Association of Socialist Freedom Fighters
.jpg)
The Association of Socialist Freedom Fighters and Victims of Fascism was founded on March 12, 1949 in Vienna through the merger of the Association of Socialist Freedom Fighters, which had been set up in 1946, and the SPÖ's Victims Welfare Office . Today this Austrian institution bears the name of the Association of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters, Victims of Fascism and Active Anti-Fascists .
founding
After the end of the Nazi tyranny in Austria , the Austrians who had returned from prisons, concentration camps and emigration organized themselves into the “People's Solidarity”, in which representatives of the SPÖ , ÖVP and KPÖ participated. On July 13, 1946, the unified and non-partisan Austrian Federal Association of formerly politically persecuted anti-fascists was founded , the President of which was the Catholic Franz Sobek and the Socialist Karl Mark as its General Secretary . The concentration camp association , the prisoner association and the association of people persecuted by descent were also involved in this nationwide organization . In the immediate post-war years, the political work of the three dominant parties was based heavily on those who were politically persecuted by the Nazi regime; 129 of the 165 members of the National Council in the first legislative period (1945 to 1949) were imprisoned in National Socialist prisons and concentration camps.
Originally, the "spirit of Lagerstraße" - the common ground between the politically persecuted and the Nazi perpetrators despite ideological differences - was to be maintained after the liberation. However, daily politics within Austria, the communist takeover of power in Czechoslovakia and the outbreak of the Cold War led to violent disputes at all levels, including within the joint association. The communists, leading because of their strong share in the resistance there, raised political claims which, above all, could not be accepted by the socialists. There were also disputes within the SPÖ. The Bund of the Politically Persecuted was dissolved again in March or April 1948 and the parties relied on their own victim associations.
The formal founding meeting of the Association of Socialist Freedom Fighters and Victims of Fascism took place on March 12, 1949 in the Döblingen workers' home . One hundred delegates from all Vienna districts and from the federal states took part, including numerous SPÖ mandate holders. The following spoke: Karl Seitz , honorary chairman of the SPÖ, the mayor of Vienna Theodor Körner , the women's chairwoman Gabriele Proft and the party chairman Adolf Schärf . Rosa Jochmann , who was already active in the resistance against the Dollfuss regime and had returned after almost six years in Gestapo imprisonment and internment in the Ravensbrück concentration camp , was elected chairman of the new institution . From 1945 to 1967 she was a member of the National Council of the SPÖ and was to chair the Socialist Freedom Fighters for 42 years.
Never forget
Under this motto, former February fighters, the Austrian Revolutionary Socialists persecuted by the corporate state , women and men of the anti-fascist resistance and survivors of Nazi criminal regimes from prisons and concentration camps united in the new institution. On the one hand, it represented the interests of the victims of the fascist regime and, on the other hand, led a lively struggle against right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism . Important activists of the Socialist Freedom Fighters during the development phase included Josef Hindels , Jochmann's deputy, who had to flee as early as 1937, the Gestapo prisoner and 999er Alfred Ströer , the February fighter Fritz Inkret , as well as the Auschwitz survivors Erna Musik and Franz Danimann .
Right from the start, the freedom fighters strove for a contemporary form of enlightenment and commemorative culture and for an alliance with the youth, knowing that the continuation of anti-fascist activities is only possible through the motivation of the following generations.
activities
The federal government organizes commemorative trips to the sites of resistance and the crimes of the Nazi regime, provides exhibitions and films, organizes seminars and discussions and issues numerous publications. The federal magazine bears the title "The Social Democratic Fighter". The “three-arrow badge” can be ordered from the Federal Secretariat for two euros .
Representation of interests
In the bodies in which the interests of the victims were represented, e.g. B. in the Victim Welfare Commission, there has been constructive cooperation between the three victim associations over many years. Later, the working group of the three victims' associations was formed, which mainly appears together with the authorities and in public. A recent success has been the inclusion of Austrian forced laborers in the Reconciliation Fund Act. In addition, the BSF regularly takes part in events organized by the platform Jetzt Jetzt! , which campaigns for the appreciation of all Nazi victims.
Scientific processing
A substantial success of the working group was the founding of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance (DÖW), which over the decades has developed into a recognized research institute and continues to do important educational work about the resistance and current dangers of the law.
Otto Bauer badge
The BSW has been awarding the Otto Bauer plaque since 1969 . It was and is given primarily to resistance fighters, survivors of the Holocaust and contemporary witnesses, but also to those born later who have made a contribution in the fight against right-wing radicalism and fascism. The plaque is reserved for members of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), since 2001 non-Austrians have also been awarded. The ceremony takes place in Mauthausen concentration camp on a case-by-case basis.
Chairperson
- 1948–1990 Rosa Jochmann
- 1990–1992 Leopold Mistinger
- 1992-1995 Hugo Pepper
- 1995–2007 Alfred Ströer
- 2007–2013 Ernst Nedwed
- 2013–2018 Johannes Schwantner
- since October 2018 Gerald Netzl
Web links
- Freedom Fighters , the organization's website
- Association of Socialist Freedom Fighters. In: dasrotewien.at - Web dictionary of the Viennese social democracy. SPÖ Vienna (Ed.)
Remarks
- ↑ See the exclusion of the SPÖ Central Secretary Erwin Scharf , a former fighter with the Austrian Freedom Battalion in Yugoslavia, because he advocated an alliance with the communists. A number of anti-fascists in the SPÖ, such as Peter Strasser , Josef Hindels and Karl Czernetz , had clearly distinguished themselves from Scharf and supported his exclusion.
- ↑ The constitution of the "Association of Socialist Freedom Fighters Austria" had already taken place on October 22, 1946, but not as a separate party organization. The now re-establishment in the presence of all currents of the party and their prominent representatives gave the new institution reputation and effectiveness. At the same time, the conservatives established the “ÖVP comradeship of those politically persecuted and confessors of Austria”.
- ^ SPÖ mourns Johannes Schwantner . Article dated March 12, 2018, accessed March 12, 2018.
- ^ The Social Democratic Parliamentary Club mourns Johannes Schwantner . OTS bulletin of March 12, 2018, accessed on March 12, 2018.
- ^ Association of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters, Victims of Fascism and Active Anti-Fascists: The Chairmen . In: freiheitskampf.at, accessed on October 13, 2019.