Austrian police have launched an investigation after a 12‑year‑old Jewish boy was brutally assaulted by two classmates in Vienna’s Leopoldstadt district on Tuesday, authorities and the victim’s family confirmed Friday.
According to the boy’s mother, one of the attackers yelled, “Jew, if you say anything – I’ll tell everyone you’re Jewish, and then you’ll see what happens to you,” before the assault ensued.
Media reports described the attack as a fight between the child and another student that escalated into violent beating and kicking. A second assailant joined in. Passersby intervened, separating the attackers, and the victim was transported to a hospital with bruising and injuries across his body.
In an interview with Austrian outlet oe24, the mother said her son was hospitalized for 24 hours and that anti‑Jewish slurs and threats were heard during the assault. “Both boys beat and kicked my son repeatedly while he was lying on the ground,” she said.
She further alleged the incident was part of a pattern of antisemitic harassment at the school and accused its administration of “sweeping it under the rug.” On Oct. 1, she said, a student strangled and tried to push her son down stairs, injuring his neck and forcing him to wear a cervical brace for ten days.
The family claims digital abuse followed the physical attacks: the boy’s image was posted without consent on TikTok, accompanied by insults and threats, and he was regularly extorted by classmates for money. Despite repeated complaints to the school, they say no effective action was taken — chants of “from the river to the sea” rang through school corridors without teacher intervention.
“The school failed to protect him,” the mother asserted. “Only after things escalated did we decide to file a complaint with the police.” She said she is now seeking a safer educational environment for her son.
Austrian Jewish community leaders have expressed concern over rising antisemitic incidents nationwide since the outbreak of the Israel‑Hamas war.