"Emotional moment"

In search of Jewish traces in the Vienna Hofburg

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, his wife Doris Schmidauer (right) and Susanne Trauneck from the Jewish Welcome Service show great interest in the autobiography of Carlos Burger (left), whose parents had to flee from the Nazis.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

Moments full of emotion: Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has invited guests of the Jewish Welcome Service from Australia, Israel, England and the USA to the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. 

"I am proud to be standing here. It's a very emotional moment," said a moved Carlos Burger. His parents fled from the Nazis to South America. Mr. Burger is one of the guests of the Jewish Welcome Service invited by Federal President Van der Bellen to the Hofburg.

Dorit Schallinger (left) - she is related to Bruno Kreisky's family - in conversation with "Krone" editor Münzer.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

Kreisky relative came all the way from Tel Aviv
Dorit Schallinger also took a seat on a golden armchair in the Hall of Mirrors. The 75-year-old traveled from Tel Aviv and was able to experience the socio-political and economic changes of the young Republic of Austria at first hand. "Bruno's grandmother was my great-grandmother's sister. His brother Paul immigrated illegally to what is now Israel in 1938," says the senior citizen, who speaks fluent German. The popular statesman supported his brother financially. Because Paul was disabled.

When Jews are hunted, persecuted and murdered again, Austria and the world must not remain silent.

Bundespräsident Alexander Van der Bellen

Australian traveled halfway around the world
Daniel Hochberg lives in Sydney and tells how his 18-year-old mother was frightened by Hitler's "Anschluss speech" on Heldenplatz. Her father Samuel Fischer, an electrical engineer, was sure that his family would be treated well as he had been awarded the Iron Cross in the First World War. But the machinery of extermination rolled on. Samuel and his wife Frida died in the concentration camp. Daniel's mother escaped death in Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, where she was liberated by the British.

A memorial stone on Vienna's Wieden commemorates the deportation of Daniel Hochberg's grandparents.(Bild: Reinhard Holl, Krone KREATIV)

The young woman made it to New Zealand via an aunt. "She remained Austrian in her heart and always cooked Viennese food," says the son, who also feels deeply rooted in his mother's homeland: "When I walk through the streets here, I feel at home." The 65-year-old still bakes the apricot cake according to his mother's recipe. A memorial stone on Wieden commemorates the sad fate of his grandparents.