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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENNA 002155 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR DRL/SEAS RICKMAN, EUR/OHI, EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNAR PHUM PGOV AU
SUBJECT:  Visit of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat 
Anti-Semitism Rickman to Vienna, July 5-8, 2006 
 
 
VIENNA 00002155  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE 
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti- 
Semitism Gregg Rickman visited Vienna July 5-8 to pay 
introductory calls on Austrian and Jewish community 
representatives, as well as OSCE and EU officials. 
Rickman met with MFA Legal Adviser Ferdinand 
Trauttmansdorff; Secretary General of the National Fund 
for Victims of National Socialism, Hannah Lessing; Jewish 
Community President Ariel Muzicant; Johannan Edelman, 
spokesman of the NGO "Forum Against Anti-Semitism;" 
Director of the European Monitoring Center on Racism and 
Xenophobia (EUMC), Beate Winkler; the Director of the 
Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation 
(CENTROPA), Edward Serotta; OSCE Secretary General Marc 
Perrin de Brichambault; and OSCE/ODIHR Advisor on Anti- 
Semitism Kathrin Meyer.  Rickman discussed the issue of 
anti-Semitism in Europe and ways to combat it.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------- 
MFA Legal Advisor Trauttmansdorff 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In the meeting with MFA Legal Advisor Ferdinand 
Trauttmansdorff, Special Envoy Rickman noted that anti- 
Nazi implementing legislation was quite strong in Austria 
and Germany.  Trauttmansdorff agreed, saying this was due 
to the special responsibility Austria and Germany bore. 
Anti-Nazi restrictions are more far reaching than those 
for other hate speech.  This became an issue in Austria 
when courts sentenced historian David Irving for denying 
the Holocaust, while the defense of free speech dominated 
discussion of the Mohammad cartoons.  Trauttmansdorff 
said Austria had to underline that the special anti-Nazi 
legislation was a result of Austria's role during the 
Nazi era.  The legislation remains active -- there are 
some 200 indictments each year, of which 30-40 receive 
sentences.  Trauttmansdorff noted that Austria had found 
it necessary to reduce the minimum sentence for those 
whom courts found guilty under the legislation. 
Previously, it had proven difficult to win a conviction 
for relatively minor offenses, because courts were 
reluctant to impose the minimum five-year sentence in 
those cases.  As a result, those cases fell through the 
cracks.  Trauttmansdorff noted that anti-Nazi political 
action was as important as anti-Nazi legislation, in 
order to address anti-Semitic attitudes.  Special Envoy 
Rickman asked for a copy of the legislation, and 
Trauttmansdorff undertook to provide it. 
 
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National Fund Secretary General Lessing, IKG President 
Muzicant 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) National Fund for Victims of National Socialism 
Secretary General Hannah Lessing and Jewish Community 
 
SIPDIS 
(IKG) President Ariel Musicant noted that key European 
problem countries in the area of anti-Semitism were 
France, Spain, Poland and Ukraine.  They shared Rickman's 
concern over Arab/Islamic financed anti-Semitic 
agitation, and stressed the importance of education 
programs to combat anti-Semitism.  Muzicant, who is also 
Vice-President of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), 
reported that the EJC was still considering whether to 
participate in the Babi Yar anniversary events in Ukraine 
in September.  The EJC is concerned that the Ukrainian 
government may want to misuse the event for its own 
purposes, Muzicant said. 
 
--------------------------------- 
NGO "Forum Against Anti-Semitism" 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Johannan Edelman, spokesman of the "Forum 
Against Anti-Semitism," told Rickman that anti-Semitism 
in Austria most often manifested itself in the form of 
speech, not as physical violence.  That said, each year, 
there were a few attacks that seemed to have anti- 
Semitism as a motive.  More common were negative 
attitudes toward Jews.  As an example, Edelman said many 
non-Jewish Austrians tended to resent Holocaust 
 
VIENNA 00002155  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
restitution efforts, even if they acknowledged that the 
Nazis had stolen the property in question.  Edelman said 
Austrians still did not have the same acceptance of 
responsibility for the wrongs of the Nazi era that the 
Germans had. 
 
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Centropa 
-------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Rickman visited the general headquarters of the 
Central European Center for Research and Documentation 
(Centropa), a Jewish history project offering a multi- 
media approach to learning about the lives of people in 
central and eastern Europe.  Director Edward Serotta, an 
American who is the founder and creative force behind 
Centropa, described his goals as providing a positive 
message about Jewish history.  For Jews, this is a view 
of their past.  For non-Jews, it is a message about 
Jewish contributions to their common past, and about what 
they lost in the Holocaust.  Serotta said that while his 
effort is not overtly about anti-Semitism, his entire 
strategic goal is to combat anti-Semitism by highlighting 
the participation of Jews in European history.  Serotta's 
metholodogy involves thousands of personal interviews to 
capture memories of the past, and the collection of 
family photos and films.  On this basis, he produces 
material for access via the internet (www.centropa.org) 
or on compact disc.  These include "mini-documentaries," 
with a narration by the witnesses themselves over images 
and music.  Serotta said he receives financial support 
from the Austrian government and from other governmental 
and non-governmental donors.  However, the high cost of 
production necessitates a constant search for new funds. 
 
