1973: Hostage-Taking in Marchegg (Lower Austria)

On September 28, 1973, two Syrian terrorists took six people hostage on a train from Bratislava to Marchegg: five Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union and one customs officer. One woman soon managed to escape with her young son. The two kidnappers were able to drive to the Vienna-Schwechat airport in a stolen VW-bus with the four remaining hostages. Along with demands for an airplane, they also demanded an end to the emigration of Russian Jews via Austria to Israel. Federal Chancellor Dr. Bruno Kreisky assured the closure of the transit camp set up for Russian emigrants and operated by the Jewish Agency in the Schönau an der Triesting Castle, whereupon the two hostages left Vienna by plane without the hostages. In the morning hours of September 29, the hostage-taking ended without any bloodshed. Kreisky’s concessions initially led to veritable political upsets with Israel and the United States, but it did not mean the end of Jewish emigration via Austria, which in fact peaked in the following years.