Wearing the full uniform of a field marshal in the old imperial Austrian army, Archduke Eugene of Hapsburg suddenly appeared yesterday at a synagogue, where services were being held in celebration of the twenty-second birthday of the Archduke Otto.
The synagogue was packed with hundreds of Jewish World War veterans wearing their old field-gray uniforms.
General Sommer, president of the Austrian Jewish Monarchist League, and a former general in the imperial army, greeted the Archduke in the name of the Jewish war veterans.
The Archduke sat through the services and later addressed the worshippers, declaring, “I am most obliged for the invitation to be present at your celebration of the birthday of his Majesty the Emperor.”
News of the Archduke’s visit created a sensation when it became known, since hundreds of similar celebrations were held all over Austria yesterday, including one attended by Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg’s wife, but Archduke Eugene chose to attend the Jewish celebration.
General Sommer was sharply criticized by various elements in the Vienna Jewish community when he offered the late Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss the services of 17,000 Jewish war veterans to crush the Austrian Socialists. The Austrian government refused the proffer.
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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.
