Schuschnigg Statement on Jews Warrants Study, Stricker Holds

The statement which Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg recently made to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency concerning the Jewish question in Austria “requires closer explanation, expansion, correction and a stand on the part of the Jews,” ex-Deputy Robert Stricker says here in an article in his newspaper, Die Neue Welt.

“The Chancellor’s statement was made in a very worthy manner, and he endeavored not to avoid any important questions,” Mr. Stricker says. “His statement went beyond the conventional assurances that have become customary in dealing with the Jewish question, and they provide the basis for exhaustive discussion.

VITAL TO AUSTRIA

“The statement was made to the foreign world, but it is of the utmost importance for Austria itself, for it gives ground for a departure from the attitude taken up till now, unfortunately, too, by many on the Jewish side, of simply denying the Jewish question, or avoiding it by indulging in empty phrases and empty protests.

“What the Chancellor said must be taken up openly and conscientiously. There are three points in particular which have to be gone into thoroughly: the position of the Jew in general economic life, in public service, and in the schools. Conditions in these matters are at present untenable. The statement in which they previously earned their living, needs amplification to explain how they are to be placed in other professions which have been closed to them, like public service, State and municipal, from which they have been shut out hitherto.

“The statement, which is clearly meant earnestly, that there is no intention of creating a ‘schools ghetto’ must be followed up by action. The purely mechanical segregation of Jewish children in their own classes, where they will be taught in a non-Jewish spirit by non-Jewish teachers, does not mean anything else than a school ghetto. If the Chancellor finds the proposal made by the Jewish People’s League of value, then the proper educational authorities must at last take this project seriously.”

The Stimme, the official organ of the Austrian Zionist Federation, says that the Chancellor’s statement emphasizes that the government denies the influence of anti-Jewish tendencies upon the measures it is taking.

“So far as the anti-Semitic agitation is concerned, the government, unfortunately, overlooks its connection with anti-State National Socialism,” Stimme declares. “It is not partisan to take measures against treason, in whatever form it manifests itself. Nor is it partisan to intervene, because the State, the Christian religion or the German nation have never been attacked by the Jewish side. The agitation against the Jews preaches murder and boycott, it is a violation of the penal code, and protection of law and order can never be described as partisanship.

“The Chancellor admits,” the Stimme continues, “that the large proportion of Jews in the liberal profession is due to historic developments. It should be added that the vast field of agriculture has been closed to Jews and continues to be closed to them. The pressure of the non-Jewish population upon the liberal professions is therefore an injustice, since it seeks to take the bread out of the mouths of the Jewish intellectuals, not on social but on racial grounds.”