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83-743: Beer claimed to have been born in Austria in the name Georg Beer to an assimilated Jewish family, that he had been active in the Austrian Social Democratic Party and that he had taken part in the armed conflict between the party's military organisation, the Schutzbund , and the Austrian Army . Beer took pride in having later completed officer training in the Austrian military academy and having served as an officer in

166-630: A Hebrew abbreviation for Hebrew : המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית , romanized :  HaMiflega HaKomunistit HaYisraelit , lit.   'Israeli Communist Party') was a communist political party in Israel . Maki was a descendant of the Palestine Communist Party (PCP), which changed its name to MAKEI (the Communist Party of Eretz Yisrael ) after endorsing partition in 1947, and then to Maki. Members of

249-477: A "Jewish creation" in the hands of "Bolshevism". In 1934, the Christian Social Party , the dominant party on the right, overthrew the democratic system and established a regime inspired by fascism. The social democrats and communists put up armed resistance, but it was quickly crushed. When Anschluss took place in 1938 at the hands of Adolf Hitler 's Nazi Germany , he brought Austria into

332-637: A 39.5% of the popular votes, going to the FPÖ (from 3 to 5) with a 13% of the votes. The ÖVP had 14 seats with a 36.5% of the votes and the Grüne 2 seat with a 7.3% . The BZÖ had no seat with a 3.7% of the votes, showing a growing of the right-wing parties. In the State elections 2013 the SPÖ lost its majority to the ÖVP. Since then, the ÖVP has providing the governor (Landeshauptmann) with Wilfried Haslauer jun. again. Styria

415-455: A Nazi doctor in the euthanasia ward Am Spiegelgrund in Vienna, where human experiments on children were performed. Those children with presumptive mental defects were eventually killed, often by lethal injection . Gross was probably himself involved in the experimentations and killings. The Austrian judicial system protected him for a very long time from any kind of prosecution, something that

498-550: A Polish-language newspaper, Walka , in 1958. However, the 1959 elections saw the party perform poorly, winning only three seats. The 1961 election campaign was helped by the ruling coalition's involvement in the Lavon Affair , and Maki gained five seats. However, during the early 1960s tensions within the party intensified between the largely Jewish faction of Moshe Sneh and Shmuel Mikunis, which considered Israeli national interests and accepted Israel's right to exist, and

581-639: A close confidante of the Minister of Defense and so gained the trust of many of his colleagues and associates at the General Staff Base, who even considered him to be a close link to the minister and one who could promote their personal and professional interests. Some even provided him classified documents, including intelligence assessments, for consideration. From 1958, Beer began to develop close connections in Europe , including Germany , France ,

664-457: A grand coalition with the ÖVP before returning to opposition for the first time in 30 years. The party governed again from 2007 to 2017. Since 2017, the SPÖ have been the primary opposition to the ÖVP governments of Sebastian Kurz , Alexander Schallenberg , and Karl Nehammer . Since its foundation in 1889 as the SDAPÖ, the party has been one of the main political forces in Austria. At the start of

747-499: A great democratic German republic, thus taking up a revolutionary project of 1848 . The victors of the war did not see it that way and set the borders of Austria. In the interwar period , Austromarxism , maintaining its particularities in the face of German social democracy – which had bloodily suppressed the Spartacist uprising of 1919 – and Soviet communism, envisaged the creation of a new international aimed at bringing together

830-411: A liar." 'We can find no trace of your parents in Austria. If they were typical Jewish parents, as you make them out to be, then why aren't you circumcised?' 'We have checked all the records in Austria. You never fought on the barricades. You never received a doctorate, as you claim you did, nor did you ever attend the university. You did not go to the military academy because Jews were not allowed to at

913-440: A mandatory concentration government, where each party with a certain number of seats in the state parliament automatically participates in the state government. The term coalition refers to the co-operation between parties and not to the participation in the state cabinet. In Lower Austria , the SPÖ received 29.2% in 1998. It increased its shares by 3.2% in 2003 and ended up with 32.4%. In the 2008 Lower Austrian state election ,

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996-555: A permanent member of the Haganah. There, he took part in training and in planning until the outbreak of the 1947–1949 Palestine war , but was found to have lacked basic soldiery skills - which led Moshe Dayan to question Beer's claims that he fought in Spain, let alone as a commander and colonel. With the establishment of the IDF, he was appointed as one of the two assistants to the head of

