Turbulent scenes such as Vienna has not witnessed for a long time occurred today when 700 Nazis holders of “Aryanized” property, tried to hold a public meeting in order to demonstrate against the Austrian restitution laws.
These measures for restoring to former owners or their heirs property which had been confiscated or taken by forced sale under the Nazis have been the subject of earlier protests by an organization to “protect the legal rights of those now holding Aryanized property. Just before today’s meeting the group distributed an eight-page booklet demanding relief from the “injustices” of the restitution laws.
Charging that the organization is composed mainly of former Nazis, Austrians who-were formerly concentration camp inmates have decided to demand that the Minister of the Interior, Oskar Helmer, order the immediate dissolution of the “Aryanized” property-owners’ organization, on the ground that it is “Nazi-tainted.”
Before today’s meeting could be called to order, a group called the “Schutzverband” (protective league), composed of about 100 former concentration camp inmates and Austrian “fighters for freedom” (World War II underground), entered the room at the Wimberger restaurant where it was being held. Most of the group’s members are non-Jewish.
Several Schutzverband members mounted the platform and one of them addressed the gathering, saying that Austrian democrats, particularly those who suffered personally under the Nazis, would not allow a public meeting to be held by Nazis, even if the meeting and the organization holding it had the permission of the Ministry of the interior.
The speaker then asked the assemblage to leave the room. The majority declined to do so and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. The Schutzverband then formed a line and forced the Nazis out of the building. Many hand-to-hand fights took place, with swinging of chairs and brandishing of fists, but nobody was hurt. After the room was cleared, the police closed the meeting and broke up the fights continuing in the streets. The police behaved with moderation and made no arrests.
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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.
