Austrian Premier Says Austrian Anti-semitism is Not Serious Enough to Warrant State Action

Anti-Semitism in Austria has not assumed such forms that the government needs to take action against it, Johann Schoeber, Austrian chancellor, said today in an interview with Jacob Landau, managing director of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

He said that “anti-Semitism at times finds noisy expression but the equal citizenship rights of the Jews nevertheless always remain unrestricted. Occasional Hakenkreutz disturbances and students’ demonstrations do not deserve to have importance attached to them abroad.”

Chancellor Schoeber recalled that anti-Semitic excesses in the universities were worse when he was a student thirty-six years ago. At that time, he said, the anti-Semitic movement was at its height. The Austrian premier spoke of the time when Karl Lueger, Christian Socialist leader, was elected mayor of Vienna for the first time in 1897. But even under Lueger, he said, the position of the Jews as equal citizens and their right to enjoy equal rights was not affected.

“Luger adroitly exploited anti-Semitism to spread his own policies,” Chancellor Schoeber declared. “It is symptomatic of the spirit that existed in Austria that Lueger’s election was not recognized, the municipality itself dissolved and a government official temporarily placed in charge of the Vienna administration. I know of no similar case in any other country.”

Speaking of Zionism, Chancellor Schoeber said he had always been keenly interested in the movement and declared he understands the idea and “the Zionist Jews, who, conscious of their historic connection with the Jewish people, are making it their task to rebuild Palestine.” The Chancellor also spoke of his long friendship with Dr. Robert Stricker, Austrian Radical Zionist leader, and of his friendly relations with the late Rabbi Chajes, whom he termed an “extraordinary personality and a man of strong character.”

Chancellor Schoeber laughingly recalled that his friendship with and for Jews gave rise a few years ago to rumors that he himself was a Jew. A Jewish newspaper replying to an inquiry from a reader informed him that Schoeber was not a Jew nor of Jewish origin.