Anti-semitism Increasing in Austria After Extose of Medical Experiments on Children

Anti-Semitic propaganda in Vienna has increased sharply since the expose of unauthorized operations and medical experiments on Jewish refugee children by a doctor at the Steinhof Hospital here. Both officials and ordinary citizens have been accusing the Jews of attempting to destroy Austria by “lying” about Austrian doctors.

Apparently influenced by the anti-Jewish atmosphere, Mayor Theodor Kcernor has cancelled a conference with David Brill, president of the Vienna Jewish Community, on the question of housing for Jewish repatriates, declaring that this was an “unfavorable time” to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, the Austrian authorities have tightened the border controls aimed at keeping out Jewish refugees from Rumania, citing an old British protest against it and a Russian order prohibiting the movement of refugees through their zone of Austria. In the past, the Russian order has been more henored in the breach than in the observance, with the Russian authorities generally exhibiting no concern at the movement of Jews through their territory. A protest to Interior Ministry Oskar Helmer brought a denial that the government had ordered Jews turned back at the frontier, and the following day come 200 Rumanian Jews arrived here.

Harold Trobe, Joint Distribution Committee director in Austria, has released a statement that the medical inquiry commission which investigated J.D.C. charges against the Austrian doctor had substantiated all the facts as presented by the relief agency. He pointed out that the J.D.C. had at no time labelled the experiments an atrocity nor charged that the malpractices had occurred for racial reasons.

The J.D.C. director also asserted that the Austrian Government was not being held responsible for the incident. On the contrary, he pointed out that the J.D.C. had appealed to the government in full confidence that proper action would be taken by it.