Special legislation for the return of confiscated property to Austrian Jews would be “un-democratic and create new anti-Samitiam,” President Karl Renner told a correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Pointing out that the Nazis had also stripped non-Jews of their possessions and confined them in concentration camps, the 76-year-old Socialist leader said that personally he could not be acoused of being anti-Semitic since his son-in-law is a Jew. He cited the latter’s difficulties in securing return of a house taken over by the Russians, and said “we must have patience.”
The surviving Jews in Vienna have had almost no success in securing return of their apartments or houses, and 600 of them are still living in institutions for want of anywhere also to go. The situation will be rendered more acute by the imminant arrival of 1,500 Jewish repatriates from Shanghai. No one here has any idea where they are to be lodged.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
