Austrian Nazis in the 21st Century

Hitler Lives Now in Austria (Österreich)

For several years, American television has broadcast an annual New Year concert from Vienna, Austria. The conductor is usually an American and the music includes the compositions of the Jew Johann Strauss. Austrians pretend that Strauss was not Jewish. The audience at these concerts is well dressed and evidently of upper class or at least middle class income. There is great enthusiasm for the music, the dancing and the participation of the audience in the inevitable playing of the Radetzky March, composed by Strauss Sr., which always concludes these concerts. Those who know nothing about Austria are no doubt impressed by the joy, the festive atmosphere, and the good looking population.

Yet, like their erstwhile idol, Hitler, the Austrians are the very epitome of hate. They hate all Jews, although there are only 8,000 Jews in Austria, constituting only one tenth of one percent of the population of 8.84 million.

 Almost all Austrians have never met a Jew. This failure to ever even see anyone Jewish does not prevent the Austrians to assert that Jews should stop talking about the Holocaust and the murder of the Jewish population of Hitler’s Austria in the Mauthausen death camp. Today, as in 1938 when the German army entered Austria and annexed the country to Germany, the Austrian population hates the Jews, whom they have never even seen. As soon as the German army entered Vienna, the  Austrians forced Jews to clean the streets while kneeling in the dirt, to the amusement of the population.

Today there is no reason to burn down all synagogues (Greek =assembly), as that was already accomplished in 1938. Today hatred of Jews is as popular as it was when Hitler ruled, except that there are hardly any Jews present. Hatred of Jews without Jews is indeed a phenomenon worthy of examination, as hatred of Jews is most powerful where there are no Jews. This forces the haters to vandalize Holocaust memorials and Jewish cemeteries. Desecration of Jewish graves is a favorite amusement in Austria, as is the writing of anti-Jewish graffiti. Lately a pole carrying a Star of David flag was torn down and a swastika (Hakenkreuz) was hoisted instead. In Austria, Jews are not welcome to make hotel bookings. A favorite lie of the Austrian public is the accusation that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their home country. It is also contended that Jews have too much power in the business world and in international finance.

The haters also hold Austrian Jews responsible for all problems and disputes in the Middle East, even if the European Jews have never been there.

Finally, Austrians know that hatred of Jews is the fault of the Jews themselves.

There is much more hate among Austrians than what is recorded here. Yet this suffices to show that Hitler still lives in his homeland, although the hate has far  fewer targets than when Der Führer was alive.

Shalom u'vracha.

  Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including The American Jewish Community in the 20th and 21st Century (2021).

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