Oskar Deutsch will become President of the Austrian Jewish Community
Source: Der Standard, February 22, 2012.
http://derstandard.at/1329703270039/Oskar-Deutsch-Ein-Kaffeeroester-fuehrt-die-juedische-Gemeinde
A new face is on top of the Jewish Community (IKG), bringing with him a new style of leadership. But the course will remain the same. Because Oskar Deutsch, elected by a wide margin to succeed Ariel Muzicant, is a guarantor that things will stay the same in the Jewish Community like they have under Muzicant.
But the role allocation will have to change. On one hand was Ariel Muzicant, the blusterer, the man in public, and on the other hand the comparatively inconspicuous Deutsch, who has served as vice president since 1999 and also was responsible for debt relief of the Jewish Community, which since has been enjoying a balanced budget, as he proudly reports.
This is not the first function for Deutsch at the IKG. He has also served in its Board of Directors (“Kultusrat”)and is chairman of the Maccabi sports club. As head of the organizing committee of the 2011 Makkabi Games held in Vienna, he briefly got to be in the limelight for the first time. Asked about his hobbies, he answers “primarily the Community”
A secondary answer might be Austria Wien. His father brought him to the soccer field when he was four, five years old; “this is how you become a fan” he recalls. But he doesn’t like talking about private matters, as a result, information is sparse: born on April 25, 1963 in Vienna, today a married family man.
Professionally he ended up in the family business. Deutsch is business manager of Alvorada Kaffeehandelsges. M.b.H. The company trades tea and coffee in Austria, but also has a stake in the worldwide coffee trade. “I like to drink coffee myself and enjoy tasting raw coffee as well” explains the modern coffee roaster.
He hopes that the Jewish Community remains unified and doesn’t split up, which has happened elsewhere. It is important to increase the amount of members through immigration, says Deutsch, but does not elaborate on how he would like to accomplish this goal; “a lot of things are being discussed” he says shortly.