Schoenau ultimatum
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The Schoenau ultimatum was a hostage-taking incident in
Marchegg Marchegg ( cs, Marchek, hr, Muriek, Marhek, sk, Marchek) is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria near the Slovak border formed by the Morava River Morava may refer to: Rivers * Great Morava (''Velika ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
by the Palestinian militant group As-Sa'iqa in 1973. At the time Vienna was a transit point for
Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
, the largest population of
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
remaining in Europe. The Schoenau ultimatum focused attention away from Egyptian and Syrian military build-up and their planned attack that would come to be known as the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
.


Background

The Israeli government had long encouraged European Jewish refugees to immigrate to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. After many of the Jews displaced by the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
had emigrated to Israel, the Russian Jewish population, the last source of
Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
, who were facing increasing oppression within the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, became an important population encouraged to emigrate to Israel. In the wake of the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
in 1967, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. This stirred up
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feelings among some Soviet Jews, the majority of whom were assimilated and non-religious. A mass emigration was politically undesirable for the Soviet regime. As increasing numbers of Soviet Jews applied to emigrate to Israel in the period following the Six-Day War, many were formally refused permission to leave. After the
Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair The Dymshits–Kuznetsov aircraft hijacking affair, also known as The First Leningrad Trial or Operation Wedding (russian: Ленинградское самолётное дело, or Дело группы Дымшица-Кузнецова) (Leni ...
in 1970 and the crackdown that followed, strong international condemnations caused the Soviet authorities to increase the emigration
quota Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a trade restriction on the quantity of goods imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * Indi ...
. From 1960 to 1970, only 4,000 people left the Soviet Union; in the following decade, the number rose to 250,000. Many of these Jews passed through the transit center located at the Schönau Castle in Austria. The Castle was used by the Austrian government as a transit camp for Soviet Jews who had just been permitted to leave the Soviet Union prior to emigrating to the West.


Hostage taking

On 28 September 1973, three to seven Jewish emigrants were taken hostage, among them a 73-year-old man, an ailing woman and a three-year-old child, on a train at the Austria–
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
n border by a Syrian-based Palestinian Arab militant group, As-Sa'iqa. In addition to demanding a free passage to an Arab country, they gave the Austrian government an ultimatum to close the Schönau transit center or they would execute the hostages.
Austrian Chancellor The chancellor of the Republic of Austria () is the head of government of the Austria, Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime minister, Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies. Current officeholder is ...
Bruno Kreisky Bruno Kreisky (; 22 January 1911 – 29 July 1990) was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1966 and as Chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72 at the end of his chancellorship, he was the oldest Ch ...
gave in to the demands and closed the
Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
's transit facility. The incident captured the attention of Israeli media and became a ''
cause célèbre A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...
''. Israeli Prime Minister
Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...
diverted her return flight from the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
to try to convince Kreisky to not give in to the demands. Kreisky refused to change his position, and Meir returned to Israel infuriated. With the center closed, the militants were flown to Libya. Austria then opened a new center in another location.


Result

The entire incident captured the attention of the Israeli government when it should have been focusing on Egyptian and Syrian military build-up. The Schoenau ultimatum is seen as one of the causes of the massive military intelligence blunder of the Israeli Intelligence in not foreseeing the surprise attack of the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
. On December 10, 1973, the Schönau Castle Jewish center was closed permanently and subsequently replaced by the Wöllersdorf National Association of the Red Cross of Lower Austria for refugees, where emigres could stay for no more than 14 hours while awaiting airline flights to Israel. "Austria Closes Schoenau Transit Camp for Soviet Jews", ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', December 11, 1973, p.A-13 The hostage-taking also lead to the founding of the Austrian special police force unit today known as Cobra.


Annotations


Bibliography

;Notes ;References * * * - Total pages: 731 * * * - Total pages: 372 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoenau ultimatum Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1973 Palestinian terrorist incidents in Europe Battles and conflicts without fatalities 1973 in Austria Conflicts in 1973 Hostage taking in Austria Hijacking Terrorist incidents in Austria Yom Kippur War 1973 crimes in Austria