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 ▸
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 ▸
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 ▸
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 ▸
Far-right leaders across Europe are saying the strong electoral showing made by their colleague in Austria could well be a harbinger of better days to come. But as it became clear that the xenophobic Freedom Party of Jorg Haider, notorious for once praising Hitler, was locked in a close battle for second place in Austria’s… More ▸
A far-right political party with a xenophobic platform is poised to make big gains in next week’s general elections in Austria — and could become the country’s second biggest political force. Once a pariah in national politics, the Freedom Party, led by 49-year-old populist firebrand Jorg Haider, received 27.5 percent of the vote in regional… More ▸