1079-592: A response to the disappointing results in the 1956 national elections , particularly among young voters, but also an effort to manage the increasingly strained relationship with the SJÖ. Over time, the JG has evolved into a parallel structure, closely aligned with the SPÖ and more in line with the party's objectives than the SJÖ. Many influential politicians have emerged from the ranks of the SJÖ, including figures like Bruno Kreisky and Andreas Babler , who have significantly shaped

1162-480: A result of these events, tensions between all parties involved continue to this day. Burgenland is a state that is a traditional stronghold of the SPÖ. Since 1964, the governors of this easternmost state have come from the SPÖ. Burgenland is one of the few states that are ruled by a SPÖ majority in the state assembly ( Landtag ). In 2000, the SPÖ received 46.6%. In 2005, it received 5.2% more votes and ended up with an absolute majority of 51.8%. After losing it in 2010,

1245-433: A share in government. While this coalition was still in power, the SPÖ's Heinz Fischer was elected president in the 2004 Austrian presidential election . Following the 2006 Austrian legislative election , another grand coalition was formed between the SPÖ and the ÖVP, lasting until 2017, when the SPÖ went back to the opposition . In the 2019 Austrian legislative election , the SPÖ lost 12 seats and shrunk to 21.2%. After

1328-635: Is a social democratic political party in Austria . Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs , SDAPÖ ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria (German: Sozialistische Partei Österreichs ) from 1945 until 1991, the party is the oldest extant political party in Austria. Along with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), it

1411-491: Is one of the country's two traditional major parties . It is positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum. Since June 2023, the party has been led by Andreas Babler . It is currently the second largest of five parties in the National Council , with 40 of the 183 seats, and won 21.2% of votes cast in the 2019 legislative election . It holds seats in the legislatures of all nine states ; of these, it

1494-612: Is the largest party in three ( Burgenland , Carinthia , and Vienna .) The SPÖ is supportive of Austria's membership in the European Union , and it is a member of the Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists . It sits with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament ; of Austria's 19 MEPs , five are members of the SPÖ. The party has close ties to

1577-532: The 1973 elections . Later it became part of Left Camp of Israel (in 1977), then Ratz (in 1981). In the meantime, Rakah had become the leading force in the Hadash alliance, which it joined in 1977. In 1989, several years after Maki's demise, Rakah changed its name to Maki. Party leaders asserted at the time that their party, rather than the rival faction that merged among the forces of the Zionist Left, had

1660-549: The 2023 Social Democratic Party of Austria leadership election . At the 2024 Austrian legislative election the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) won just 21.1%, marking its worst result ever in the National Council. Concerning the role of the SDAPÖ during Nazi rule from 1938 to 1945, the party started opening its archives and set in a commission to investigate its past conduct. Despite the fact

1743-904: The Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK). The SDAPÖ was the second largest party in the Imperial Council of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the 1890s through 1910s. After the First World War , it briefly governed the First Austrian Republic , but thereafter returned to opposition. The party was banned in 1934 following the Austrian Civil War , and

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1826-589: The Left Faction before joining Maki. The party was also involved in the fall of Moshe Sharett 's fifth government, when it and Herut brought a motion of no confidence over the government's position on the trial of Malkiel Gruenwald , who had accused Rudolf Kastner of collaborating with the Nazis. In the 1955 elections , Maki's share of the vote increased again as it won six seats in the Knesset. It launched

1909-672: The Moscow Doctors' Plot in 1952 and 1953 caused internal dissent within the Mapam and a split : the Left Faction resigned from Mapam and later formed Maki . In January 1953, he chose unexpectedly not to join Sneh and temporarily retired from political activity. In 1954, to the surprise of many, he joined Mapai , the majority party led by David Ben-Gurion . In the early 1950s, he lectured on military history in various courses in

1992-650: The National Liberation League , an Arab party that had split from the PCP in 1944, rejoined Maki in October 1948, giving the party both Jewish and Arab members, while the Hebrew Communists also joined the party. The party took over publication of two communist newspapers, Kol HaAm (Hebrew) and Al-Ittihad (Arabic). The party was not Zionist , but recognized Israel, though it denied

2075-701: The Second World War . In 1945, the party was reconstituted as the Socialist Party of Austria ( German : Sozialistische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ) and was led by Adolf Schärf . The SPÖ entered the government of the Second Republic as part of a grand coalition with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) until 1966 and with the Communist Party of Austria until 1949. Renner became the first President of Austria . From 1971 to 1983,

