The number of recorded anti-Semitic incidents in Austria rose by almost 10 percent last year, the Vienna Jewish Community reported.
In 2019, the IKG (Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Wien), the representative body of the community, and the Forum against Anti-Semitism recorded a total of 550 anti-Semitic incidents in the country, around four fifths of them in Vienna, according.
“I don’t want to speak of alarming figures, because the development has been worrying for many years,” said IKG President Oskar Deutsch.
According to the IKG, there were six physical attacks on Jews, 18 threats, 78 property damage, 209 anti-Semitic mass correspondence and 239 cases of hurtful behavior. All rated cases met the criteria of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.
Last year an exhibition in Vienna entitled Against Forgetting was smeared and damaged several times with swastikas and anti-Semitic abuse. Jewish children were also attacked in a public transport in Vienna.
Almost half of the anti-Jewish incidents recorded are to be assigned to the extreme right-wing spectrum. In 31 cases, according to the IKG, they were people who are ideologically or religiously classified as political Islam. 25 perpetrators are considered politically left-wing or left-wing extremist.
“Jewish life is an integral part of Austria and most of our fellow citizens know this. Unfortunately, there are an increasing number of people in Austria who stir up antisemitism and who engage in antisemitic acts,’’ Deutsch said. ”
Describing the capital of Vienna as “a thriving city for Jews,” he praised the close cooperation between the community and law enforcement agencies in providing “a high level of security, together with the security measures put in place by the community.”
Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said that anti-Semitism ‘’still exists in Austria many decades after the end of Nazi rule. Its appearance has changed but the possibilities of digitalization have opened up new spaces.’’
For European Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler, the IKG report is a call to action. It shows that we still have a lot of work to do in this area.”