Remembrance day against violence and racism in memory of the victims of National Socialism

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Memorial at Mauthausen Concentration Camp (2002)

The day of remembrance against violence and racism in memory of the victims of National Socialism is a national day of remembrance in Austria . It has been committed on May 5th every year since 1998 and is a synonym for the atrocities committed by the Austrian National Socialists after the German occupation between March 12, 1938 and spring 1945 . Specifically, the date relates to the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp .

Remembrance day in Austria

The day of remembrance against violence and racism in memory of the victims of National Socialism commemorates all victims in the time of National Socialism and at the same time focuses on the fight against violence , racism and anti-Semitism .

The day of remembrance was introduced on November 11, 1997 by a unanimous decision of all parties in the Austrian Parliament and set for May 5. On May 5, 1945, soldiers of the US Army liberated the survivors of the Mauthausen Nazi concentration camp . While Germany in 1996, like the United Nations in 2005, chose January 27 - the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp by the Red Army  - as the “ Holocaust Remembrance Day ”, the Austrian parliament decided “in appreciation of the specific Austrian Past ”for May 5th.

The Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, next to the Auschwitz (-Birkenau) extermination camp, symbolizes genocide and the millions of victims of the Nazi regime .

In its resolution , the Austrian National Council stated:

“May 5th - the day of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp - may be celebrated in Austria in memory of the victims of National Socialism as a day of remembrance against violence and racism.
[...] In particular, it seems to the National Council to be necessary in schools, within the Austrian Armed Forces as well as in community service to take appropriate consideration of this day of remembrance in order to arouse and increase sensitivity to the various forms of violence. "

The day of remembrance is an expression of a change in historical awareness in Austria since the 1990s , after the so-called “ victim thesis ” was replaced by the “accomplice thesis”. After the end of the Second World War in May 1945, the idea prevailed for a long time that Austria had been “the first victim of National Socialism ” and that it was therefore not responsible for the crimes of the National Socialists. The memory of National Socialism was mostly only shaped by the “memory of the suffering of the soldiers and the misery of the civilian population caused by war and hardship ”; there was seldom room for the “memory of the victims of racist, inhuman and fascist persecution”. This view of history underwent a decisive change in a speech by the then Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky in the Austrian National Council on July 8, 1991, which contributed to a rethinking and initiated an intensified critical appraisal of the time of National Socialism in Austria.

The naming of the day of remembrance, on which Austria renounced the term "Holocaust" in the name of the day of remembrance, was a historical and political compromise of the political camps of the time and also took into account the " European Year against Racism and Xenophobia " proclaimed by the European Union in 1997 . The memory of the Holocaust and the confrontation with National Socialism were linked to the expectation that they would lead to an awareness of the various forms of violence.

May 5th is the third national holiday decided by the Austrian Parliament, along with the national holiday on May 1st and the national holiday on October 26th . However, May 5th is not a non-working holiday . It was first committed in 1998. In Austria public buildings are flagged on this day and the flags are set at half-mast . The Austrian National Council holds a special session on May 5th every year and commemorates the victims. Commemoration projects take place at many schools and other institutions. In addition, every year on the first Sunday after May 5th, the liberation ceremony takes place in Mauthausen , at which a large number of international and national delegations from victims' associations gather to commemorate the victims and their liberation.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Gerald Lamprecht: Day of Remembrance Against Violence and Racism in Memory of the Victims of National Socialism - May 5th . On: www.erinnern.at; PDF file, accessed May 4, 2011.
  2. ↑ See Memorial Day against Violence and Racism in Parliament ( Memento of the original from November 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Press release of the Austrian Presidential Chancellery from May 2007; Retrieved May 4, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hofburg.at
  3. ↑ See decree of the BMUKK of January 26, 2011; PDF file, accessed May 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education: Current background: May 8, 1945