Austria's far-right Freedom Party officials sing SS song at funeral of former member

The Nazi SS loyalty song was sung in Vienna on Friday at a funeral that top officials from the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) attended, Austria’s newspaper Der Standard reported Sunday.

The funeral was for former FPO politician Walter Sucher, who died two days earlier at the age of 90. 

The head of the Freedom Party is currently Herbert Kickl. In 2010, Kickl downplayed SS activities during the Holocaust. Kickl, then the FPO's General Secretary, told the then-Jewish Community President Ariel Muzicant that a blanket condemnation of Waffen-SS members was "nonsense," according to Der Standard.

The FPO came first in the parliamentary election on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The top FPO officials who attended the funeral included MP Harald Stefan, parliamentary group director Norbert Nemeth, and National Council member Martin Graf.

Also at the funeral was Johann Gudenus, the former parliamentary group leader who had previously stepped down.

The SS song did not prompt anyone to leave the funeral, although it is unclear from the footage that Der Standard viewed whether the attendees mentioned above sang along.

Condemnations of the song

The New Austria and Liberal Forum, the Greens, and the Democratic Socialist (SPO) parties reportedly condemned the FPO, and the FPO argued that it was disrespectful for a funeral to be exploited politically, condemning its members.

The Jewish Austrian Student Union announced on Saturday that it filed charges against those FPO politicians who were in attendance on suspicion of Nazi re-engagement, according to the Der Standard report.

Jewish Austrian Student Union President Alon Ishay told Der Standard that this event was an "alarm signal for Austria." 

"The fact that top FPO officials so shamelessly glorify Nazism shows how deeply Nazi ideologies are rooted within the FPO. Such individuals do not belong in parliament but before a court," Ishay said.

World Jewish Congress executive council member Benjamin Guttman also commented on the event, according to Der Standard.

The singing of the SS song not only represents "an unprecedented disrespect towards the victims of National Socialism but is also a textbook legal case of Nazi re-engagement." 

Guttman filed the complaint on behalf of the Jewish Austrian Student Union. He stated, "It is unbearable that these individuals continue to hold political office instead of facing justice in court."

"Those who have forgotten why the FPO can be called the party of 'cellar Nazis' are reminded of it by FPO candidates with SS song backgrounds." Jewish Community of Vienna president Oskar Deutch remarked in a statement to Der Standard.

"In the sunshine, they present themselves as democrats; in their cellars, they bring out the Nazi songbooks," he added.

The symbols of the SS are currently banned in Austria.