The Austrian Ministry of the Interior today announced the dissolution of the Social Regulation Movement of Europe, a neo-Nazi movement with headquarters in Graz. Announcing the action, the Ministry said that the rallying of people hostile to democracy and the neo-Nazi foundations of the movement had “alarmed” the Austrian people. At the same time, the Ministry said it would ban a proposed all-European conference of the movement–known as SORBE.
Meanwhile, former Austrian Nazis who were interned after the war today announced the formation of a “Vienna Welfare Committee” with “non-political aims” to aid 5,000 Viennese ex-Nazis and those who were charged with Nazi membership after the war. Informants reported that the ex-Nazis had established branches in other Austrian provinces and that the activities paralleled similar programs in Germany where former SS troopers were organizing under the camouflage of welfare program.
It was also reported that a number of neo-Nazi and ex-Nazi groups had formed the “Working Committee of National Youth Organizations of Austria” whose main task was announced as that of educating Austrian youth according to “Nationalist Socialist ideas.” A number of propaganda departments have been formed by the new committee, it was reported, including one to infiltrate the Austrian army under the leadership of Fred Borth, who recently was tried for neo-Nazi activity.
The “Freedom Party of Austria,” successor to the Neo-Nazi League of Independents, opened a fight in its publication, Neue Front, against restitution to the victims of the Nazi regime. The article charged that the victims “made a business” out of political persecution.
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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.
