Wiesenthal Center Orders Mayor to Resign

[Judi Lynn]

Mar 1, 11:40 AM EST

Wiesenthal Center Orders Mayor to Resign

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- The Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded the immediate resignation of the governor of Austria's Tyrol province and other local politicians Thursday for throwing a 90th birthday party for a former Gestapo operative.

The Los Angeles-based group expressed "anger and frustration" that Gov. Herwig von Staa and other politicians had gathered to honor Ferdinand Obenfeldner. The former deputy mayor of Innsbruck oversaw the Gestapo in that city when atrocities against Jews were carried out during the 1938 "Kristallnacht" or "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom.

Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's chief Nazi hunter, said he was outraged "that individuals whose deeds during the Nazi period - who should be publicly repudiated - instead are honored by Austrian public figures who clearly should be acting differently."

Records on file at the Documentation Center of the Austrian Resistance show that Obenfeldner was a senior officer at the Gestapo headquarters in Innsbruck at the time of Kristallnacht.
(snip/...)

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AUSTRIA_GESTAPO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-03-01-11-40-11

[Lurking Dem]

1. Good Lord.

Time for me to break out into a rousing version of Hitler Had Only One Big Ball.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. "Orders"?

Odd choice of words by AP for the headline. The article says they demanded that the mayor resign, which of course makes more sense.

[Judi Lynn]

3. These people are skilled at chosing emotionally charged words to color perception

and attitudes while appearing to be innocently delivering the news to the public. I've noticed this before, in many other articles. Very underhanded, and no doubt it slips right by many people at the conscious level.

There's a big difference between the two words.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lurking Dem]

5. Uhhhhh......whaaaa????

[DavidDvorkin]

7. Now, there's a bizarre and offensive post

Why don't you expand on that, T Wolf?

[Lurking Dem]

8. .

:popcorn:

[cali]

9. Ah yes, the evil nazi hunters.

How fucking dare they be offended by a birthday party for a dear old nazi? How dare they demand anything? Filthy little nazi hunters.

[LanternWaste]

10. Perhaps you may want to clarify your statements

Perhaps you may want to clarify your statements.

Possibly you could cite some sources for the statement, "They are just not used to their demands not being obeyed.."

Do you believe it's a bad thing that Nazi-hunters are still alive? If so, why?

But to be honest, I really don't think you have the courage or strength of your convictions to answer any of the above...

[maddezmom]

6. He should resign

and the people who elected him should be the ones to demand it.

[David Zephyr]

11. Good for the Simon Wiesenthal Center!

The headline is misleading and curious, but in any event I'm with the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Simon Wiesenthal is a hero of mine.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

12. He needs to resign and take his like-minded ilk with him

You do not honor war criminals and barbarians:puke: And the Austrian Social Democrats defending him should be ashamed of themselves -obviously they can't tell the difference between democracy and fascism