Three generations brought together’: 75th anniversary of Ansc hluss commemorated

An event jointly organised by the Austrian Embassy and the AJR commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Anschluss was held at the Austrian A m b a s s a d o r ’ s Residence in London on 13 March this year. Christoph Weidinger, Deputy Austrian Ambassador, told the crowded reception that the Austrian Embassy and the AJR had brought together for the occasion three generations ‘to remember, to honour the victims and the survivors, and to help young people of today to make sure that what happened 75 years ago will not repeat itself in any way.’ ‘Working towards a world of tolerance is a task that must never end,’ he warned. AJR Chairman Andrew Kaufman, noting the presence at the reception of members not only from London but from across the UK as part of the AJR’s annual three-day visit to the capital, said that ‘We share a commitment to remembering the victims and stand together to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust and the dangers of racism, extreme nationalism, intolerance and anti-Semitism are properly taught.’ Other speakers were AJR members Otto Deutsch and Frances Steiner, Hannah Lessing, Secretary General of the General Settlement Fund and of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, and Moriz Kopetzki, a Gedenkdiener at the London Jewish Cultural Centre.