Comradeship IV
The Kameradschaft IV der Waffen-SS ( K IV ) is an Austrian soldiers and traditional association that is classified as right-wing extremists by the documentation archive of the Austrian resistance . It consists of former members of the Waffen SS as well as their family members and friends and is divided into local groups and regional associations. The name Kameradschaft IV is intended to give the impression that the Waffen-SS was a fourth part of the Wehrmacht alongside the army , air force and navy and therefore not a criminal organization. This self-portrayal contradicts the condemnation of the SS in the Nuremberg trial of the main war criminals . At that time the SS was classified as criminal , but the General Staff and the High Command of the Wehrmacht were not.
society
The establishment of the comradeship was approved during the occupation in 1954. In 1992 the Federal Ministry of the Interior under Minister Franz Löschnak initiated a review of the activities of the comradeship. As a result of this review, charges were made against the publisher of the association's magazine Die Kameradschaft on suspicion of violating the Prohibition Act and the termination of the comradeship was made dependent on the outcome of the pending legal proceedings. The proceedings ended with the publisher's acquittal and the association's dissolution proceedings were suspended. The Ministry of the Interior noted that the comradeship will continue to be monitored and that the association's dissolution proceedings will be resumed if new evidence emerges. The Federal Association of Comradeship IV decided in October 1995 to voluntarily dissolve itself in order to anticipate any steps under association law. However, regional associations continue to exist, even though the number of members decreases every year due to the age of the members. In 2005, the magazine "Die Kameradschaft", which had been published for many years by the Kameradschaft IV, was also discontinued. The main content of this publication was the portrayal of the Waffen-SS as a normal fighting force and military nostalgia; In addition, there were also historical revisionist articles that do not only concern the history of the Waffen SS. At the end of October 2008, the Regional Association of the Comradeship IV in Salzburg dissolved itself because of the very low number of members.
The main tasks of the Comradeship IV are the maintenance of the comradeship (returnees meeting), the care and maintenance of war graves and memorials as well as the holding of memorial services for the fallen and missing. The comradeship is a member of the Ulrichsberg community . Traditionally, the day before the Ulrichsberg meeting in Carinthia, it organizes a camaraderie evening in Krumpendorf in camera , which hit the headlines in 1995 with the appearance of Jörg Haider .
Known (former) members of the Kameradschaft IV were u. a. Sylvester Stadler , Erich Kern , Rudolf Heinz Fischer , Otto Kumm (honorary member) and Friedrich Peter .
Right-wing extremism
The organization worked closely with the German HIAG , but also with other right-wing extremist organizations. In 1995, Sören Kam hit the headlines when he took part in the Ulrichsberg meeting of the veterans of the Waffen SS in Krumpendorf in Carinthia . At this annual meeting, at which Jörg Haider expressed his thanks to the Waffen SS, Kam was filmed.
“That in these busy times there are still decent people who have a character and who stand by their convictions even with the greatest headwind and have remained true to their convictions to this day. And that is a basis, my dear friends, that is also passed on to us young people. And a people who do not honor their ancestors are doomed anyway. But after we want to have a future, we will teach those people, the politically correct ones, that we cannot be killed and that decency is always worthwhile in our world, even if we are currently not able to win a majority, but we are mentally superior to the others . (...) We give money for terrorists, for violent newspapers, for work-shy rabble, and we have no money for decent people. "
The documentation archive of the Austrian resistance classifies Kameradschaft IV as a right-wing extremist organization that glorifies the Waffen SS and belittles Nazi rule . In addition to the connections to other traditional associations and right-wing extremist groups, there are close personal and organizational contacts between the Kameradschaft IV and the FPÖ . Members and functionaries of this party hold functions in the Comradeship IV. Among other things, Gerhard Kurzmann , the Styrian chairman of the FPÖ and regional councilor, is a member of the Comradeship IV. He has confessed and defended this membership to Radio Styria.
In 1979, the Carinthia Regional Association of the Comradeship IV planned to join the Austrian Comradeship Association in Carinthia. The then President of the ÖKB Carinthia, Brigadier Anton Holzinger , expressed his disapproval: “The members of the Waffen-SS are so-called political soldiers. The Carinthian Comradeship Association sees itself as a non-political association for the care of Austrian soldiers and therefore the Waffen-SS does not suit us at all. "
In spite of some official state association dissolutions, a memorial wreath with the inscription “Österr. Austria” was erected in Rechnitz in November 2008 as part of a commemoration of the Austrian Comradeship Association Burgenland . Soldiers Association / Comradeship IV / Bez. Gr. Südburgenland ” and the modified SS motto “ His honor was loyalty ” . Friedrich Scheubrein, President of the Austrian Comradeship Association Burgenland, distanced himself from Kameradschaft IV and the Kranz. In December 2008, two men were investigated by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in connection with the text on the wreath and reported under the Prohibition Act .
In April 2011, the Styrian regional association of the Austrian Comradeship Association expressly distanced itself from the Comradeship IV and stated: "An organization that cherishes the memory of the SS has no place in the Comradeship Association." The Burgenland ÖKB chairman Scheubrein also stated in 2008 In connection with the laying of the wreath mentioned above, it is clear that the Comradeship IV is not part of the Austrian Comradeship Association.
literature
- Norbert Rencher: Ulrichsberg Documentation , No. 1, 1999.
- Walter Fanta, Valentin Sima (eds.): “You are in the middle of the country”. The European comrades' meeting on the Carinthian Ulrichsberg from the beginning until today . Drava, Klagenfurt 2003, ISBN 3-85435-417-7 .
- Austrian Soldiers' Association, Kameradschaft IV (Ed.): Youth who were not allowed to vote. A documentation. Perchtoldsdorf, undated [approx. 1995]
swell
- ↑ Wreath with SS saying: Two men reported. In: oesterreich.orf.at. December 11, 2008, accessed November 24, 2017 .
- ^ K IV in the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance, accessed on November 29, 2013
- ^ ORF Salzburg: The controversial "Kameradschaft IV" dissolved
- ^ Austrian Soldiers' Association, Comradeship IV (ed.): Youth who were not allowed to vote. A documentation. Perchtoldsdorf, undated [circa 1995], p. 132 and p. 265
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Member of the "right-wing extremist association". In: oesterreich.orf.at. July 8, 2006, accessed November 24, 2017 .
- ^ NN: Alarm at the Carinthian military: in: Kärntner Echo - Independent weekly newspaper. August 7, 1979 p. 1f.
- ↑ ORF Burgenland: swirl around wreath with SS saying (inscriptions can be seen on the photo)
- ^ ORF Burgenland: wreath with SS slogan: Two men indicated
- ↑ Kleine Zeitung: Scandal at the Comradeship Association. Kleine Zeitung , April 23, 2011, archived from the original on August 24, 2011 .
- ↑ The standard: Whirl around wreath with SS saying