2158-539: The United Kingdom and other Western countries. Furthermore, he embarked on several trips to those countries, which created the impression that he was on a government mission and so obtained the aid of military attachés and Ministry of Defense delegations. His meetings included the German Minister of Defence , Franz Josef Strauss , and the head of French intelligence. Despite the explicit prohibition of

2241-528: The World War I , it was the strongest party in parliament. At the ending of that war in 1918, the party leader Karl Renner became Chancellor of the First Republic . The SDAPÖ lost power in 1920, but it retained a strong base of support. After the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1918), the Social Democratic Party supported for a time the idea of a union with Berlin in order to constitute

2324-463: The IDF to keep party officials, who were in the opposition, informed, and he was closely connected with the party's information department which was gathering political non-military intelligence. During his Mapam activity, Beer was closely associated with Moshe Sneh , the leader of the Left Faction , a group which identified itself with the Soviet Union and communism . The Prague Trials and

2407-584: The IDF. In mid-1955, he signed a civilian contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense with the intent of writing about the events of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. He was involved in the project right up to his arrest. In 1959, Beer was appointed head of the Department of Military History in the University of Tel Aviv . He was considered among the ministry's senior administrative officials, as

2490-531: The Israeli spokesperson. Lousiev expressed his desire to continue meeting Beer and they decided to schedule another meeting over the phone. However, before Beer had the chance to call, he met Lousiev "coincidentally", and they scheduled another meeting, which was held in September 1956. Beer informed the Minister of Defense's military secretary about the new acquaintance, and the secretary advised him to discuss

2573-673: The KGB branch in the Soviet embassy. According to Beer, the two had a serious conversation regarding political and strategic issues regarding the relations between Israel and the Soviet Union. Avdyenko later introduced Beer to Sokolov. He began meeting Sokolov in January 1958 and they gradually moved from semi-public meetings including intellectual exchange of ideas in pleasant surroundings, to conspiratorial meetings on military matters concerning Western countries and later, concerning Israel as well. Beer

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2656-590: The Mapam Security Department, which seemed to have a subversive bent; and the suspicion that he could be a communist who had infiltrated Mapai to attain a central position and to become a Soviet Communist agent within the establishment. The information on Beer at that point was not enough to cause his removal from his position in the Ministry of Defense legally. Consequently, Harel had three long conversations with Beer in 1955, 1956 and 1958. Beer

2739-748: The Middle East in Israel's favour. Beer was tried for espionage and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. He appealed against his sentence to the Supreme Court of Israel . The court rejected his appeal, and his sentence was lengthened to 15 years imprisonment. He died while he was still in prison in May 1966. Austrian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( German : Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs [soˈtsi̯aːldemoˌkraːtɪʃɛ parˌtaɪ ˈøːstɐraɪçs] , SPÖ )

2822-512: The Ministry of Defense to his advantage, to create the impression that he had a very close relationship with Ben-Gurion and that he was one of his confidantes and advisers. Despite his civilian status, he could often be seen wearing the uniform of a lieutenant colonel. Furthermore, he had the habit of spending lunch breaks in the General Staff base, where he would meet senior officers and exchange updates and opinions. He presented himself as

2905-752: The Operations Division and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff as well as serving as head of the Planning Division for the Operations Division, at the rank of lieutenant colonel. He requested discharge from the IDF in 1949 because of his failure to be promoted to a new position in the Operations Division, in direct subordination to the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. He bitterly claimed that he

2988-513: The SDAPÖ had been outlawed and many party members imprisoned under Austrofascism , many SDAPÖ members initially welcomed the Anschluss of Austria into Germany back then and some became members of the Nazi Party . Alfred Gusenbauer issued a declaration promising and supporting a full and open investigation ("Klarheit in der Vergangenheit – Basis für die Zukunft"). In 2005, the report about

3071-471: The SJÖ remains democratic socialist rather than social-democratic like the SPÖ – and organizationally. This autonomy has often led to tensions between the SJÖ and the SPÖ, including instances where the party reduced the SJÖ's funding . To address these issues, the SPÖ established a youth organization called the Young Generation (JG) on 22 January 1958. The creation of the JG was not only

