H ow can you live here with all this knowledge? asks a visitor to the town. All these stories about its inhabitants. Here a mass grave, there dead corpses, a hangman's space, a blood smeared shop window, the owner of the electrical shop arrested and forced to sell up, and a 22-year-old shot on the parish square directly in front of the church in February 1945. Not to mention the place on the country road, where, in the late 1990s, the doctor was still bellowing about the “Jewish pig” whose daughter had sold the house too expensively. 200 meters away is the Sappeur monument to the fallen of the First World War. It was here that the last commemoration of Adolf Hitler took place on the 6 May 1945. And, in the 1980s, neo-Nazis stopped here for their Flag Day parade. Within sight is the only monument to a general of the German Wehrmacht, Karl Eibl. Erected in 1959. When the monument was moved here to the Südtyrolerplatz in the 1970s, the Red Army obelisk had already disappeared a second time, and the 1,600 dead Russian prisoners of the STALAG 17B camp had been exhumed for a second time. The Franz Zellerplatz was named after a beheaded resistance fighter, and if it had not been for the false window bearing the inscription “It is difficult to put the head under the guillotine”, nothing would remind us of who Franz Zeller really was, and some would think the place bears the name of an operetta composer. From here, you can also see the house where the 22-year-old deserter Richard Ott hid. His school friends called the police three times to demand his arrest. On April 2, the area around the station lay in debris after being bombed by American aircraft. About 300 civilians were killed. And on 6 April 1945, the dead lay in the streets in front of the penitentiary. And the dead, for whom no place in the mass graves can be found, are thrown into the Danube where the landing stage now stands. WERE THE PEOPLE OF KREMS PARTICULARLY “EVIL”? How can one live here? But the past has something comforting. Everything has passed, the tears have dried - if there ever were any. And the opposites were clear enough. There the victims, and there the perpetrators, and, in between, those who had watched, those who had looked away, and some who had also helped. Were there many who had this courage? Whoever wants to tell history with statistics, and believes to be able to decide upon good and evil will have a hard time. The 99% for Adolf Hitler are not the whole truth. But what is the truth? Were the people of Krems more fanatical than the inhabitants of other small towns? Was anti-Semitism more pronounced here? Why, nevertheless, was the resistance not so insignificant in this place? The Arian paragraph was used for the first time in the Wachau at a gym festival in the 19th century. A bomb explosion was the decisive factor that led to the banning, in 1933, of the NSDAP in Austria. Within a few months, there were explosions in several places, for example, in front of the parish church in Stein, and in front of the „Englischen Fräulein“ school. From Krems, Gauleiter Josef Leopold conducted, Austria wide, the illegal NSDAP. And in Krems, the November pogrom had already taken place in September 1938. Jews and those thought to be Jews were forced to vacate the temple. Are these facts sufficient for a finding? Lack of numbers govern feelings. Consolatory past? But what is the difference between the victims and the perpetrators and those who are not; those who helped? PERSIL COUPONS AND THE LARGE WASHING PROCESS Historical research is not a game of shadows featuring only black and white. And the sweeping accusation that “one” did not question the past after 1945 is difficult to uphold. All well and good. In the summer of 1945, Leopold Figl had already believed that a line should be drawn. The debate was over before it had even begun. National socialists were recorded in lists and there were people's courts. In exactly 136,829 cases, preliminary investigations were initiated on suspicion of national socialist crimes or “illegality”. The abundance of cases allowed for very rapid judgements in which the perpetrators were sentenced according to formal offences - regardless of what they had done. Members of the Order of Blood, illegal NSDAP party members. Daily parallel cases, senates verses former Nazis. Was there always time to look for the truth? Were there any possibilities for the victory of justice? Those who had been branded as a Nazi still had the possibility of showing a “Persil voucher”. The big white wash began. Many defendants were often able to name one, two, three or more people who said the person concerned was decent, that he had helped, and so on. A nation of resistance fighters? How much truth was there in this white washing process? The most striking instance is probably the story of a Jewish woman in Krems, who, thanks to her “Aryan” husband, survived the war because he had refused to allow her to divorce him. Shortly after the liberation, total strangers came to her apartment for confirmation that they had not betrayed her, had not denounced her. Everyone had a Jewess, a resistance fighter, a