Festival of joy
The festival of joy takes place every year on the occasion of the anniversary of Austria's liberation from the Nazi regime on May 8th at Vienna's Heldenplatz . The population, contemporary witnesses and the top of the state celebrate the re-establishment of the Republic of Austria with a gala concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra . The Festival of Joy has been organized by the Mauthausen Committee Austria since 2013 , attended by around 15,000 people and was broadcast live on television ( ORF III ) for the first time in 2015 .
Occasion, orientation and performers
The unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht took place on May 7, 1945 and came into effect on May 8 at 11:01 p.m. CET. With that the Republic of Austria was liberated and restored within the borders of 1918. Although the Soviet troops had already won the Battle of Vienna on April 13, 1945 and although Austrian independence was declared on April 27 and a new Austrian state government was established on April 29, 1945, May 8 marks the final day of Austria's liberation from the Nazi regime.
Since 2013, the federal government has been organizing a gala concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on the anniversary of the final defeat of National Socialism as a “commitment to democracy and freedom in Austria” on Heldenplatz. This solemnity enjoyed the spontaneous approval of the population. In 2013 around 10,000 visitors came, in 2014 the festival of joy was attended by 12,000 listeners. In 2015 there were around 15,000.
A central component of the festival of joy is the speech of a contemporary witness. In 2013 this was Käthe Sasso , a survivor of the Ravensbrück concentration camp and a death march . In 2014, Aba Szulim Lewit , a survivor of the Płaszów and Mauthausen concentration camps , spoke . In 2015 Helga Emperger was invited, who was arrested by the Nazi regime at the age of 16 and whose mother was executed by guillotine by the National Socialists . In 2016, Daniel Chanoch spoke , who comes from a family in Lithuania and survived five concentration camps as a child. His parents and sister were murdered by the National Socialists.
The choice of artists for the gala concert takes into account both the Allies and the victims of National Socialism. The Frenchman Bertrand de Billy was the conductor of the first two festivals . In 2013 the Russian coloratura soprano Julia Novikova sang, in 2014 the Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva and the Polish tenor Piotr Beczała , and in 2015 the Hungarian bass Gábor Bretz . In 2016, Christoph von Dohnányi conducted Arnold Schönberg's A Survivor from Warsaw (speaker: Thomas Hampson ), the men's choir of the Vienna Singing Association intoned the Schma Yisrael .
Program and contributors
Accompanying events
In addition to the Austrian National Day, the day on which the return of October 26, 1955 is celebrated, on which perpetual neutrality was decided by the National Council, the day of liberation from National Socialism is increasingly developing into a focal point of Austrian identity . In addition to the Festival of Joy , the organization of which was officially entrusted to the Mauthausen Committee , the Austrian Federal Government is now organizing three other events.
Vigil of the armed forces
Since 2013, every year on May 8th, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Austrian Armed Forces have held a vigil in front of the outer castle gate . This vigil is expressly dedicated to the victims of National Socialism and is traditionally started with a visit by the Defense Minister . The continuous presence of the armed forces and the Festival of Joy throughout the day now prevents the commemoration of the dead by the Vienna corporation ring on May 8, which had led to violent controversies and counter-demonstrations from the 1990s.
Ceremony in the Federal Chancellery
The ceremony on May 8th in the Federal Chancellery , at which a contemporary witness also speaks, has also become a tradition . in 2015 this was the 102-year-old concentration camp survivor Marko Feingold . On this occasion, Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann admitted that the discussion of the story was in part only hesitant. However, “it is never too late for a comprehensive review,” he emphasized. Even Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner underlined the importance of authentic information from witnesses. "The longer you do not notice the process, the more the memories faded and painful parts would be left out." Theresienstadt survivor Rudolf Gelbard spoke at the 2016 ceremony .
Projections at the Federal Chancellery
For the first time in 2015, after the concert and during the following night, quotes from the Mauthausen oath were projected onto the facade of the Federal Chancellery . Around a third of the visitors left Heldenplatz via Ballhausplatz and many paused in front of the projections:
“In memory of the shed blood of all peoples, in memory of the millions of brothers murdered by Nazi fascism, we vow that we will never leave this path. We want to erect the most beautiful monument that we can erect to the fallen soldiers of freedom on the secure foundations of an international community: THE WORLD OF THE FREE MAN. "
Quotes
"We were no longer numbers or Jews, we had become human again."
"We are celebrating the end of the horror of National Socialism."
"Today we bow to all those who liberated Austria and all Austrians who were persecuted by National Socialism."
photos
2013
Werner Faymann speaks
Bertrand de Billy conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Katharina Stemberger moderates
2014
Willi Mernyi speaks
2015
Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann speaks
Philippe Jordan conducts Beethoven's Ninth
Gábor Bretz , Bass, Festival of Joy, 2015
2016
Conductor Christoph von Dohnányi
2019
Video message from Frans Timmermans
Video message from Oskar Deutsch
Web links
- Festival of Joy , official website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Mayr: Symphoniker against “Totengedenken” of the fraternity , In: Der Standard, April 9, 2013.
- ^ Wiener Zeitung : Festival of Joy: Beethoven instead of fraternity on May 8th. , May 9, 2013.
- ↑ 12,000 at the “Festival of Joy” on Heldenplatz in Vienna ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Der Standard , May 8, 2014, 10:16 p.m.
- ↑ Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien : Forming the Jewish Future: Commemorative event at the JBBZ , accessed on May 9, 2015.
- ↑ Ursula Raberger : International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust: In conversation with Dani Chanoch , Neuwal, January 27, 2014, accessed on May 9, 2016.
- ↑ Festival of Joy - Trailer on Youtube .
- ↑ Die Presse : May 8th: fraternity members 'delighted' with the army vigil , May 6th 2013. In it Klug emphasizes: “Where the fraternity members have marched in previous years, this time soldiers will keep watch in memory of the victims of fascism. [...] There must be no space for relevant groups, especially not on Heldenplatz. "
- ↑ ORF : Words of warning at the “Festival of Joy” , May 8, 2015.