President of Austria assured that his country "shares responsibility for the Holocaust"

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen told his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin Monday that the Autshares the responsibility for the Holocaust and badured that his country is fighting for the Jews to live in peace in any place, during an official visit of the president to Israel.

Returns arrive a little over a year after Sebastian Kurz became Chancellor of Austria in alliance with a party of the far right, causing a wave of concern in a country that in addition to and unlike Germany, it took them decades to begin to recognize their role in the persecution and genocide of the Jews and other minorities during World War II

"Austria shares responsibility for the Holocaust. Many Austrian citizens participated and we bowed to the memory of the victims, with respect and humility "Van der Bellen said at a press conference in Jerusalem, according to the newspaper The time of Israel.

"We accepted this responsibility too late and this caused problems in our early relationships", he added.

Van der Bellen later stated that the goal of his government was that Jews "feel safe anywhere". "As Austrians and the victims of the Holocaust, we have the responsibility to live in peace and in agreement with Israel. "he remarked.

For his part, Rivlin thanked the Austrian president for being a "true friend of the state of Israel and the Jewish people".

Austria and the rise of the far right

The two leaders visited Monday the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum, as part of Van Der Bellen's tour of the country, with the aim of trying to chill the backs of relations between the two countries. of the rise of Kurz, a young politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who arrived in the Chancery in 2017, is the head of the country's government, after forming a coalition with the far-right party Freedom Party of Austria (FPO)).

The growth of FPO and its controversial leader Norbert Hofer, linked to the country's neo-Nazi groups, This happened in a context of increasing popularity of all far right parties in Europe.

However, although the FPO managed to get in touch with the Austrian government through the alliance with the ÖVP, Hofer was defeated in the presidential elections by Van der Bellen, a member of the center-left ecologist party.

The particular situation generated an Austrian government shared by progressives, conservatives and extremists, and for this reason, Van der Bellen was warmly received in Israel at the same time as Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl's invitation to the OPS was withdrawn according to Haaretz.

Kurz himself even sought to improve relations between Austria and IsraelHe spoke to his counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to try to leave behind the complex history of his country in the twentieth century.

The "first victim" of Nazism

Despite the fact that the German dictator and genocide Adolf Hitler was born in Austria and that the country was the seat of many concentration campsVienna has long since moved away from the Nazi era and the Holocaust.

The argument quoted was the "Anschluss", the forced annexation that Germany made to Austria in 1938 after crossing the border with its troops to make it a province of the Third Reich. Although some sectors rejected the union at that time, the process was mostly calm and peaceful. it was ratified at a plebiscite in which annexation was imposed at 99.7%.

Nowadays historians seriously question this popular consultation, this was done by means of a sung vote and the presence and pressure of German soldiers in the polling centers.. But beyond the invalidity of the referendum, there was no serious resistance to the union.

At the end of the Second World War, the victorious allies reestablished the Austrian borders and granted the country the status of "liberated" and not "defeated", precisely thanks to the Anschluss, which gave enormous freedom to the new republic. In those years, the "victim theory" was also popular, whereby the Austrian state is considered the first victim of Nazism, denying all responsibility.

Therefore, and contrary to what happened in Germany, Austria only began to recognize its role in the Holocaust in 1991, the rebuilding of synagogues and other buildings razed by the authorities in alliance with the Nazis, and From 2005, he began paying compensation to Austrian survivors.