3154-574: The SPÖ out of their leading position. In state elections in 1999, the SPÖ received 32.9%. However, this went up to 38.4% in 2004. Until 2005, the SPÖ was in a coalition with the right-wing FPÖ in Carinthia, where Haider was Governor. This constellation is in question after the chairperson of the Carinthian SPÖ Gabi Schauning decided to resign from her post as Vice-Governor of Carinthia after a fall-out with Haider. Carinthia has

3237-542: The SPÖ raised its vote-share to 41,6%. The party with the largest gains was the ÖVP which doubled its vote-share and won 20,4% of the votes. Vorarlberg is a traditional stronghold of the conservative ÖVP. Of all the Austrian states, the SPÖ receives the fewest votes in this westernmost state. In the 2019 the SPÖ ended up with 9,5% of the vote, a raise of 0,7%. The winner of the election was the conservative ÖVP under governor Markus Wallner which won around 45%. Maki (historical political party) Maki ( Hebrew : מק״י ,

3320-458: The SPÖ received 25.5% of the vote. In 2004, the SPÖ won a surprising victory in Salzburg . It was able to increase its share of votes from 32.2% (1999) to 45.3%. For the first time, the conservative ÖVP lost its traditional dominant position. Gabi Burgstaller became the first SPÖ governess ( Landeshauptfrau ) in the state's history. In March 2009, the party lost 2 seats (from 17 to 15) with

3403-517: The SPÖ under Bruno Kreisky was the sole governing party. For the following three years, it ruled in coalition with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), then up to 2000 it was again part of a grand coalition with the ÖVP, with Franz Vranitzky as Chancellor until 1997. In 1991, it reverted to including Democratic in its name, becoming the Social Democratic Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs ). During this period,

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3486-569: The SPÖ was able to regain it in the latest election in January 2020. From 2015 to 2020, the SPÖ in Burgenland was in an unusual coalition with the FPÖ. The Governor ( Landeshauptmann ) of the Burgenland is Hans Peter Doskozil . The SPÖ used to be strong in Carinthia as it regularly won the most seats in state elections and the governors used to be Social Democrats until 1989. Since the rise of Jörg Haider and his FPÖ , he successfully pushed

3569-461: The SPÖ, and the right bar shows the corresponding make-up of the Austrian government at that time. The red (SPÖ) and black (ÖVP) colours correspond to which party led the federal government ( Bundesregierung , abbreviated as Govern. ). The last names of the respective chancellors are shown, with the Roman numeral standing for the cabinets . After the founding of the SDAPÖ in 1889, a youth organization

3652-550: The Social Democrats were in continuous control of the Vienna municipality, which acquired the nickname " Red Vienna ". The municipality developed an ambitious policy, including a vast program of construction of workers' housing, which included 60,000 communal social housing units. In addition, free medical care was introduced, and income and luxury taxes were introduced. Culture was clearly emphasized: "Arbeiterbildung" (working-class education and culture) reigned supreme, and

3735-461: The Soviet could try to recruit them and were as a deterrence to the formation of such connections. Following the arrest of Aharon Cohen in 1958, on the grounds of espionage for the Soviet Union and due to certain connections between Beer and Cohen around that time, Harel conducted another conversation with him. No specific suspicions were raised in the three conversations, but Harel's suspicions were far from allayed. Even after Beer's meeting with

3818-665: The Soviet media that the Mikunis–Sneh group had defected to the bourgeois-nationalist camp. The 1965 elections were a disaster, with the party winning only one seat, while Rakah won three. Maki supported the Six-Day War in 1967, and then went on to repeat its poor performance in the 1969 elections , winning just a single seat. The party merged with the Blue-Red Movement in 1973 to form Moked , and subsequently disappeared as an independent party. Moked won one seat in

3901-461: The Soviet operator, Beer provided him the plans of an American army base that had been built in Turkey by an Israeli company, Solel Boneh . Sokolov appeared for his next meeting, which he had set with Beer for April 10, 1961. On April 16, 1961, Beer's arrest became public, and Sokolov then left the country. Beer claimed in his defense that he had acted out of the hope to turn the Soviet orientation in

3984-571: The Soviets began in 1956, when he met Sergei Lousiev , a representative of the Soviet news agency Tass , and a known member of the Soviet intelligence, in the apartment of an Israeli journalist. About a month later, Beer was invited to Misha Eidelberg 's apartment. Eidelberg was an old acquaintance from the Mapam and a central activist in the Communist organization The Movement for Friendship with

