Markl then initiated an interdisciplinary research project to make the story available to a wider public.

Escape with false papers

Justman was born in 1922 in Lodz (Poland) into a liberal Jewish family. After the Nazi invasion of Poland, her family was expelled to the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942, her mother was deported to Treblinka and murdered. Her father Jacob obtained false papers for his daughter and a number of young people of the same age.

Since the German Reich was experiencing an extreme labor shortage, Poles were welcome anywhere in search of work. Disguised as Polish Christians, they managed to escape to Tyrol by train in March 1943.

Hidden by police officers

In March 1944, she and her friend Marysia were betrayed and arrested. Thanks to the help of Nazi opponents within the police apparatus, they were protected from deportation in the Innsbruck police prison for a long time. The police officers strongly advised them to flee. The opportunity arose when a U.S. bombing raid destroyed the office wing of the prison.

The young women were hidden for weeks in the apartment of police officer Rudolf Moser and Marianne Stocker, who were supporting a local resistance group. When it became unsafe there, police officer Anton Dietz provided them with false identities, so that they could travel on to Lofer disguised as Christian Polish laborers. Justman found accommodation with a family as a maid.

The pastor of St. Martin/Lofer, Josef Wintersteller, and his housekeeper were the only people there to whom Justman revealed her Jewish identity. Wintersteller supported her in all matters and gave her hope for a new life after the war.

First Jewish Wedding in Tyrol after the War

After the war, Justman returned to Innsbruck and became secretary of the Jewish Committee. In Innsbruck, she met Joseph Wisnitzki, a Jewish refugee who had been able to go into hiding as a gardener in Bludenz until the end of the war. The two married in September 1945, the first Jewish wedding in Tyrol after the Nazi reign of terror. The couple later emigrated to the United States, where they started a family.

She had her father's body exhumed and buried at Innsbruck's Westfriedhof Cemetery. And at her instigation, five policemen and two women from Tyrol who had helped her at the risk of their own lives were recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” by the international Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.

Restoration of the City Temple: Vienna Pays a Third

ORF, January 29, 2025

German original: https://wien.orf.at/stories/3291051/

The city of Vienna is paying a third of the costs incurred in the restoration of the Jewish City Temple in Seitenstettengasse. In total, the project is expected to cost around ten million euros. The federal government could take over another third, with the rest being financed by donations.

Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) and the President of the Jewish Community Vienna, Oskar Deutsch, announced the (planned) distribution of the costs. The City Temple is considered the spiritual center of the Jewish community in Vienna and is the largest synagogue in Austria. It was built in 1826 by Joseph Kornhäusl, who also designed the tower named after him in the center of Vienna, the Theater in Josefstadt and the Husarentempel in Mödling.

One million euros already donated

The restoration work is to begin this fall and should be completed within a year. For Deutsch, the project is also a sign that Jewish culture is to be continued in Vienna. The Jewish Community plans to finance another third of the restoration costs through donations. According to Deutsch, about one million euros have already been raised through fundraising.

Eine Finanzierung eines weiteren Drittels durch den Bund ist noch nicht zugesagt. Allerdings habe man mit allen Parteien diesbezüglich positive Gespräche geführt, so Deutsch. Ausnahme bleibt die FPÖ, mit der die Kultusgemeinde per Beschluss nicht spricht. Der IKG-Präsident nutzte den Auftritt mit Ludwig auch, um abermals vor einer Regierungsbeteiligung der FPÖ zu warnen. „Wir werden politisch auch wieder bessere Zeiten haben“, merkte er aber an.

The Forgotten Jewish Soccer Star from Vienna: Who Was Otto Fischer?

Der Standard, January 16, 2025
German original: https://wwo.derstandard.at/story/3000000252454/der-vergessene-juedische-fussballstar-aus-wien-wer-war-otto-fischer

Author and historian Alexander Juraske has written a biography of the footballer Fischer and the Jew Fischer – and with it a life on the eve of the Holocaust.

Andreas Hagenauer

It almost seems as if Otto Fischer had a hunch. On March 2, 1932, the then 31-year-old wrote in the autograph book of his niece Alice Tichy: “May the cuckoo get you, with thunder and pistols, if you forget who your Uncle Otto is. In memory of your Uncle Otto Fischer.”

