Austria’s new Chancellor, Fred Sinowatz, has pledged that his country will continue to extend its facilities to Jews emigrating from the Soviet Union enroute to other countries.
He offered that guarantee in the course of a 90-minute meeting with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, chairman of the World Jewish Congress-American Section, the first American Jewish leader Sinowatz met with since he succeeded former Chancellor Bruno Kreisky.
“I am committed to an open door policy for Soviet Jews. We are prepared to facilitate their transit and look forward to receiving an increased number of Jews who seek to emigrate from the Soviet Union,” he told Schneier who is senior rabbi of the Park East Synagogue in New York City. The two men also discussed the Israel-Lebanon agreement, the situation in the Middle East and various international issues. Schneier was accompanied by Dr. Leon Zelman, chairman of the Jewish Welcome Service.
The WJC leader also met with Foreign Minister Erwin Lanc and President Rudolph Kirchschlager of Austria who stressed that his country’s political leaders must learn from the past.
Schneier, who was born in Vienna, also met with 22 former residents who were forced to leave Austria after the 1938 Anschluss. He delivered a Sabbath sermon at Vienna’s main synagogue. Addressing Holocaust survivors, he said: “You have rebuilt your lives in the shadow of Mauthausen. In rebuilding Jewish life in Austria you must always remember the Holocaust and the rebirth of the State of Israel.” There are presently more than 10,000 Jews in Austria.
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