A song with a Nazi history, sung at a funeral in Vienna on Friday, caused significant public backlash as polling is underway in Austria for parliamentary elections.
Members of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) including Martin Graf, Harald Stefan, and Norbert Nemeth, attended the funeral where the song “Wenn alle untreu werden” (When All Become Unfaithful) was performed.This song, dating back to 1814, became popular during the Nazi era and was used by the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) as a “song of loyalty.”
Austrian newspaper Der Standard released a video showing individuals at the cemetery singing the song near a grave. The lyrics include a phrase that translates to “want to preach and speak of the holy German Reich.”
The FPÖ, whose members are visible in the video, argued that the footage was being politically exploited, saying, as quoted by Deutsche Welle, “People were politically abusing the video of a private person’s funeral, over which the FPÖ had no influence whatsoever.”
The FPO, founded by former Nazis, is in a tight competition with the ruling conservatives for victory in Sunday’s election, which would represent a historic win.
Austria’s Jewish Students’ Union reported the incident to prosecutors, describing it as an “alarm signal for Austria.”
Political parties from across the spectrum have criticised the incident. Justice minister Alma Zadic of the Green Party was quoted by Deutsche Welle, saying, “The FPÖ is once again proving that it is right-wing extremist.” Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) supported these concerns, saying that the far-right party is showing “its radicalised face.” Both the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal NEOS expressed similar disapproval.