Ari Rath, an important admonisher against racism, antisemitism and intolerance, as well as editor-in-chief and publisher of the highly respected Jerusalem Post, has been honored by having a square named after him in the Alsergrund district of Vienna. (Preview photo: © ️ Trauneck / JWS)
What the Viennese call a “Beserlpark” (a little meager park) between Bauernfeldplatz and Fürstengasse was renamed Ari-Rath-Platz in the middle of November in memory of the peace activist and great warrior against forgetting. Ari Rath once had to meet up with his school friends on this square after Jews were officially banned from using public parks on August 5, 1938. The corresponding street sign was unveiled by Vienna’s City Councilor for Cultural Affairs Veronica Kaup-Hasler and Saya Ahmad, district representative of Alsergrund.
“Ari Rath,” says Kaup-Hasler, “was a builder of bridges who worked ceaselessly for respectful and peaceful coexistence. He did great work not only as a journalist but also as a lecturer and contemporary witness, and made a significant contribution to better understanding. Today, our city welcomes the world, and I am happy that Ari Rath also got to know this new Vienna and was connected with it to the end.”
The renowned publicist and peace activist Ari Rath, born in 1925 in Vienna as the son of a Jewish family, had to flee from the National Socialists with his brother in 1938. He belonged to the close circle of people around the founder of the State of Israel, David Ben Gurion, was editor-in-chief and publisher of the “Jerusalem Post”, took up Austrian citizenship again in 2005. Ari Rath died in Vienna in 2017.
