Austria: Blasphemers set fire and painted swastikas at Jewish cemetery in Vienna

The Jewish section of Vienna’s central cemetery was desecrated overnight by unknown persons. As the head of Austria’s Jewish community complained, during the night strangers set a fire, while on the outer walls they painted swastikas,

The president of the Jewish Community of Vienna, Oskar Deutsch, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), wrote that the fire burned the entrance hall to a ceremony hall, but caused no injuries.

The Chancellor of Austria condemned the attack

According to him, the fire service and the police are conducting an investigation. Fire service spokesman Gerald Schiff told the Austrian News Agency that the fire appeared to have started overnight and was largely out by the time firefighters were called shortly after 8am.

“Anti-Semitism has no place in our society”

Austrian Chancellor Karl Neuhammer in a post on X condemned “the attack on the Jewish cemetery in the strongest possible terms”. “Anti-Semitism has no place in our society,” he said, adding that he hoped the perpetrators would be found quickly.