The Austrian League for Human Rights has notified the Union of Jewish Communities of its intention to lend full support to renewed efforts to ban festivals based on the “ritual murder” legend at Rinn, in the Province of Tyrol.
Rinn is the spiritual center of Christian festivals which, like the Passion Play at Oberammergau, are performed chiefly by local inhabitants. The festivals are performed at St. Andreas Church which is well known for its possession of 31 medieval paintings which, together with its so-called “Jew-Slab,” are supposed to “illustrate” an old “ritual murder” libel against Jews. Reproductions of the paintings are sold during the tourist season at Rinn.
Jewish and non-Jewish organizations have made several efforts to have these festivals discontinued. The World Jewish Congress and other organizations protested to Cardinal Innitzer, archbishop of Austria, two years ago, but were informed that this matter was not “within the competence” of the archbishop, who refused to intervene. According to the Rinn fable, St. Andreas of Rinn, after whom the present church is named, had been “slaughtered by Jews because of their hatred of Christ.”
The issue of the Rinn festivals will be placed on the agenda of the Austrian League for Human Rights when it meets in Vienna later this year. Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the League has suggested to the Union of Jewish Communities that efforts to ban the Rinn festivals be coordinated so that the drive against the festivals may have greater weight of public opinion.
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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.
