Resistance warning and deserters memorial in Bregenz

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Resistance warning and deserter memorial in Bregenz (2015)

The Widerstandsmahn- and deserter monument is a reminder and memorial in the Vorarlberg capital Bregenz ( Austria ). It is a reminder of those Vorarlbergers who refused to obey or resigned from the Nazi regime, in particular those who refused to serve in the military and deserters , resistance fighters and citizens who showed humanity towards the persecuted and mistreated despite being banned.

It is a three- dimensional installation on the building at Rathausstrasse 33 / Sparkassenplatz and essentially consists of a case sheet ad and was designed by the Carinthian - Slovenian media artist Nataša Sienčnik .

history

Demand for a memorial for deserters in Vorarlberg

In 1985 the Johann August Malin Society published the volume Von Herren und Menschen. Persecution and resistance in Vorarlberg 1933–1945 . Meinrad Pichler wrote the section Resistance and Resistance in the Wehrmacht . This volume contains an encyclopedia of persecution and resistance that lists the numerous victims of Nazi persecution in Vorarlberg.

Surviving deserters from the German Wehrmacht were often insulted in Austria after 1945 as traitors , cowards or even as comrade killers. The Personnel Committee Justice for Victims of Nazi Military Justice has been trying to get them legally rehabilitated since 2002 .

In 2005 the National Council passed the Recognition Act , and on October 21, 2009 the Repeal and Rehabilitation Act , according to which Austrian armed forces deserters and other victims of Nazi military justice are deemed to have been rehabilitated across the board.

The exhibition conceived by the Federal German Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe played a special role : What was law then ... - Soldiers and civilians before Wehrmacht courts , which was shown in Vienna in 2009. In autumn 2011 this exhibition came to Dornbirn as well . The opening speech on September 29, 2019 was given by Harald Welzer . A volume accompanying the exhibition documents the fate of Vorarlberg deserters and victims of the Wehrmacht.

In the run-up to this exhibition, the Bregenz Greens and the Johann-August-Malin-Gesellschaft demanded the erection of a memorial for the Vorarlberg armed forces defectors and conscientious objectors at a press conference on the occasion of the Memorial Day on September 23, 2011. The provincial capital Bregenz was suggested as the installation site.

Realization of the project

In autumn 2012, the Mayor of Bregenz , Markus Linhart, commissioned a working group with the preparatory work.

During the planning phase, the first deserters memorial in Austria was opened to the public on Ballhausplatz in Vienna on October 24, 2014 .

In the discussion about the purpose of the memorial in Bregenz, the members of the working group agreed that it should not only be a reminder to those who deserted the Wehrmacht, but to everyone who had resisted the Nazi regime. Therefore, a public competition to design a resistance memorial was announced, which was supposed to remind of all forms of resistance and resistance: the memorial is intended to commemorate all those Vorarlberg residents who refused or resigned obedience to the National Socialist regime, in particular those who refused to serve in the military and Deserters, resistance fighters and citizens who have shown humanity towards the persecuted and abused despite the prohibition.

The Carinthian-Slovenian media artist Nataša Sienčnik won the competition. She presented her design as part of the Remembrance Day against violence and racism in memory of the victims of National Socialism on May 5, 2015 in the Landhaus Bregenz .

On November 14, 2015, the resistance memorial was ceremoniously unveiled at the Sparkassenplatz in Bregenz. The memorial in the form of a case-sheet display shows the names and life data of 100 people who represent resistance fighters, conscientious objectors and deserters, as well as citizens who have shown humanity towards the persecuted and abused despite the prohibition . The names come from the lexicon Persecution and Resistance of the Johann-August-Malin-Gesellschaft, which can be accessed on the memorial homepage.

The Hungarian philosopher Ágnes Heller , survivors of the Holocaust and retired owner of Hannah Arendt - chair of philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York , gave the keynote speech.

Tour and teaching materials

The sustainable use of the monument and its contents were of erinnern.at a tour resistance, persecution and desertion , and educational materials developed. In addition, videos with interviews with descendants of Samuel Spindler , Karoline Redler , August Weiß and Delphina Burtscher were created and the historian Meinrad Pichler presents the resistance and deserter monument.

Web links

Commons : Resistance warning and deserters monument in Bregenz  - collection of pictures

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b See Thomas Klagian: Eine Chronologie , website resistance mahnmal-bregenz.at.
  2. ^ Johann-August-Malin-Gesellschaft (Ed.): Von Herren und Menschen. Persecution and resistance in Vorarlberg 1933–1945 , Bregenz 1985.
  3. ↑ Walter Manoschek (ed.): Victims of Nazi military justice. Judgment practice, prison system, compensation policy in Austria , Mandelbaum-Verlag, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85476-101-5 .
  4. ^ Maria Fritsche: Withdrawals. Austrian deserters and self-mutilators in the German Wehrmacht , Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3-205-77181-4 .
  5. ^ A b Hannes Metzler: Dishonored forever? The rehabilitation of the armed forces deserters in Germany and Austria , Vienna 2007 ISBN 978-3-85476-218-8 .
  6. ^ "What was right then ..." - Soldiers and civilians before courts of the Wehrmacht , website of the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
  7. ↑ Thomas Geldmacher, Magnus Koch, Hannes Metzler, Peter Pirker , Lisa Rettl (eds.): "We won't take part anymore ..." Austrian soldiers and civilians before courts of the Wehrmacht , Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85476- 341-3 .
  8. ↑ Hanno Platzgummer , Karin Bitschnau, Werner Bundschuh (eds.): "I cannot serve a state that is guilty ..." Vorarlberger before the courts of the Wehrmacht , Dornbirn 2011, ISBN 978-3-901900-25-9 .
  9. ↑ Juliane Alton, Thomas Geldmacher, Magnus Koch, Hannes Metzler: Awarded for fleeing from the flags, The memorial for those persecuted by the Nazi military justice in Vienna , Vienna 2016, ISBN 978-3-8353-1823-6
  10. ^ Website of the memorial and memorial (home page).
  11. ↑ Speech by Agnes Heller: A world that needed heroes , website: Remember.at.
  12. ↑ Tour of the Resistance, Persecution and Desertion , website of the memorial and memorial.

Coordinates: 47 ° 30 ′ 15 ″  N , 9 ° 44 ′ 47 ″  E