2nd AJC ACCESS Trip to Vienna

The second annual AJC ACCESS visit to Austria/Vienna took place from June 24-July 1, 2013. The trip, which was organized by the Jewish Welcome Service Vienna in cooperation with the American Jewish Committee and the Austrian Press and Information Service in Washington D.C., offered delegates an opportunity to experience present-day Vienna and engage with key interlocutors from the political, cultural and diplomatic fields. The visit included a tour of some of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods, structures, and sights such as the Austrian parliament and the Viennese city hall as well as a visit to the Jewish Museum of Vienna and to the site of the Mauthausen concentration camp memorial.

Participants met, among others, with the President of Parliament, Barbara Prammer, and Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, City Councilor for culture and science. The group also engaged in meaningful discussions with journalists, young Austrian diplomats and representatives of the Jewish community in Vienna. Matt Lebovic, a member of this year’s ACESS trip, shared his impressions of Vienna and his experiences in Austria in his blog post: http://bit.ly/GzBv6Y