Evidence for the presence of Jewish communities in the geographical area today covered by Austria can be traced back to the 12th century.
During the first years of the 21st century, themes directly concerned with the National Socialist past have been repeatedly debated in the public sphere: demonstrations were held against the Wehrmacht exhibition, there was controversy regarding a Holocaust memorial that was officially opened in 2000 and the question of restitution.
Some issues in the holiday resort Serfaus gained special attention in 2010, where people thought to be Jews were barred from making hotel bookings, based on racial bias.
[9] A few months later, a biker wearing neo-Nazi insignia waved a knife and shouted antisemitic slogans at passers-by next to a synagogue in Vienna.
[15] In July that year, a pole with a Star of David flag was toppled and sprayed with a swastika at the Religions Campus in Aspern.
[16] In August 2020, an immigrant (2013) from Syria was arrested in Graz for attacking Jews and defacing a synagogue with "Free Palestine" graffiti.
[17][18] The main source of official data on antisemitic incidents in Austria is the Federal Agency for State Protection and Counter Terrorism (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung, BVT).
Another source for unofficial data are two NGOs in Austria: the Forum against antisemitism (FGA) and Civil courage and anti-racism work (ZARA).
[4] According to a study commissioned by the University of Linz in 2002 which aimed at measuring the significance of attitudes towards antisemitism, the rebirth of Nazi ideology, right-wing extremism and other forms of deviance through the severity of their punishment, the rebirth of Nazi ideology and right-wing extremism ranked tenth and antisemitism fifteenth among the offenses that should be more severely punished (among 25 issues included in the survey).
The percentage of Austrian respondents perceiving Israel as a threat to world peace is 69%, which is higher than the average of the EU15 and second only to the Netherlands (74%) in 2003.
The FGA assumes that this is because many still do not make the distinction between the state of Israel and Jews, and hold their Jewish fellow citizens responsible for events in the Middle East.
The degree of threat and hostility towards Jews expressed in language varies greatly: different forms and different degrees of directness and boldness can be differentiated according to context and speaker into four hierarchical levels of antisemitic statements:[2][31] Thus, a range and qualities of antisemitic discourse can be found in contemporary Austria, from silence to flagrant expressions of prejudice.