Neo-Nazi groups will send a delegation to the Acting United States Commissioner for Austria to point out that a veto by him of the pro-Nazi laws passed recently in the Austrian Parliament would be considered by the population as “an offensive tutelage and an interference with purely domestic Austrian affairs,” it was reported in the press here today.
Leading the delegation will be members of the Austrian Parliament who represented the League of Independents, a neo-Nazi group. This group, together with the Movement for Political Regeneration, issued a declaration stating that “the Austrian population rejects the creation and maintenance of privileged groups or person, and wishes the unconditional equality of all citizens before the law.”
A report in the press here quotes “well informed circles” as declaring that the Austrian authorities plan to combine “in a single complex” the restitution laws and the pro-Nazi amnesty regulations criticized by the American Government. The report says that this “Law for Political Pacification” would be submitted to the Austrian Parliament anew and that, as far as Nazi amnesty regulations are concerned, they will be adopted once again in the form of a “motion of insistence,” indicating Austria’s determination on this issue.
The American Jewish Congress is singled out in the Austrian press today for attacks in connection with the protest which it submitted to the State Department against the Austrian pro-Nazi laws which provide for the restitution of rights and property to former members of the Nazi Party and at the same time affect detrimentally the restitution of property to Jewish victims of Nazis. The Austrian press claims that the American Jewish Congress “insulted” Austria.
Jewish world organizations, some of the Austrian newspaper point out, have already launched vigorous campaigns against the laws while they were being discussed in the Austrian Parliament. They also stress the fact that Israel has raised claims against Austria. These, they say, cannot be recognized. They quote Austria’s recent memorandum to the United Nations member states “that Austria cannot recognize claims which date back to a time when she was deprived of her freedom of independent decision.”
The restitution of confiscated Jewish property, the press argues, can only be effected on an individual basis and only when a legal title is proven. The newspapers make it clear that Austria definitely “refuses to rule on property that became owner-less on a collective basis.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
