The Federation of Austrian Jewish Communities charged today in a sharply worded statement that the Government of Austria apparently was continuing a policy of minimizing Nazi activities in Austria.
The statement said that no top official of the Austrian Government found it desirable, as Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of the West German Republic did, to condemn publicly the Nazi smeared and their “wire-pullers.”
The Government has done nothing to inform the people about “the growing danger” of Nazi activity and seems unable to find words of solidarity for the surviving victims of Hitler’s “murder machinery, ” the statement said. The Federation added that Austrian Nazis have connections with Nazis in other countries.
Sixteen persons have been arrested for participation in the recent anti-Semitic manifestations in this country, Josef Afritsch, Austrian Minister of the Interior, announced today. A number of extremist right-wing organizations have been dissolved, he revealed.
Mr. Afritsch said he would introduce an amendment to the present law regulating private organizations, in view of “the misuse” of privileges by some organizations. Present legislation, he stated, “still offers loopholes” for persons interested in undermining democracy. Although he suspects that the recent anti-Semitic actions may have been directed from a single headquarters, the Interior Minister said, he has no proof of central coordination of these manifestations.
Vienna police announced today the arrest of Gunter Kaemel and Hans Moert on charges of neo-Nazi activities. The two men, in whose apartments police found quantities of Nazi literature, were wearing uniforms of the defunct Hitler Youth when they were arrested. They have been charged with planning to launch a new Nazi youth group.
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.
