“No more than 5,000 Jews will remain in Austria after 1950, including 1,500 to 2,000 Jewish displaced persons,” Ernest Stiassny. representative of the World Jewish Congress in Vienna, declared at a press interview.
“Today, there are about 12,000 Jews in Vienna,” Stiassny said, “but there is no doubt that at least 10,00 Jews will leave the country within the next two years.” He added that there are, however, some aged Jewish refugees, most of than from Shanghai who are still returning to Austria. Though the Jewish community in Vienna now has its own hospital, a well-functioning social welfare organization, and a credit institution–established with the aid of the Joint Distribution Committee–“it will be very hard to reorganize Jewish life in Vienna as it was before I935,”Stiassny said.
Stiassny charged the Austrian Government with indifference regarding the restitution of property to forcer Jewish owners. The Jewish community of Vienna has to care for thousands of Jewish men, women and children, because of the failure of the government to return their property.
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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.