Statement by the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI) On the Current Rise in Antisemitism Worldwide

The VWI condemns the drastic rise in anti-Semitic incidents of verbal and physical violence and the global threat to Jews following the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli residential areas on 7 October 2023. On the night of 1 November 2023, the ceremonial hall in the Jewish section of Vienna’s Central Cemetery was set on fire.

Already at the beginning of November 1938, exactly 85 years ago, the Jewish Community of Vienna mourned the devastation of its ceremonial hall by the National Socialists. On the other hand, during the Second World War, the new Jewish cemetery had offered the Jews who remained in Vienna a last resort. It is thus inscribed in the collective memory as a central site of survival. Today, the new attack causes traumatic memories of the Holocaust in many survivors. At the same time, Jews in various places, including Vienna, are threatened and their houses and streets are marked.

The VWI calls on the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna to use all means at the disposal of the constitutional state to protect those affected and to consequently punish antisemitic hate crimes.

With his life’s work, Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal stands for the defense of our fundamental democratic values and for understanding between the most diverse social, cultural and religious groups. The VWI sees both threatened by the attacks against Jews currently spreading all over the world and also in Austria. The VWI stands in solidarity with all Jews, the Jewish Community of Austria, to Israel as the home of the survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants as well as to the hostages of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The VWI commemorates all civilian victims of the conflict in the Middle East. The VWI calls on the citizens of Austria, especially those responsible in politics and the media, to show civil courage and to do everything possible to safeguard our democratic values and to enable everyone to live a safe and fear-free life.