4067-413: The Soviets. According to Beer, he was shocked and began to reconsider the relationship, which had begun on a political background but had turned into "the work of an actual mole". He even contemplated, he claimed, turning to Shin Bet, but he did not do so because of Harel's hostile approach towards him and the harsh words between them after his meeting with the German general. In response to pressure from

4150-407: The USSR. Shortly after arriving at Eidelberg's apartment, Lousiev arrived "unexpectedly" and began to discuss some "frustrations" in his press work: his lack of sources of information, the constant slandering of the Soviet Union in the Israeli press and the fact that no Israeli was willing to explain the Israeli point of view to the Soviets. By telling Beer that, Lousiev as much as invited him to become

4233-477: The army for a certain period of time. He claimed to have completed his service as a colonel serving as a brigade commander and to have fought in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer for the International Brigades in the Thälmann Battalion . He also claimed to hold a doctorate in literature from the University of Vienna . During interrogation, Beer repeated the story but Isser Harel , Director of Mossad and also in charge of Shin Bet , calmly told him, "You are

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4316-404: The city was home to many internationally renowned intellectuals and artists. Numerous cinemas and theaters subsidized by the municipality opened their doors, and sports became more democratic. This socialist experiment, supported by some renowned intellectuals such as Otto Neurath and Sigmund Freud , also inspired a violent disgust in conservative circles. The press readily described red Vienna as

4399-541: The civilian contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense afforded him the rank of colonel. That position allowed him intermittently to receive various updates, including classified material. The dramatic change in his avowed political views sparked varying reactions. Some considered him to be an opportunist hoping to return to the IDF; others viewed his efforts to approach Ben-Gurion, the Defense Minister of Israel , with suspicion and considered them an alarming sign of attempted left-wing influence. Beer used his new status in

4482-415: The different currents of socialism. However, the attempt did not succeed. The more left-wing Social Democrats, such as Max Adler , relied on the Workers' councils that had developed throughout Central Europe in 1918–1919, particularly in Vienna. The SDAPÖ was the most established of the European social democratic parties. In the 1920s, about 15 percent of Austrians were members of an association linked to

4565-410: The grand coalition combined with the Proporz system, whereby important posts throughout the government were shared out between members of the two main parties, evoked rising discontent. This was a factor in the growing popularity of the FPÖ which came second to the SPÖ in the 1999 Austrian legislative election . The following year, the FPÖ and ÖVP formed a right-wing coalition, displacing the SPÖ from

4648-453: The head of the German intelligence service, he was monitored, but still, there was not enough material to support the suspicions. In January 1961, Vladimir Sokolov, a member of the Soviet intelligence and a staff member at the Soviet embassy, was observed carrying out secretive activity in a certain area of north Tel Aviv . Shin Bet decided to increase the surveillance of this area to a daily level. On March 29, 1961, at approximately 08:00,

4731-517: The head of the Mossad, Isser Harel, which was conveyed to him by the director general of the Ministry of Defense, Beer, during a visit to Germany, in 1960 met with the Chief of Federal Intelligence Service of West Germany , General Reinhard Gehlen , who was a prime target for Soviet intelligence. Harel considered it suspicious when he discovered that Israel Beer had gone ahead with the meeting he had specifically prohibited. Harel had always suspected Beer for his close connection to Sneh; his activity in

4814-455: The independence of Austria from Nazi Germany was a problem since it stated that the war was neither started nor wanted by any Austrian ("Und das ist nicht richtig"), that Austrian Jewish victims were not mentioned in the declaration ("kein Wort für die jüdischen Opfer"), that it took decades for them to receive any kind of compensation and justice from the government and that it was regrettable and inexcusable. His statements were direct criticism of

4897-422: The issue with the head of the ISA Amos Manor . Beer reported the issue to the head of the ISA during a meeting on a separate topic. Manor warned him that Lousiev was a member of the Soviet intelligence and that his intentions were far from innocent. Despite the warnings, Beer met Lousiev again. In September 1956, when he was summoned for the meeting with Isser Harel, he mentioned his acquaintance with Lousiev and

4980-402: The link between the state and the Jewish diaspora , and asserted the right of Palestinians to form a state in accordance with the United Nations resolution on partition. In the first Knesset elections in 1949 the party received 3.5% of the vote and won four seats, which were taken by Shmuel Mikunis , Eliezer Preminger , Tawfik Toubi and Meir Vilner . During the session, Preminger left

