Austrians viewed Prague Spring with sympathy. They were fascinated by the fast change in their northern neighbour’s society. Dozens of Austrian journalists, TV and radio crews were heading to Czechoslovakia.
Austrian media were staying mainly in Prague. As soon as Austrians found out that Czechoslovakian radio and TV were “out of play”, they stood in for their Czechoslovakian colleagues.
Austrians did more than just passively reporting, they also included broadcasting in Czech language and even received broadcasts from Czechoslovakian radio and television, then they used their transmitters to broadcast it back to Czechoslovakia.
This firm strategy of Austrian media led to intervention of Soviet ambassador, Boris Podzerob, in Vienna. Chancellor Josef Klaus decisively refused further discussion.
Austrian Post Offices also contributed. Together with their Czechoslovakian colleagues, they were dispatching all of the Czechoslovakian letters on the border. In this way they were helping Czechoslovaks to maintain communication with the outside world.
Apart from passive resistance, the invasion also created hundreds of thousands of refugees. The Austrian Ambassador and later President, Rudolf Kirchschläger, was in Prague handing out visas to all applicants. He was acting on his own initiative and against the instructions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kurt Waldheim. The number of visas given was approximately 3,000, and in peak days even 5,000 a day. This was why the main stream of refugees passed through Austria.
The Austrian government decided to accept everyone, even though they may later on decide to return. This was what Austrian Socialists and members of People’s Party agreed on. Bruno Kreisky referred to Czechoslovakian help to Austrian refugees in 1934. By the end of October, 162,000 Czechoslovaks left for Austria. Some of them arrived directly from Czechoslovakia, other ones on their return journey from Yugoslavia and other countries. Such an onslaught was coped with thanks to the support of Austrian citizens. They spontaneously accommodated their Czechoslovakian cousins, as they called them, in their houses and helped them out. Also the Austrian administration went out of their way to be helpful in their non-bureaucratic and flexible approach.
The majority of refugees returned in few weeks time, other ones continued to the USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. By the end of year, 12,000 applied for asylum in Austria. They gave rise to the third Czechoslovakian community, next to two older groups of Czech communities.
Source: internet
František Sládek