The Deputy Chairman of the Vienna branch of the Austrian Liberation Party, Hans Klement, said Friday that his party would not think of forming a coalition with the ruling Social Democrats, because “Kreisky is a Jew.” In 1933, Klement was forced to leave the Austrian army because of his Nazi activities.
In an interview with the news magazine “Profit.” Klement said he did not agree with the Socialists on racial problems. He said anti-Semitism was still latent, and a certain apathy existed for emotional reasons. He said he also knew there were Jews in the ranks of the Austrian People’s Party. Klement said his upbringing and personal attitudes would not permit him to go into coalition with Jews, but insisted he was not anti-Semitic.
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.