5063-407: The lost state elections in Lower Austria and Carinthia at the beginning of 2023, there was a power struggle between the moderate social democratic party wing around party leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner and the right-wing, FPÖ -friendly party wing around Burgenland governor Hans Peter Doskozil . The Social Democratic wing has support from socialists and communists . The right wing has support from

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5146-488: The middle wing of the party. Disputes and disagreements have existed for years. In March 2023, the situation came to a head after the SPÖ Burgenland stopped paying money to the federal party. On 15 March 2023, a heated party executive meeting led to the call for a new party leadership election. The candidacy for the new leadership was heated and a surprise candidacy from Andreas Babler , mayor of Traiskirchen , which has led to some other candidates to withdraw their candidacy for

5229-410: The mostly Arab faction of Meir Vilner, which accepted the Soviet pro-Arab and anti-Zionist stance without reservation. The internal disagreements finally led to a split in 1965, with Sneh's faction retaining the name Maki, while the pro-Palestinian faction (Toubi and Vilner) left to form Rakah ("New Communist List"), which the Soviet Union recognised as the "official" Communist Party. It was reported in

5312-438: The party and re-established the Hebrew Communists before joining Mapam . In the 1951 elections Maki received 4% of the vote and won five seats, with Emil Habibi and Esther Vilenska entering the Knesset . During the session, the Prague Trials of 1952 caused the pro-Soviet Labour Zionist Mapam to break with the Soviet Union . Unhappy at the decision, Mapam members Avraham Berman and Moshe Sneh left Mapam and set up

5395-438: The party's direction. However, the SJÖ is not the only youth organization that has produced notable leaders; the JG has also been a breeding ground for politicians who have gone on to make their mark on the SPÖ. The SJÖ also has factions within its organization, such as the Trotskyist "Der Funke" (IMT) faction, which was active in the now-dissolved SJ9 ( Alsergrund district) and continues to be present in SJ Vorarlberg . As

5478-411: The party. In 1929, it had 720,000 members. The SDAPÖ was almost hegemonic among the working class, but could not compete with the conservatives in the countryside and small towns. The economic crisis of the 1930s, which caused factory closures and increased unemployment, weakened the labor movement and with it the SDAPÖ. In 1930, its membership was down to 650,000 militants. From 1919 to February 1934,

5561-411: The right-wing government of the coalition ÖVP–FPÖ which rejected compensation to victims and the admission of the co-guilt Austrians carried for crimes committed by them during the Second World War . The chart below shows a timeline of the social-democratic chairpersons and the Chancellors of Austria since 1945. The left bar shows all the chairpersons ( Bundesparteivorsitzende , abbreviated as CP ) of

5644-413: The so-called "brown spots" ( German : braune Flecken ) was completed and published. The report talks about SDAPÖ members and leaders who became members of the Nazi Party during German rule after the Anschluss . One example given in the report is the case of Heinrich Gross , who received many honours from the party and even the government in the post-war period. This was despite the fact that he worked as

5727-421: The surveillance detected an unidentified individual carrying out a secret meeting with Sokolov. Surveillance of the individual's movements led to an apartment on the second floor of 67 Brandeis Street in north Tel Aviv, Beer's apartment. The following evening, on March 30, 1961, at approximately 08:00, Beer was observed walking in the area of the previous meeting, carrying a heavy briefcase. He met with Sokolov and

5810-614: The time. They have checked their lists for us and your name is not there. The Schutzbund has no record of your membership either.' 'We have gone through the records of the international brigade and your name is not there. You never fought in Spain....' 'Now tell me: who are you? We want the truth.' He neither revealed his true identity nor admitted that he worked for the KGB . Beer had obtained first-hand knowledge of both theoretical and historical military areas, which made him an expert in these issues and an acknowledged expert on military affairs, despite his lack of real field experience. He

5893-400: The ÖVP. Since then, the ÖVP has providing the governor (Landeshauptmann) with Hermann Schützenhöfer again. In Tyrol , the SPÖ receive few votes since the state is a traditional conservative stronghold. In 2018, the Tyrolean SPÖ received 17.3% of all votes. The winner of the election was the ÖVP under long-term governor Günther Platter, which received 44,3% of the total vote. In 2003, the SPÖ

5976-472: Was able to raise its voters share in Upper Austria by 11.3% from 27% (1997) to 38.3%. It was in a grand coalition with the ÖVP in the state government as the junior partner, with four out of nine of the state government ministers coming from the SPÖ. Vienna was always traditionally the stronghold of the SPÖ. The current Governor-Mayor of Vienna is Michael Ludwig . In the 2020 Viennese state election

