Bombings aimed at advocates of minority groups, including the pro-Jewish mayor of Vienna, have raised concern in Austria about the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment.
At least 10 letter bombs have been sent, and Austrian authorities believe neo-Nazis are behind the attacks.
The mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk, was seriously injured Sunday when a letter bomb exploded as he was opening his mail.
Zilk, so far the most seriously injured of the persons who received such bombs, lost all or part of at least three fingers of his left hand.
The attack on Zilk and others has particularly affected Jewish and Israeli leaders, who hold high regard for the mayor and his position as protector of minority rights and dignity in Vienna.
The Austrian capital has for years served as a gateway, transit center and haven for refugees from the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and other troubled areas.
Emigrating Jews, in particular, have benefited from Vienna’s hospitality. Agencies such as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee have long maintained high-profile offices in the Austrian capital.
Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres sent get-well wishes to Zilk, as did former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, a Vienna native.
Last month, Zilk and Kollek together hosted the opening in Vienna of a Jewish museum, a project that Zilk promised in 1986 amid the squall of reports on successful presidential candidate Kurt Waldheim’s Nazi past.
THE BOMBS CAME FROM RIGHT-WING CIRCLES
JDC President Milton Wolf, a former U.S. ambassador to Austria, issued a statement expressing hope for a quick recovery for Zilk and all the victims of the letter bombs.
“In the last decade, Vienna has served as a gate to freedom for many hundreds of thousands of refugees and, among them, Russian Jews,” Wolf said.
“Mayor Zilk has always demonstrated a humanitarian spirit by helping or by actively facilitating our work,” he said.
Zilk also serves as president of the local Jewish Welcome Service, which provides Jewish cultural tours of Vienna.
Interior Minister Franz Loschnak said it seemed the bombs “come from right-wing circles where there is hatred of foreigners and all who try to help them.”
The ministry has sent warnings to more than 100 individuals and agencies that could be targets.
The bombs, made of nitroglycerine inserted in drinking straws and electronically detonated, were of a professional nature, police sources said.
The police were reportedly focusing on a small right-wing group based in the province of Lower Austria. Unexploded letter bombs defused by police contained the message, “We are fighting back. Count Rudiger von Starhemberg.”
Von Starhemberg led Vienna’s successful resistance to the Ottoman Turks in 1683 and is regarded as a symbol of heroism by Austrian neo-Nazis, government officials said.
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.
