A furore was caused among the Austrian Jews today, when it became known that Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg had been negotiating with leaders of the Austrian Nazis, including Dr. Fritz Riehl and M. Reinthaler, for the inclusion of the Nazis in the Fatherland Front which now rules Austria.
Inclusion of the Nazis in the Fatherland Front would mean the inevitable inclusion of the Nazis in the Austrian cabinet.
Colonel Adam, Austrian government propaganda chief, confirmed the fact that negotiations had taken place in a government broadcast and declared that the Chancellor had insisted on recognition of Austria’s independence as a prime requisite for further negotiations. The Austrian propaganda chief, however, failed to state that the Nazis demanded of Chancellor Schuschnigg that the Austrian government immediately adopt the full internal Nazi program as laid down by the Hitler government.
Austrian Jewry, despite this, is apprehensive lest the negotiations result in speedy Nazification of Austria, with a resultant quickening of the persecution of the Jews.
In segregating Jewish children in separate ghetto schools, the Austrian government followed the Nazi model closely. Even the children of Jewish converts to Christianity were ordered sent to the all-Jewish schools.
Hundreds of Jewish employees, professionals and civil service workers have been dismissed from their posts in recent months in Austria. In most cases, applications for the posts were invited from persons capable of proving their “Aryan” ancestry.
The Fatherland Front, which was organized by the late Chan-
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.