Kickl's coded rhetoric is reminiscent of Nazi-led Austria - opinion

Next week’s elections in Austria present the Austrian people with a pressing question: Herbert Kickl, the likely leader of the largest party in parliament. Kickl is a thinly veiled neo-Nazi and may become the new “Chancellor of the People” 80 years after the last one took his own life.

On September 29, neo-Nazi Kickl, one of the main contenders for the country’s leadership, will have his moment. While he might struggle to form a coalition and officially become chancellor, polls predict he will lead the largest party in parliament. We’ve seen worse figures rise to power with less.

How extreme is he? Kickl is so extreme that to many, he evokes memories of two other infamous Austrians: the one who died by suicide in a bunker and the one who was sentenced to death in Israel. In a country already morphing into a frightening hotbed of antisemitism, even a small figure like Kickl could institutionalize what is already felt on the streets.

But unlike the two “Adolfs” mentioned earlier, Kickl must still tread carefully and cautiously. He’s acutely aware of Austria’s strict, antisemitism-sensitive laws, and thus avoids stepping on legal landmines, and instead performs acrobatic feats around them. No explicit antisemitic quotes will be heard from his mouth. Yet, his close circle has recorded thousands of antisemitic or neo-Nazi incidents in recent years, which he has tolerated with a wink and a nod. He calls himself “the People’s Chancellor,” with, of course, no reference to the last person with that title – Hitler.

Kickl opposes circumcision, but not due to antisemitism. Oh no, it’s all about “children’s rights.” He’s against kosher slaughter, but naturally in the name of “animal rights.” And he condemns the activities of the Israeli army because they allegedly hinder peace in the Middle East. Yet, in a television interview, he refused to condemn the SS because, in his words, he’s “against generalizations.”

Kickl’s party, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), maintains a staunchly anti-Israel stance. Their representative in the European Union is one of the fiercest critics of Israel. The party, which sprouted in the 1950s from Nazi roots and was originally led by former SS officers, has long flirted with neo-Nazism while skillfully avoiding disqualifying itself from mainstream politics. However, it’s not moral considerations but legal constraints that have shaped the party’s limits. 

When Kickl took over leadership in 2021, the party adopted more radical strategies and recruited more extreme members. A prime example is Kickl’s deputy, Udo Landbauer, who gained notoriety for leading a neo-Nazi group that distributed antisemitic texts, including songs mocking the murder of Jews and calling for the continuation of the Holocaust.

The Vienna Jewish community

The Jewish community in Vienna is deeply concerned, and justifiably so. Rabbi Jacob Frenkel, a leader in Vienna’s Jewish Council, describes this as a moment of truth. After the elections, it will be clear whether Jewish life in Vienna can continue. The council’s bylaws forbid any contact with representatives of the Freedom Party, which would add further difficulty to the Jewish community’s existence if the party gains power.

Next week, it’s happening. Kickl will put the Austrian people to the test. The same Austrian people who, 86 years ago, enthusiastically cheered for the Anschluss, which turned Austria into a province of Nazi Germany. If next week they repeat their 1938 performance and welcome neo-Nazis back into power, they will no longer be able to claim that they were “victims of the Nazis.”

Back then, Vienna had 200,000 Jews. Today, there are only 10,000. Then, the Nazis swiftly eradicated Jewish life from Vienna. Today, it could be even easier.

The writer is the president of WIZO.