Mass Meeting of Vienna Jews Demands Restoration of Rights and Individual Reparations

An overflow mass meeting of Jewish survivors today heard demands that the Austrian Government act immediately to restore to Jews all rights, properties and jobs which were taken from them during the Nazi regime.

Arthur Rosenberg, an official of the Austrian Peoples Party, which controls the Government, said that a proposed Government plan to allot a flat sum in compensation for Jewish losses was not satisfactory, and that the Jews demand individual reparations. When he urged the dismissal of any official who has expressed anti-Jewish sentiments, voices from the audience asked: “What about Kunschak?” Leopold Kunschak, president of the National Council, vice-mayor of Vienna and a vice-president of the Peoples Party, has been under fire for several months for anti-Semitic public addresses.

Rosenberg charged that part of the Austrian people had participated in the persecution of Jews, and demand that the Government take measures to solve the Jewish problem here. Following his address, the meeting adopted a resolution calling on Chancellor Leopold Figl to name Jews to all bodies which deal with Jewish affairs, and to remove Nazis from public positions. Many speakers cited specific instances of discrimination against Jews by government bureaus, and said that Jews were finding difficulty in securing employment.

In an interview with a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent Kunschak alleged that his speeches had been misquoted and he was not anti-Semitic. However, he said he was opposed to special measures for restoration of Jewish rights and property, “since non-Jews also suffered at the hands of the Nazis.” He also asserted that Jewish commercial groups, such as the Jewish chambers of commerce, bred new anti-Semitism.