The famed Vienna Philharmonic orchestra has revoked awards it made during Adolf Hitler’s rule to six leading Nazis, as it quietly responds to criticism of the way it has dealt with its past. The symbolic move, decided in October but not publicly announced, follows the Philharmonic’s publication earlier this year of details of its conduct…
The former mayor of a village in Austria has resigned following an uproar caused by his statement in favor of hanging Jews and journalists. Karl Simlinger, who ran the village of Gfohl, which is located 43 miles northwest of Vienna, resigned Friday, the news agency Novum reported. Simlinger made the statement on Tuesday night during…
When her parents escorted 16-year-old Alice, my aunt, to the Vienna train station, her father was crying. Her mother on the other hand, remained strong and optimistic. “She said, ‘We’re going to see each other again,’” Alice, nicknamed Lizzie, remembered. ”And I was like, I’m going to England, and I’ll be able to improve my…
The Viennese museum that houses one of Gustav Klimt’s greatest artworks says it has evidence that its previous Jewish owner sold it to the Austrian state in an amicable transaction, rather than too cheaply under duress. The Secession museum is defending itself against a claim from some of the heirs of art collector Erich Lederer,…
Austrian Jews have praised a Viennese former museum director who resigned because of board members’ ties to an art collection which belonged to a pro-Nazi film director. “The resignation of the director of the Leopold Museum, Tobi G. Natter, is a bold step,” the Jewish Community of Vienna, or IKG, wrote in a statement. Natter…
The director of Vienna’s Leopold Museum, home to extensive collections of work by Austrian artists such as Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, has quit in a row over Nazi-looted art. Tobias Natter said he could no longer stay at the museum after some of its most senior staff joined a controversial new foundation associated with…
When I started grammar school in my hometown of Vienna at the age of ten, Christian religion classes were part of the schedule. As a Jew, I was allowed to opt out and spend the two hours a week doing my homework in the school cafeteria. This peace only lasted a few weeks into the…
It is hard to imagine finding a line from the Talmud at the post-election celebration of Austria’s populist, far-right Freedom Party. The scene, in a tent on the glittering Ringstrasse right next to Vienna’s City Hall, was smoke-filled and dimly lit. The overwhelmingly male crowd sat at long rows of wooden tables and benches, drinking…
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