Around ten years later, he was already dead. Murdered by the Nazis in the course of mass shootings in the Latvian port city of Liepāja. The memories of the brilliant left winger, the darling of the Vienna crowd, faded, lost in the vastness of football history. As a footballer, Fischer was celebrated during his lifetime, but as a Jew, he was repeatedly the target of anti-Semitism.

The cuckoo

The Viennese historian and author Alexander Juraske asked himself exactly this question: “At an event, contact was made with Fischer's great-nephew Robert Beig. On the one hand, the fact that Fischer was very well known during his active years and has now been almost completely forgotten was exciting for me. He is also the Jewish player with the most international appearances for Austria,” Juraske tells Der Standard.

In his biography Otto 'Schloime' Fischer – A Jewish Football Star from Vienna, Juraske focuses on Fischer the footballer, but also on Fischer the Jew, who was repeatedly subjected to anti-Semitic clichés and hostility. “Anti-Semitism was always there. It had different faces, different forms: a stereotype here, a joke there. But it was always there,” says Juraske. So in his biography of Fischer, he not only tells the story of Fischer's life and the rise of Austrian football, but also puts it all in a social context, that is, the ”tension between Jewish participation and anti-Semitism on the eve of the Holocaust.”

Gasse gegen Gasse

Otto Fischer was born into a Jewish family in Vienna's Favoriten district on January 1, 1901. His parents, Heinrich and Netty Fischer, came from Moravia. Heinrich worked as a representative for a spirits company, while Netty ran the household. Otto was the youngest of four children.

The family's center of life was Buchengasse 44, an apartment building typical of the working-class district. The Fischer family took their Jewish heritage for granted; they practiced Judaism without being orthodox. Holidays were observed, Yiddish was frowned upon. Favoriten was a melting pot even then, with immigrants from Bohemia and Moravia shaping the character of the neighborhood.

After the First World War, football experienced a major boom in Austria, with returning soldiers bringing the sport into the country. Football, previously a middle-class pastime, became a mass phenomenon. The boys of Vienna organized themselves into “wild teams” and played against each other in the streets of the district. Fischer played for Buchengasse, while Matthias Sindelar, who was two years Fischer's junior, represented Quellenstraße, another team from Favoriten.

The clubs were also interested in the wild teams, which were seen as an important source of young talent for Viennese football. Juraske says: “Floridsdorf and Favoriten were the breadbaskets of Viennese football.” At that time, Otto Fischer may have been called “Schloime” by his friends, a nickname that stuck. However, the anti-Semitic Austrian satirical magazine Kikeriki also frequently used the Yiddish variant of “Solomon” to spread anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Star in Vienna

Fischer was known for his speed, technical skills and dribbling abilities. Although he was rather small and slender, he was later to delight audiences as a left winger. At that time, football was dominated by the “Danube football”, a style of play that developed in the interwar period in the football metropolises of Budapest, Prague and Vienna. It was based on the Scottish short-passing game, was shaped by MTK Budapest and, according to Juraske, was more of a “label from outside Austria”. However, it ultimately ensured that Austrian players and coaches were in high demand. Football also became a driver of transnational migration.

As a teenager, Fischer joined the Hertha sports club, the Favoritner club, which was also rooted in the Jewish population: some players and officials were Jews. In 1920, he transferred to the Karlovy Vary FK in Czechoslovakia to play as a professional footballer. After a brief stint with Hagibor Prague, he returned to Vienna in 1922 to join the Vienna team, where he celebrated his greatest successes. “Schloime” was a star. In later photos, Fischer also appeared somewhat melancholy, and the media compared him to Charlie Chaplin. In September 1923, Fischer was called up to the national team by Hugo Meisl for the first time. He played a total of 173 championship games in the top division, scoring 52 goals. He played for Austria seven times. In 1928, he suffered a serious knee injury that ended his career.

A star in Latvia

After retiring from playing, Fischer switched to the coaching bench, initially in Serbia, the Czech Republic and Croatia, before accepting an offer from the Latvian club Olimpija Liepāja in 1936. Latvia was still a safe third country and became one of the last places for Jewish refugees to enter without a visa. With his offensive playing style, he won the Latvian championship in 1936 and 1938. In 1940, the Red Army invaded Latvia. The Nazi occupation of Latvia in 1941 abruptly ended Fischer's life. The master trainer was arrested, and Olimpija club officials tried in vain to intervene with the occupiers. Fischer was murdered in a mass shooting. Like most of his family members, his wife Anna also fell victim to the Nazis.

