Declamatory anti-Semitism has stopped to a certain extent in Austria but practical anti-Semitism continues unabated. That was the statement made to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent by a leading personality in Viennese Jewish life, a well informed man who would talk only on the promise that his name would not be disclosed.
“The economic position of the Jews,” he continued, “is still menaced, impoverishment is growing to a frightful extent.
“All the efforts of the Jewish representatives to stop the wholesale dismissals of Jewish employees, above all of doctors and engineers, have met with no success, except for a few of the worst cases.
“The bulk of the Jewish doctors continue to stand in danger of dismissal, a procedure that is continuing systematically as the possibility arises of replacement by Christian doctors. None in a state hospital can be sure of his position and the situation of the Jewish M. D.’s is critical.
“The state,” continued the J. T. A.’s informant, “is ridding itself of all Jewish functionaries and employees in the social-political and the Health Insurance institutions. The reform of the social insurance system, which has been announced, again threatens a large number of Jewish doctors and office employees.
“The position of Jewish employees in banks, in the big industrial enterprises and commercial concerns is hopeless. And so it goes in every field of endeavor.”
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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.
