Largest concentration camp liberation ceremony in the world – Austria commemorates – Austria
More than 5000 people celebrated the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp on Sunday. “Never forget!”
“Political Resistance” is the title of this year’s largest concentration camp liberation celebration in the world. Relatives of victims, church dignitaries and all of Austria commemorate the harrowing past. Exactly 77 years ago, US troops liberated the concentration camp in Mauthausen, more than 90,000 people did not survive the machinery of inhuman atrocities in the concentration camp.
These dark chapters of our history, and the atrocities written in them, will never be forgotten. This is a task for the present and future of our country.
Official Austria was represented this year by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, Karoline Edtstadler, Justice Minister Alma Zadic and Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler. Former Federal President Heinz Fischer was also present and expected his sympathy.
Honor, commemorate and never forget
“Many people ask how can we best honor the memory of those who had to die under National Socialism because they were murdered? – or sit down, pick up the cell phone or do something on the PC to counteract the hate on the internet. This is how we can honor these people through our commitment to a world of peace,” said Willi Mernyi, Chairman of the Mauthausen Committee Austria.
“It took more than four decades before Austria officially recognized that it was not only a victim but also a perpetrator during the National Socialist era.”
Commemoration without survivors for the first time
In all, according to the police and the committee, 5,000 people attended the celebrations. Large format pictures of survivors with messages in all languages call for peace, love and solidarity. Around 200,000 people were prisoners, around half of whom were murdered. A single survivor war was announced for the liberation ceremony, but he had to cancel for health reasons: Daniel Chanoch, 90 years old, originally from Lithuania and now living in Israel, was released on May 5, 1945 from the Gunskirchen concentration camp, one of the many sub-camps of Mauthausen. freed. He was only twelve years old then. To this day he does not give up and tells his story as one of the last contemporary witnesses. He preserves in word and writing the memory that should admonish us. This week he presented his book “Telling in order to live – Life is a question of seconds and millimeters”.
Nehammer with warning words
“It took more than four decades for Austria to officially recognize that it was not only a victim but also a perpetrator during the National Socialist era. What we take for granted today was a long and tedious process for our country,” said Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
Thomas Stelzer honors the resistance fighters
Upper Austria’s governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) finds words for the brave resistance: “We appreciate all those who had the courage to openly oppose the Nazi regime. At the same time, we are united in our commitment to do everything so that their heroism will never be necessary again.”
Pamela Rendi Wagner speaks for humanity
“The National Socialist atrocities must never be forgotten, which also means preserving humanity and resolutely opposing every form of hate, exclusion and violence,” said SPÖ Chairwoman Pamela Rendi-Wagner.
Political resistance and Ukraine war
“Political Resistance”. Mernyi remembered all those who were “systematically persecuted and murdered” by the Nazis. He warned that it is still extremely important today to offer resistance and to take a stand: “So we see it as our obligation to say “No” clearly and unequivocally in a military conflict!”
Because of the devastating war in Ukraine, the ambassadors of Russia were asked not to appear. Every year, MPs from all over the world come to the celebration, because the detainees from Mauthausen come from more than 70 nations. However, survivors and their relatives as well as aid organizations from these countries were welcome. At the Ukrainian memorial there was an exhibition with pictures from the Second World War and current photos from the Ukraine war. The similarities between mass exodus and destruction get under your skin and frighten you to the core. The borders blur and the self-evidence of protection, care and peace is questioned.
“If it absolutely needs a winner, then not nations, not a great leader, but the values of peace, freedom, solidarity!”
Annual report of the anti-Semitism reporting office shows worrying tendencies
The annual report of the anti-Semitism reporting office of the IKG shows how important it is “not to forget”. In calendar year 2021, 965 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded – an average of more than 18 per week; An increase of 60 percent since 2020. It is important to wake people up and take action against racism, because history must never be repeated.