Protest Against Dinghofer Symposium in Front of Parliament in Vienna

The counter-"symposium" titled "Against Historical Amnesia and Nazi Honor in Parliament" involves representatives of the Jewish community and writers. At the protest event in front of the Parliament in the evening, speakers include the Vice President of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ariel Muzicant, authors Doron Rabinovici and Susanne Scholl, as well as the director of the Jewish Museum Vienna, Barbara Staudinger. On Tuesday morning, the Socialist Youth of Austria (SJÖ) and the Association of Socialist Students (VSStÖ) also called for a rally in front of the Parliament. Around 30 people demanded Rosenkranz's resignation with banners and speeches.

Criticism of Rosenkranz over Dinghofer Symposium

The symposium named after the controversial former politician and jurist Franz Dinghofer, which has already taken place in Parliament and the Palais Epstein used by Parliament in recent years, has caused a stir this year in advance. After several contemporary historians mobilized against the "honorable remembrance of a declared anti-Semite and National Socialist" in an open letter, criticism followed from ÖVP, SPÖ, NEOS, and the Greens. The President of the Jewish Community of Austria (IKG), Oskar Deutsch, called on Rosenkranz on Monday to cancel the event. The FPÖ, on the other hand, spoke of a "smear campaign."

"Despite all the downsides that Franz Dinghofer has shown, demonstrably - one should also see the good sides," defended Rosenkranz in the Ö1 "Morning Journal" the symposium. It has been held in Parliament for 15 years - "and apparently since I am now President of this house, it is a problem." The event on the occasion of the founding of the First Republic is important to the third camp, as fundamental and freedom rights were introduced in Austria at that time, according to the National Council President. Dinghofer was one of the defining figures at that time.

FPÖ Defends German-National Dinghofer

On Tuesday, the parties clashed again. Rosenkranz forgets "that as National Council President he is the second man in the state - and does not act here as an FPÖ representative," ÖVP constitutional spokesperson Wolfgang Gerstl is quoted in a statement. The SPÖ's spokesperson for remembrance culture, Sabine Schatz, urged the event's cancellation. Dinghofer was, after all, a confessed anti-Semite, both criticized.

FPÖ General Secretary Christian Hafenecker stepped in to defend Dinghofer. The "founder of the Republic" was prematurely dismissed as OGH President after the "Anschluss," and his family property was expropriated by National Socialists. That he was an NSDAP member is not proven: "Documents on this show contradictions and are without his signature." Hafenecker accused the SPÖ of overlooking the anti-Semitism of historical social democrats. "The first State Chancellor of the First Republic and first Federal President of the Second Republic, the Social Democrat Dr. Karl Renner, was, for example, a confessed anti-Semite, supported the 'Anschluss' to Hitler's Germany in 1938, and ingratiated himself with Stalin - yet the SPÖ party academy is still named Dr.-Karl-Renner-Institut," he emphasized.

The most important functions of the German-national politician were the office of Mayor of Linz, Vice Chancellor, and Third President of the National Council. Later, he was President of the Supreme Court until 1938. According to information from the Federal Archives in Berlin, Dinghofer was an NSDAP member. He applied for admission to the NSDAP in 1940, which was granted to him after just two and a half months. In the post-war period, he became a simple member of the VdU, the predecessor organization of the FPÖ.

(APA/Red)

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