6059-463: Was also closely monitored, with no results. Harel was not satisfied with the first conversation in 1955 in which Beer was questioned about his past. In September 1956, prior to the Kadesh operation , Harel had a second conversation with Beer, as a precautionary measure carried out in cases of "individuals with questionable loyalties". The conversation was also intended as a warning to such individuals that

6142-554: Was established on 4 November 1894, with the purpose of protecting apprentices and addressing the concerns of young people within the party. Despite initial resistance from some SDAPÖ members, an independent socialist youth movement emerged. Today, this organization is known as the Socialist Youth Austria (SJÖ). The SJÖ notably chose not to change its name to "social-democratic" when the SPÖ rebranded itself in 1991, highlighting its independence both programmatically – as

6225-465: Was later seen walking without the briefcase. At 22:40, he was observed walking to his apartment holding the briefcase. In the time between these events two Soviet cars, one of which belonged to Sokolov, were observed exiting the Soviet embassy separately and heading in the direction of Tel Aviv. A member of the Soviet intelligence holding a briefcase emerged from one of them. Shin Bet's intelligence assessment

6308-523: Was not promoted because his credibility was in question because of his connection with Mapam , a democratic socialist party that rivaled the ruling, Labor Zionist Mapai. He was formally discharged after a leave of absence in July 1950. Beer was politically active in Mapam during his service in the IDF. After his resignation from the IDF he began work in Mapam, as head of its security department. In that position, he obtained military intelligence information about

6391-551: Was proficient in the details of the battles, names of places, commanders, military units, which he used to gain credibility and additional military experience. He immigrated to Palestine in October 1938 and was accepted to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as a research student. At the same time, he joined the Haganah organisation. Beer's publication of articles on military subjects led to his acceptance in 1940 as

6474-672: Was subjected to a number of intelligence interrogations conducted in the Soviet intelligence facility, in the Russian Church in Abu-Kabir . During further stages of the intelligence relationship with Beer, Sokolov demonstrated increasing interest in security matters related to Israel. He demanded and was given documents, which he photocopied. In early 1961, Sokolov's demands became more aggressive and even threatening. He demanded information on Israel's nuclear potential and implied that Beer would never be able to sever his connections with

6557-456: Was suppressed throughout Austrofascism and the Nazi period . The party was refounded as the Socialist Party of Austria in 1945 and governed as a junior partner of the ÖVP until 1966. In 1970, the SPÖ became the largest party for the first time in post-war history, and Bruno Kreisky became Chancellor , winning three consecutive majorities ( 1971 , 1975 , and 1979 ). From 1987 to 2000 the SPÖ led

6640-489: Was that the material in the briefcase had been photocopied and returned to Beer. He was interrogated that night and his apartment was searched. Classified documents were discovered during the search. Beer was arrested on the morning of March 31, 1961. Beer initially denied all accusations of contact with foreign diplomats but later, he admitted to having connections with Soviet intelligence as well as to his operator, Sokolov. The interrogation revealed that Beer's recruitment by

6723-522: Was traditionally ruled by the ÖVP. In 2000, the Styrian SPÖ ended up with 32.3%. In 2005, the voters shifted towards the left, something that also benefited the KPÖ , the local communist party. The SPÖ won 9.4% more and ended up with 40.7%, defeating the ÖVP which got 38.7% of the votes. Styrian SPÖ Chairman Franz Voves became the state Governor. After the State elections 2015 the SPÖ lost the governorship to

6806-505: Was very typical in the post-war period. He enjoyed wide support from the SPÖ and party leaders for a very long time. Reflecting the change in attitude towards the past, President Heinz Fischer in a 10 April 2006 interview with the liberal newspaper Der Standard strongly criticised Austria's view on its historical role during Nazi rule. He called the traditional view that Austria was the first victim of Nazi aggression as false. The Moscow Declaration of 1943 by émigrés which called for

6889-406: Was warned again regarding the continuation of his relationship with the Soviet. His further relationship with the Soviets was, claimed Beer, at three festive occasions held at the consulates of Bulgaria, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia between September 1957 and January 1958. Beer met Lousiev again and was introduced to Vasili Avdyenko, a senior member of the Soviet intelligence, stationed as head of

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