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European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Beate Winkler, Director of the European 
Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), 
described the history of the EUMC's special report on 
"Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in the EU 2002-2003." 
Winkler regretted that it had not been possible to 
compile precise data on perpetrators of anti-Semitic 
acts.  She also stressed the importance of harmonization 
of European legislation on anti-Semitism, and pointed in 
this context to the EU common framework decision calling 
for such harmonization. 
 
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Meeting with OSCE SG de Brichambaut 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) In his meeting with OSCE Secretary General Marc 
Perrin de Brichambaut, Rickman noted that he had just 
come from Brussels where he had attended the OSCE's 
Parliamentary Assembly meeting.  He expressed his desire 
to work with the OSCE in fighting anti-Semitism, but 
stressed that monitoring is the easy part -- combating it 
is the real challenge.  De Brichambaut highlighted the 
considerable work the OSCE does in the field of tolerance 
and non-discrimination.  He praised the U.S. for being at 
the forefront of combating anti-Semitism and reiterated 
the OSCE's commitment to fighting all forms of 
intolerance, including the rise of anti-Muslim and anti- 
Christian sentiment in various parts of the OSCE region. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Rickman replied that he had no problem with the 
OSCE addressing anti-Islamic or anti-Christian behavior 
but stressed the importance of keeping the issue of anti- 
Semitism separate from all others.  He noted with dismay 
the increase in anti-Semitism in eastern Europe, 
especially in Poland and Ukraine.  He mentioned that he 
would like to see the production of a compendium of 
European laws on anti-Semitism, a tool that could be used 
to help plug holes in existing legislation.  De 
Brichambaut proposed working this idea into one of the 
working sessions at next year's tolerance meeting in 
Bucharest.  De Brichambaut said that perhaps the session 
could be devoted to a comparative reading of different 
laws and a discussion of best practices.  Rickman 
responded positively to the idea and mentioned that he 
would like to see a focus on anti-incitement legislation 
at the Bucharest meeting. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Meeting with OSCE/ODIHR Adviser on Anti-Semitism 
 
VIENNA 00002155  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶9. (U) Rickman also met with the OSCE/ODIHR Adviser on 
Anti-Semitism, Kathrin Meyer.  He mentioned that he would 
like to see the production of a compendium of European 
laws on anti-Semitism.  He asked if ODIHR would be able 
to produce such a document.  Kathrin Meyer informed him 
that such a compendium already exists.  The Stephen Roth 
Institute of the University of Tel Aviv recently 
published a survey of anti-discrimination norms.  Rickman 
said that the next step would be to analyze the 
legislation, to find best practices. 
 
¶10. (U) Rickman asked Meyer what activities ODIHR was 
undertaking in the field of Holocaust Education.  Meyer 
observed that in general there is a lack of trained 
teachers and training materials.  Partially to counter- 
act this, ODIHR has made its guidelines for preparing 
Holocaust Memorial Days available for download on its 
public website.  Between 600 and 800 downloads are 
registered every month.  However, there are very few 
downloads made of the Russian language version of the 
guidelines.  This shows that they are not reaching 
teachers in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet 
Union.  This is probably due to the fact that most do not 
have Internet access.  Therefore, if they want to reach 
Russian-speakers, they will need to distribute printed 
copies of the guidelines.  Unfortunately, ODIHR does not 
have funds to do this. 
 
¶11. (U) Rickman asked if a compilation of general 
educational guidelines exists.  Meyer informed him that 
ODIHR is currently developing guidelines on anti-Semitism 
education, with support from the U.S.  She has created 
teaching materials for seven European countries (Croatia, 
Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland and 
Ukraine).  The materials were developed at a cost of 
$15,000 per country, paid for by extra-budgetary 
contributions.  They are divided into three parts, 
customized for each country: 1) historical anti-Semitism; 
2) anti-Semitism today; and 3) anti-Semitism and other 
forms of discrimination.  The professional-looking color 
guides are currently being tested in a small number of 
schools.  Based on the results, final adjustments will be 
made to the materials.  Depending on the availability of 
funds, they will be printed and distributed as widely as 
possible to schools in these countries. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Meyer told Rickman that funding for anti- 
Semitism programs within the OSCE - and even within the 
Tolerance Section - is very precarious.  Meyer's work is 
financed to a large extent through U.S. and German extra- 
budgetary contributions.  Meyer herself is currently 
seconded by the German government.  She needs additional 
funds to cover the printing and distribution of the 
Holocaust Memorial Days guidelines as well as the 
teaching materials on anti-Semitism.  For the latter, 
funding for distribution in Ukraine is a top priority. 
She estimates that $100,000 would cover the cost of 
providing teacher training materials as well as color 
brochures for students to take home in 100 schools.  If 
funding eventually becomes available, she would like to 
expand this program to include Russia and Spain. 
 
McCAW