Only his sister Ernestine and her two children Paul and Alice survived the Holocaust. By remembering Fischer the footballer, but also Fischer the Jew, Juraske paints a picture of the times that shows the rise of football, but also how increasingly difficult life became for the Jewish population. So the cuckoo has nothing to catch. (Andreas Hagenauer, 16.1.2025)

Dialogue: Church Leaders Met With Chief Rabbi

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), January 14, 2025
German original: https://religion.orf.at/stories/3228426/

In the run-up to the Day of Judaism on Friday, January 17, the Bishop of Linz, Manfred Scheuer, invited all diocesan representatives for Jewish-Christian cooperation to a meeting for the first time in order to strengthen the Catholic Church's commitment in this area.

The meeting took place on Monday at the premises of the Coordinating Committee for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Vienna. The Chief Rabbi of Vienna, Jaron Engelmayer, also took part in the meeting. The pastoral theologian Regina Polak gave a keynote speech. Martin Jäggle, President of the Coordinating Committee, was also present as host.

It was the first meeting of its kind, which served to improve networking and the exchange of experiences throughout Austria. Bishop Scheuer subsequently expressed his gratitude to Kathpress for the exchange, in which the Catholic side was primarily concerned with listening and learning. Such a meeting is also a good opportunity to dispel confusion, said Scheuer.

Bishop concerned about anti-Semitism

Scheuer was concerned about reports that Jews were considering leaving Austria due to increasing anti-Semitism. “It is our concern that Jews feel safe here and that Jewish life is growing,” said the bishop.

On behalf of the Church, the bishop called for sensitive language and practice in relation to Jews in Austria. Bishop Scheuer is responsible for the dialogue with Judaism in the Austrian Bishops' Conference.

For “Judaism-sensitive pastoral care”

Prof. Polak expressed her dismay at the increase of anti-Semitism in Austria, which also exists among Catholics. On the other hand, she strongly encouraged the Christian-Jewish dialogue. In the face of rampant anti-Semitism, Catholics are urged to stand by Jews and Jewish communities in this country.

At the same time, it is important that a “Judaism-sensitive pastoral care” be learned in parishes that does not unintentionally reinforce anti-Jewish stereotypes – for example in the liturgy or in sermons. At the same time, Polak pointed out that such a dialogue is a source of joy, establishes new friendships and deepens one's own faith.

Late restitution of three paintings to the heirs of Max Oppenheimer

Der Standard (Olga Kronsteiner), November 12, 2024

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000244587/spaete-restitution-dreier-gemaelde-an-die-erben-nach-max-oppenheimer

The return from the Vienna Museum (Wien-Museum) has now become public in the run-up to the auction at Dorotheum. The case had been known for decades

Head slightly tilted, one eye squinted, brush in one hand, palette in the other, Max Oppenheimer remains in a concentrated pose: a small table with painting utensils just squeezes between his spread legs and the easel. It is an impressive self-portrait that, like two other portraits painted by the artist, will be auctioned at Dorotheum on November 19.

What does the trio have in common? It was most recently housed in the Vienna Museum and was restituted this year “to the legal successors of Max Oppenheimer”, as has now been announced in the run-up to the auction. Official communication on this process would not take place until 2025, specifically via the restitution report submitted to the municipal council for a vote.

Unlike at federal level, where the Art Restitution Advisory Board publishes its resolutions promptly after the meetings of the Advisory Board, the City of Vienna publishes information once a year in the fall and thus after the reporting period of the previous year.

Restorer in the service of the Gestapo

As DER STANDARD found out from the office of the responsible city councillor Veronica Kaup-Hasler, the recommendation for restitution was made by the Vienna Restitution Commission in March on the basis of a detailed dossier from February. Late, but still, because the relevant coordinates of the case had been known for decades. The main protagonist was a certain Julius Fargel, a painting restorer who had joined the NSDAP in 1932 and was employed by the Vienna Municipal Collections from July 1939. He also worked as a master appraiser for the Dorotheum and the Gestapo. The Municipal Collections benefited enormously from his function for the Gestapo's administration office for Jewish removal goods (Vugesta) in particular: Fargel's low valuations enabled him to make favorable acquisitions, while he donated other objects, more than 200 in total.