non-Nazi whom they had helped. In the case of illegal Turkish dual citizens, case-by-case trials are an elaborate procedure. The results of historical research in 2017 are often as uncertain as ever concerning the one who has adopted the shadow game. A country cannot be improved with court cases. Justice does not mean re-education at the same time. Condemnation does not guarantee change of attitude. The understanding of what has happened does not occur with condemnation. Usually, the convicted person feels unjustly treated and the families see themselves as victims. To examine this would be an exciting field. Not to provide the perpetrators with the sacredness of new “sacrifices”, but to provide an understanding of the times and the options for politicians after 1945 would be an option. And, to question how a country can be so convinced of Nazi crimes. History is not a game of shadows. But some people simply want to stretch everything. As Oskar Helmer, Minister of the Interior put it, the money for lawyers and nerves has first to be raised so as to be able to fight for ten years for the return of aryanised property. Ten years are not unusual. HISTORY IS NO GAME OF SHADOWS Thoughts on dealing with the Nazi past in Krems and elsewhere As of the summer of 1945, the demand for the drawing of the line was put, but, all the same, there were the occupying powers. This anti-fascism by decree was anything but sustainable. There was a commemoration of victims, but in a language and under political pre-decision that sometimes robbed this undertaking of its honesty. The victims of the massacre in Stein were remembered in the period between 1945 and 1955. After which, the victims' associations had to organise their own commemorations away from public view. According to the state treaty in “free” Austria in 1955, the fallen soldiers, sometimes also called heroes, appeared once again on the agenda. The time for heroic commemoration and fast forgetting. We were all victims. And suddenly neither the perpetrators' nor the victims' names had ever been anonymous, and those who had helped were glad of not being discovered. By the very latest in 1948, the SPÖ and the ÖVP began wooing the former. Faber was publishing local newspapers again. The old spirit occasionally celebrated, and, in 1963, Herbert Faber, the chairman of the comrades' club, demanded the boycott of a celebration in which priests who were murdered in concentration camps were to be honoured. The coercion towards Realpolitik in the seventies made history appear in a different light. Thus, the “Nestor” of the newspaper system is personally honoured in Krems on the occasion of his 80th birthday by Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. History is not a game of shadows. Robert Streibel Translation Nigel A. James EXAMPLE KREMS AFTER 1945: WE WERE ALL VICTIMS In this process of fast forgetting, Krems plays a pioneering role. Between 1955 and 1969, the integration of people formerly charged with political crimes is successfully practiced under Mayor Franz Wilhelm. The magic word means an electoral community, and some cities look enviously towards Krems. No wonder that the first reunion of the Stalingrad fighters took place in Krems in 1959. The mayor Franz Wilhelm appears as the main speaker at the comrades' reunion and engages in striking words for the former soldiers. Franz Wilhelm is a proud member of the German Athletic Association. At the honouring ceremony of his 30 year membership, he praises the high ideals of the association and says that the avowal to the great German cultural community was something that should never be denied. In this context, it is also fitting to say that Franz Wilhelm was the only Austrian mayor who protested against the arrest of the so-called late home comers. On 31 May 1956, the “Kremser Zeitung” reported that the Ministry of Justice had announced that 15 late home comers from Russian captivity had been arrested. They had been accused of taking part in shootings during the war in Poland, either as policemen or military personnel. In 1946, these 15 persons were arrested and handed over to the Russians. After more than nine years of imprisonment in Russian prisons, an Austrian Minister of Justice reserved his right to put the 15 former police officers in jail again. Franz Wilhelm, in his telegram to Justice Minister Dr Hans Kapfer states: On the basis of a myriad of demands and clues, I consider it my duty to draw your attention to the fact that the population feels great indignation and contempt towards a judiciary which finds against late home comers for alleged crimes, which, can be said, have already been punished by the many years of incarceration in Russian prisons. These men, having recently arrived home, had been looking to freedom. I do not wish to conceal from you the fact that the chosen date has a very bad taste, as if the time of the liberation was a choice of tactical deliberation. Would you please also take note of the fact that certain new so-called “war crimes”, which having been directed by hate and revenge instincts of the first post-war years, are now also regarded as very