Dominik Zotti is a strapping, blond 20-year old from Vienna, the grandson of a German army veteran who guides visitors through the Holocaust exhibit at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Reinhard Hannesschlaeger, 24, from northern Austria, works in the computer section of Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. Both are acutely aware of… More ▸
A Chasidic community’s apparent wedding invitation to an Austrian far-right leader has started a chain reaction that resulted in slammed doors at Montreal’s Holocaust museum. Jewish leaders, outraged that the small Tash Chasidic community apparently sent Jorg Haider letters inviting him to Quebec, barred him from visiting the museum. The appearance of Haider, whose xenophobic… More ▸
After years of failing to address the issue of Holocaust restitution, Austria’s new government says it wants to quickly enter negotiations with survivors and Jewish groups to settle outstanding claims. However, some in the Jewish world see this sudden change of heart as an attempt to dampen the criticism of the governing coalition. The government… More ▸
The dark cloud hanging over the rise of Jorg Haider’s right-wing Freedom Party in Austria may end up having a silver lining for the Jews of neighboring Slovakia. It may also boost the self-confidence of a community struggling to re-emerge and consolidate in the wake of the Holocaust and five decades of Communist rule. “Of… More ▸
A rabbi and three guests walked home through the streets of the city center after having a Shabbat dinner last Friday, when they were stopped by a man in his 60s. “I am a Roman Catholic,” he told the rabbi, who with his long beard, and black coat and hat was clearly identifiable as an… More ▸
Some 200 of Europe’s Orthodox rabbis have aborted plans to meet in Vienna next month as a protest against the inclusion of Jorg Haider’s far-right Freedom Party in Austria’s governing coalition. The Conference of European Rabbis said it would move its scheduled March meeting to Slovakia because it was now “inappropriate” for the rabbis to… More ▸
The entry of Jorg Haider’s far-right Freedom Party into the Austrian government triggered international sanctions, demonstrations and street riots, and prompted calls by Israel and Jewish groups to isolate the country. But the fact is that the current crisis in Austria is only marginally a Jewish issue. “It is a problem of Austria, a problem… More ▸
Israel has threatened to recall its ambassador to Vienna if Austria’s president approves a coalition that includes far-right leader Jorg Haider’s Freedom Party. “If such a coalition arises, there is no place for an Israeli ambassador in Austria — period,” Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel Army Radio on Wednesday, adding that Israel must… More ▸
Austrian leaders have used the opening of a new Jewish school campus here to pledge their commitment to democracy in the face of an international furor over far-right gains in last week’s general election. Chancellor Viktor Klima and President Thomas Klestil also urged foreign states and the media not to judge Austria solely on the… More ▸
The fortune that fuels the political career of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party leader Jorg Haider is a $15 million estate that was acquired from Jewish owners during World War II. The 3,700-acre Barental property was owned by Russian-born Giorgio Roifer, a wealthy Jewish businessman who studied law in Vienna before moving to Pisa, Italy, and… More ▸