In 2003, the Vienna Museum published a list on its website of those objects whose owners were not known beyond doubt at the time of the Nazi takeover in March 1938 and asked for any useful information. In the course of this, a decision was also made in principle that all objects that had come into the collection via Fargel should be restituted. The identification of the former owners and the search for their legal successors is still ongoing in some cases.

Plundered from Mopp's apartment

Marie-Agnes von Puttkamer published the circumstances surrounding Max Oppenheimer's deprivation in 1999 in the catalog raisonné of his paintings. When Mopp, as he renamed himself to match his signature in his later exile, “saw the Viennese police wearing swastika armbands when he looked out of the window of his studio in the Hofburg two days before the Anschluss, he understood immediately” - he took only his Amati violin, his passport and other small items and took the next train to Zurich.

His apartment in Neulinggasse with its French antiques and first editions of Mozart and Beethoven was looted, including all the paintings, drawings and prints that were not in his studio in the Hofburg. Mopp emigrated to the USA via Switzerland and arrived in New York in January 1939. In February, the restituted paintings were donated by Fargel to the municipal collections.

After the end of the Second World War, a few works stolen from Mopp's apartment turned up here and there in Vienna. With the help of his brother, he endeavored to recover them, but to no avail. A claim for the return of the three paintings in the municipal collections was never recorded. Presumably because he was more interested in selling the monumental painting The Philharmonic to a museum in his home town: begun in 1934, the triptych had accompanied him into exile in America; the three wooden panels on which the canvas had been mounted weighed 600 kg.

Charitable organizations as heirs

His wish was not to be fulfilled during his lifetime. It was not until months after his death in May 1954 that the responsible Federal Ministry decided to purchase it for the Federal Artotheque for 52,000 schillings. It has been on permanent loan to the Belvedere since 1979, mostly in the depot; the last time visitors were able to catch a glimpse of the imposing painting was in the summer of 2023 (exhibition Kolossal).

The unsigned self-portrait only made sporadic appearances: in 1994 as part of a solo exhibition at the Jewish Museum Vienna, from March 2019 to July 2022 as a loan to the Leopold Museum and most recently, until it was handed over to the Dorotheum in August, in the Vienna Museum's new exhibition.

The estimated value is between 160,000 and 220,000 euros, while the portraits of the Swiss publisher Martin Hürlimann and the sculptor and graphic artist Moissey Kogan are expected to fetch up to 30,000 euros each. The proceeds will benefit the general public in some way, as the legal successors are two Austrian charitable organizations that do not wish to be named. (Olga Kronsteiner, 11/12/2024)

Edtstadler Regrets Increasing Polarization Due to Protests Against Rosenkranz

Der Standard (Max Stepan), November 11, 2024

German original: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000244339/edtstadler-bedauert-zunehmende-polarisierung-wegen-protests-gegen-rosenkranz

Measures to protect Jews are to be evaluated in the Forum against Anti-Semitism. Thirty-eight of 41 measures from the National Strategy have already been implemented.

Vienna - Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) wants to devote herself to the fight against anti-Semitism in the final phase of her term of office - she no longer wants to be part of a new government. On Monday, the National Forum against Anti-Semitism (NFA) met for the first time as part of the National Strategy against Anti-Semitism in 2022.

The forum consists of representatives from the federal government, the federal states and civil society institutions, among others. Its purpose is to discuss current developments and projects. According to Edtstadler, the “worrying developments in Europe” will also be a topic. On Thursday evening, for example, there were violent riots against Israeli fans in Amsterdam after the soccer match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The NFA also discussed the evaluation of the National Strategy against Anti-Semitism, which was presented in 2021. A total of 41 measures were set out in the strategy, 38 of which have already been implemented, according to Edtstadler. These include an amendment to the Prohibition Act and a law against hate speech online.

