United States High Commissioner for Austria, Walter Donally, today asked the Austrian Government to ban showings of the film “The Immortal Beloved” in the American zone of Austria.
The film, produced by Veit Harlan, formerly a close associate of Hitler’s Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels and producer of the Nazi film, “Jew Suess,” was the cause of a riot in Salzburg last week in which Jews and anti-Nazis, demonstrating against the showing of the picture in Austria, were injured in a clash with police and Hitler Youth groups.
In a note to the Government, the United States official said he was deeply concerned over the Salzburg incident in which people protesting against performance of the picture were attacked and seriously wounded. He pointed out that showing of the Harlan film had been banned because of Harlan’s Nazi background. Austrian Minister of the Interior Oskar Helmer said today that he had ordered a rigorous investigation of complaints of police brutality against the Salzburg demonstrators.
Arieh Eshel, Israel Consul in Austria, commenting on the anti-Jewish outbreaks in Salzburg, said that information made available to him indicated that “certain local authorities acted according to the best pogrom traditions.” The Israel Consul voiced the hope that the Austrian Government would sharply condemn the anti-Semitic incidents and also promise an immediate investigation to determine who was responsible for this “unnecessary bloodshed.”
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.
