Jewish Artist Alon Yeshay Attacked in Vienna Amid Protest Against Controversial Karl Lueger Monument
Last Wednesday in Vienna, Austrian Jewish artist and former president of the Jewish Students’ Association at the University of Vienna, Alon Yeshay, faced antisemitic verbal abuse, physical assault, and spitting by passersby during an art tour. The event critically examined the recently restored monument of Karl Lueger, Vienna’s mayor from 1897 to 1910, known for his staunch antisemitism. During the tour, Yeshay sprayed anti-Lueger slogans on the ground and placed stickers reading "Shame" on the monument. The group included writer Doron Rabinovitch, university lecturers, and vice-rector Gerhild Steinbuch.
Shortly after the artistic protest began, police arrived with 15 to 20 officers, ending the event and filing charges against Yeshay and Steinbuch for disturbing the peace and causing property damage. Authorities reportedly ordered Yeshay to clean the monument, a demand he refused, calling it "completely absurd" since only water-soluble chalk and stickers were used. The historical context is sensitive, as during the Nazi annexation of Austria, Jews were forced to clean antisemitic graffiti.
After police left, tensions escalated when Yeshay was verbally attacked by a local who insulted him with antisemitic slurs, calling him a "Jewish pig" and "scum," praising Hitler, and physically assaulting participants. Yeshay expressed shock but noted the abuse was sadly predictable. He criticized the monument for perpetuating antisemitic traditions rather than serving as a site for education or dialogue.
Milly Lee Rabinovitch, chair of the Jewish Students’ Association, witnessed the attacks and condemned the police response, highlighting the irony of heavy police presence over minor chalk and stickers, yet no protection during the antisemitic assault. The Karl Lueger monument has been controversial for years, as historians identify Lueger as one of Austria’s earliest political antisemites. Adolf Hitler dedicated a chapter to Lueger in "Mein Kampf," calling him the greatest mayor of all time.
Yeshay described passing the monument daily as a slap in the face for Jews, decades after the Holocaust. The Jewish community leadership in Vienna, including Rabinovitch and Leah Gutman, demands the monument’s complete removal. In 2022, Holocaust survivors and public figures, including Nobel laureate Eric Kandel, called on Vienna’s mayor Michael Ludwig to remove the statue, but no response has been given.