A documentation center for the prevention and combating of anti-Semitism is still being worked on, as are teacher training and continuing education programs for teachers in this area, and the supplementation and strengthening of basic training courses for the general administrative service and the executive service.

Protest against Rosenkranz

The topic of the forum will probably also be the action against the President of the National Council, Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ), which took place at the weekend: the Jewish Students' Union prevented a wreath-laying ceremony and commemoration of the FPÖ politician at the Shoah Wall of Names. In general, a number of Jewish representatives are critical of the new President of the National Council because of Rosenkranz's membership of a fraternity.

In any case, the protest is legitimate, “it is always necessary that freedom of expression against persons or parties may be expressed,” said Edtstadler on Monday. However, it is a shame that “there is only black and white and no more shades of gray and that we live in such a polarized society. It is time that we stood together again as a society,” said Edtstadler.

The president of the Jewish Community Vienna (IKG), Oskar Deutsch, was even more outspoken: “The decision of the Jewish Students' Union must be accepted. It is simply not possible to be a member of a fraternity and participate in this commemoration in a way that attracts media attention.”

Third meeting already

The NFA met for the third time. Last year, the forum agreed, for example, to increase the visible presence of security forces around Jewish institutions. On Monday, extremism expert Ahmad Mansour, among others, spoke at the NFA. Edtstadler hopes that the initiatives against anti-Semitism will continue even after her time in government. (Max Stepan, 11/11/2024)

History of the Gusen concentration camp reappraised

orf.at (Hanna Ronzheimer), November 9, 2024

German original: https://science.orf.at/stories/3227507/

More people died in the Gusen concentration camp, the former sub-camp of Mauthausen, than in Mauthausen during the Nazi era. However, the camp quickly fell into oblivion. Now the memorial site is being redesigned. In a new publication, the history of the concentration camp has been comprehensively reappraised for the first time - including new facts and figures.

The Gusen concentration camp in the Upper Austrian municipality of Langenstein consisted of three camps, which were operated as a branch of the Mauthausen concentration camp. The prisoners had to build them themselves from December 1939. The prisoners were mainly political prisoners from Poland, Italy and Spain. They were forced to work in the quarry and for the armaments industry and had to dig tunnel systems in the mountain.

Thousands of people died here as a result of forced labor and murder; the book mentions 32,000 known victims for the first time. What happened here was quickly forgotten in Austria after the war because most of the buildings were demolished and residential buildings were built on the site.

In the countries of the victims' families, on the other hand, the history of the Gusen concentration camp has been dealt with intensively for a long time, explains Gregor Holzinger, head of the research center of the Mauthausen Memorial and co-editor of the book: “Gusen is very well known, especially in Poland, much better known than Mauthausen. It wasn't like that here. For example, I never learned anything about Gusen at school, only about Mauthausen.”

New information center on site

But that is currently changing. There has been a small memorial on site since 2005, but in the next few years much more is to happen here in terms of remembrance and coming to terms with the past. An information center was opened in Gusen itself this week, where visitors can find out about the redesign of the memorial site.

Various research projects are running in parallel with the preparations. New findings and original documents are presented in the book. These include, for example, the documentation of “shootings on the run”.

According to the new surveys, 1,498 prisoners were shot “on the run” in Gusen between 1938 and 1945. These were mostly disguised and targeted murders by the SS. “Afterwards, however, everything was done bureaucratically to conceal these murders,” explains Gregor Holzinger. “In principle, it was just a psychological aid for the perpetrators, for the shooters, to show them: You did everything right, you can keep doing it like this,” Holzinger continues.

Reappraisal from perpetrator families

Photographic material from the perpetrators is also new. Previously, there were only photos taken by the Allies or Nazi propaganda material. Now the third generation from the perpetrator families is contributing more and more photographic material from private albums to the reappraisal.

For Gregor Holzinger, this is an important new source for coming to terms with history. The private photo albums make it clear how close the relationships between the relatives and the local population were. “We have some photos that show the soldiers out and about in private with women from the local population. They drank together in the pub, there were engagements and weddings.”

The integration of the soldiers into the everyday life of the population probably also contributed to the fact that it was only in the 2000s that a decision was made to come to terms with the past. Now - late, but nevertheless - an intensive start has been made.

(Hanna Ronzheimer, ORF Knowledge, 11/9/2024)