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Austrian far-right faces new Nazi songbook allegations

Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) was hit by fresh allegations of anti-Semitism on Tuesday, just weeks after a similar scandal forced the resignation of a high-ranking party candidate.

Published: 20 February 2018 16:39 CET

Austrian far-right faces new Nazi songbook allegations

File photo from 2012 shows Austrian fraternity members gathered at Heldenplatz in Vienna to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II. Photo: AFP

A songbook from the FPÖ-linked Bruna Sudetia student fraternity contained similar virulently anti-Semitic song lyrics to the previous case, Falter magazine reported.

The weekly said the fraternity is chaired by Herwig Götschober, describing him as a close confidante of transport minister Norbert Hofer, who came close to being elected president in 2016.

Götschober told the magazine via a transport ministry spokesman that he had no knowledge of the songbook and “categorically” rejected its contents.

Earlier this month Udo Landbauer, lead candidate for the FPÖ in elections in Lower Austria state, resigned after similar revelations about his own student fraternity. He denied all wrongdoing.

As in that case, the latest songbook to come to light includes the lyrics: “In their midst comes the Jew Ben Gurion: 'Step on the gas, old Germanics, we can make it to seven million'.”

Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust during World War II, many of them in gas chambers at Nazi death camps. David Ben-Gurion was the first prime minister of Israel.

The latest book also contains songs by writer Hans Baumann, which were composed for Nazi youth organisations.

Other lyrics in the Bruna Sudetia book celebrate the death of Jews, allude to rules excluding Jews from joining fraternities and refer to Austria as being “separated” from Germany.

The latest revelations emerged just days after the FPÖ appointed a committee of historians to look into its own history.

However, the party said that it has no powers to compel student fraternities to participate in the inquiry as they are private organisations.

Prominent researchers have said that without looking at the influence of the fraternities, many of which have ultra-nationalist leanings and close links to the FPÖ, the committee risks turning into a whitewashing exercise for the party's image.

The FPÖ leadership insists it rejects all forms of Nazism, anti-Semitism and racism.

The imam and rabbi's friendship that defies stereotypes in Austria

The two men’s talks, educating students about their religions, have taken on additional pertinence since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent relentless bombing of Gaza.

Since then Austria has seen a rise in both anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim acts, as elsewhere in Europe.

“We must separate religion from politics,” rabbi Hofmeister, 48, told the students, while imam Demir, 38, nodded in support. “This is not a religious war, it is a political conflict, a terrible conflict that must not impact our communities here in Europe,” Hofmeister added.

The two volunteers are in high demand because “just our friendship alone defies stereotypes”, according to Demir. Their diaries are packed until June, with the pair visiting some 30 Austrian schools.

During last week’s two-hour discussion at a high school in a working-class suburb of the capital, questions came thick and fast from the students aged 16 to 18.

A livestream allowed those unable to get a seat in the large hall to hear them explain how Jews and Muslims pray to the differences between kosher and halal.

The two men’s talks, educating students about their religions, have taken on additional pertinence since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent relentless bombing of Gaza. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)

Talk on ‘equal footing’

The two bearded men — one wearing a kufi cap, the other a wide-brimmed fedora hat — met 10 years ago during an inter-religious project and have since worked together, travelling to Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The Gaza war has not affected their friendship, they say.

“We want there to be peace, without any ifs and whens,” Demir said, while Hofmeister added that he was “glad they started to cooperate so early on to be able to address the current crisis.”

The war started when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. But concern has mounted amid the high civilian death toll from Israel’s retaliatory campaign, now at almost 30,000, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

The Vienna school where the pair were speaking has 1,200 students of 63 different nationalities, although none identify as Jewish.

At each break, numerous students crowd around the duo, who use humour to lighten the atmosphere.

“It’s interesting to see how similar religions are,” 17-year-old Estella Dolas told AFP.

Austria is a majority Catholic country, with Muslims making up around 8 percent of the population. Only 0.1 percent — just 5,400 people — declared themselves as Jewish in the 2021 census.

School director Inge Joebstl, 55, said the rapport and respect between the two men, who spoke “on an equal footing”, made the students more receptive.

Especially since many of them will otherwise look for answers on social networks where “self-proclaimed experts converted two years ago explain to them what Islam is”, warned Demir.

“After we leave, the students may not remember everything we told them,” admitted Hofmeister. “But they will remember that an imam and a rabbi came to their school and that they got along well.”

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