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Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Historians urge Austria’s far-right parliamentary speaker to cancel event honoring declared antisemite
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Historians have called on Austria’s first far-right parliamentary speaker to call off a planned event that “honours a declared antisemite.”
Parliament elected Freedom Party (FPOe) lawmaker Walter Rosenkranz as speaker after his far-right party topped national polls last year for the first time, though the FPOe failed to form a government.
The country’s main Jewish organization has ruled out participating in events with Rosenkranz, who faces widespread criticism for being a member of a far-right student fraternity known for its strident pan-German nationalism.
In the latest controversy, Rosenkranz has come under fire for an event he plans to hold in parliament on November 11, named after Franz Dinghofer, an Austrian vice chancellor in the 1920s.
In an open letter sent to AFP, more than a dozen historians urge the event to be called off, citing Dinghofer’s Nazi party membership, which he held from 1940 onwards.
They criticize that parliament is being made “the place of honourable remembrance for a declared antisemite.”
The event is to be held just after Austria marks the 87th anniversary of the anti-Jewish “Kristallnacht” or “Night of Broken Glass” pogrom on November 9-10.
It has also drawn criticism from the IKG, which represents the Jewish community in Austria, and major political parties.
The ruling conservative People’s Party (OeVP) insists the focus should be on “the victims — and not the perpetrators”, while the opposition Greens have called it a “disgrace” that “damages the dignity of the high house.”
The FPOe, founded by former Nazis, dismisses the criticism as a “smear campaign,” claiming Dinghofer ended up as a “victim of the Nazi regime.”
After the war, Dinghofer joined the German nationalist Federation of Independents party, the predecessor to the Freedom Party.
Rosenkranz has not immediately replied to an AFP request for comment.
The Freedom Party has frequently faced accusations of antisemitism, which it denies.
The Times of Israel Community.