Government Councillor Dr. Ernst Klebinder, the editorin-chief of the "Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung" one of the big Vienna dailies, was attacked to-day by a group of Nazis armed with horsewhips while he was sitting at a cafe table, and was beaten till he was smothered in blood.
The Nazis have been arrested, and proceedings are being opened against them by the State Attorney.
Government Councillor Dr. Ernst Klebinder, who is a Jew, belonging to the so-called Liberal assimilationist section, was responsible by an article which he published in his paper, for the Constitutional Court, the supreme court on constitutional questions in Austria, taking up the question of the so-called student rights which had been conferred on the antisemitic German Aryan student organisation at Vienna University, and ordering them to be annulled on the ground that they were unconstitutional.
Dr. Klebinder has also earned the hostility of the Nazis by the determined campaign which he is conducting in his paper against Hitlerism, publishing recently an entire special anti-Hitlerist issue of his paper.
Dr. Klebinder precipitated the action on the question of the antisemitic student rights by an attack in his paper on Dr. Gleispach, the Rector of Vienna University, and the members of the University Senate, who thereupon proceeded against him for libel.
I admit I am the author of the article in question, Dr. Klebinder said when the case came up in court, and I take full responsibility for its contents. Under Article 13 of the Constitution, everyone has the right to express his opinion by word of mouth, in writing or in print, in so far as it does not offend against the law. The student order at Vienna University, is, in my opinion, in conflict with the existing laws, and it does not reflect any credit upon Vienna University.
That is my opinion, and that is what I have said in the article. The effect of this student right is to divide the students at Vienna University not into internal and external students, but into Aryan and non-Aryan students. It is a matter of principle. I hold that there is no legal basis for this student right.
Dr. Klebinder cited the names of the leading scientists, jurists, physicians and others in Vienna, showing how nearly all of them had Jewish blood in them, and that the same applies to most of the Professors at the University.
I regard the student order as a document which is a shame to our generation, and a violation of our Constitution, Dr. Klebinder concluded his speech, and I call upon the Constitutional Court to hand down its decision that the student order is in conflict with our laws.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
