- Title: 271 AT Mauthausen commemoration
- Date: 5th May 2020
- Description:Seventy fifth anniversary of liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp 75 years after the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp and 75 years after the end of WW II in Europe, this year's Day of Remembrance against Violence and Racism will take place in an unusual place and in an unusual form in memory of the victims of National Socialism. Due to the Corona crisis, the commemoration event (officially called a special session of the Presidential Conferences of the National Council and the Federal Council) will take place in the roof foyer of the Vienna Hofburg. At the center of the event are a discussion recorded in Mauthausen on the culture of remembrance, political responsibility in the changing times, new anti-Semitism and future challenges. Participants in the discussion are Hannah Lessing, Secretary-General of the Austrian National Fund, Barbara Glück, Director of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial, Oskar Deutsch, President of the Jewish community in Austria, and the writer Paulus Hochgatterer. A film recording with historical material from Mauthausen deals with the question of political responsibility. The welcoming speech will be delivered by the President of the Federal Council, Robert Seeber, and the commemorative speech by the President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka. Shotlist location Mauthausen, Upper Austria: - MS Wreath-laying at Mauthausen memorial by Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen Location Vienna Hofburg Roof Foyer: - SOUNDBITE (German) Robert Seeber, President of the Federal Council: "Today 75 years ago the concentration camp Mauthausen was liberated by the US army. More than 200.000 persons have been interned, 100.000 people were murdered in the most brutal way. “ - SOUNDBITE (German) Wolfgang Sobotka, President of the National Council: "The concentration camp Mauthausen is a place in the thinking of a society where we never want to go again. National Socialism derived a different value from a constructed diversity of people. We remember the dead, we remember the tortured survivors and we do this with humility and shame. This commemoration leaves us with the conviction that we want to do everything, that we have to do everything to leave no room for racial hatred in our country.“ Location Mauthausen, Upper Austria: - SOUNDBITE (German) Barbara Glück, Director of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial: “The typical characteristics that make this place what it is today is simply missing these days. The living spirit, the encounters we feel here, the numerous school classes who should visit us in these days, they all lack." - SOUNDBITE (German) Hannah Lessing, Secretary-General of the Austrian National Fund: “And when we pronounce today some kind of comparison, because we feel locked in, they simply say ‘I had to stay in a workshop in a backyard, and I was not allowed to move or to leave, and I did not see the sky only one time’, and they feel a strong necessity to tell their story once again.– It is inadmissible to compare war to this crisis.” - SOUNDBITE (German) Oskar Deutsch, President of the Jewish Community in Austria: “We also try by high investments to find a cure for this enemy, be it a drug, be it a vaccine to avoid the illness in the future. And there we are all standing together, that’s why I would not call it a war. “ - SOUNDBITE (German) Barbara Glück, Director of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial: “What would have happened these days are the international commemoration and liberation ceremonies, which usually reunite so many nations, finally with the aim to celebrate this unifying element on that day. That’s something I want to remind. That so many nations in Europe and more commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the NS terror. We don’t have to succumb to the temptation to think we are a vaccination ward against antisemitism and racism. What is important to us is to give food for thought that we deal with the current situation, but always in connection with history and with the location. “ - SOUNDBITE (German) Paulus Hochgatterer, writer: „For me, Mauthausen became understandable by hearing individual stories, of course. I had the chance that these stories were told to me. But many are not told and were not told these stories. And for these peoples, this vaccination station is extremely important.” - SOUNDBITE (German) Barbara Glück, Director of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial: “It is important to us on this place not to confront the visitors simply with answers, but to let them go full of questions.” - WS president Van der Bellen and his wife leaving the KZ Mauthausen
- Collection: ORF
- Genre:News
- Producer:ORF
- Transmission Date:05/05/2020
- Decade: 2020s