problematic on an international scale and contradict the venerable tradition of Austrian law based on the old- Nulla poena sine lege. What is said in Latin gets meaningfully translated, the sentence of the telegram means nothing other than that an act can only be punished if the criminality was determined by law before the act was committed. When jurists once concluded that Jews are not human beings, their murder was right and could never be punished. When, in 1956, Austrian recruits repossessed the barracks in Krems and Mautern, Mayor Wilhelm, in his speech as historian, points out that, since the time of Maria Theresia, Krems has always been a garrison town. And the soldiers of the city have a wonderful character. “Home love, honour, loyalty, courage and steadfastness, devotion to the community, and idealism! Our time needs these ideals again.” The recollection of the National Socialism time was a slanting plane. Everything was sliding. There were only victims. Therefore, from the official side, it should not have been necessary to remember only the genuine victims. When a declaration of the mayor was read out in the council in March 1962, Franz Wilhelm was not present. Wilhelm is ready to “remember” without mentioning the words “national socialism”. This is a performance and makes it clear that it was merely a formal act. The big white wash with a new turbocharger. “Today, exactly 24 years ago, German troops invaded Austria. The invasion of these troops was neither in accordance with the Austrian government, nor with the Austrian people. The name Austria was extinguished. Today, we want to commemorate all those who died in the Second World War, all those who were buried under the bombs, those who died in the concentration camps, or those who were executed as upright Austrians.” In 1945, Krems showed how to deal with the past and understood how all can suddenly become victims. With this attitude, Krems found itself in “good” company, but the “electoral community” was only us. It took a long time for the perpetrators and victims to get a name and a face, and this process has not yet been fully completed. Mayor Erich Grabner (ÖVP) spoke in 1988 at the book presentation of "And, Suddenly They Were Gone. The Jews of the Gau Capital Krems and Their Fellow Citizens”. Mayor Erich Grabner said that the flap text of the book states that Krems is a Nazi town - which hurts me. During the interval, the uncertainty seemed to paint question marks on the faces of the listeners. The surprise came in the form of an afterword. Unfortunately, the author is right. An open word. And an entry ticket to the Krems Society for critical history. The first signs were set. The monument in the Jewish cemetery - The Threshold of Forgetting by Hans Kupelwieser. Nidetzky and Partners, tax advisers, open their office in Krems in Schwedengasse with an exhibition about the author of a book on Anna Lambert's Jewish family. Often, “only” the information is needed. Afterwards, Gerhard Nideztky commissioned a work of art, "In this city" by artist Leo Zogmayer. Anti-Semitism and racial hatred are so deeply entrenched that counter-measures must be taken at the roots of society. A petition against anti-Semitism and racial hatred and signed by more than 400 citizens has been permanently placed in the foundations of the city's landmark. An unprecedented private initiative. The “History Happens” initiative, in cooperation with students of the BRG school, takes place without the support of the city. But, despite this, information boards relating the history of the Jewish population have been installed at 20 sites in business locations and residential buildings. In 2014, the city of Krems, under mayor Reinhard Resch, took over the organising of the commemorations for the victims of Stein. Following the author's suggestion, a small alley was named named after Gerasimos Garnelis, a Greek resistance fighter who survived the massacre. (The descriptive panel is still missing today!) In 2016, the city launched a competition for pupils specialising in contemporary history. In November 2016, at the suggestion of the author, a memorial commemorating the synagogue destroyed in 1978 was erected. This was based on the concept implemented by Hans Kupelwieser in Hietzing, Vienna in 2004. A reminder with a drop of vermouth, more than that, it is a bitter goblet. It is more important for Ernst Kalt and Josef Wagner to perpetuate their own name, whilst the Jew from Krems who took the photograph in 1974 appears merely as A. Nemschitz. Perhaps, Abraham Nemschitz is too much for the city? Let us also see this in a positive way. Much has been achieved. In the meantime, memorial work has also become a way of satisfying personal vanities. Who would have thought of this in the 80s, when only 12 people turned up for the first commemoration of the November 1938 pogrom of the synagogue in Krems. A social democrat, a communist, a district court president, an historian, monastic nurses, teachers, and a VHS director. To experience justice, a long breath is needed. A memorial for the victims of the resistance, for the murdered deserters, and Richard Ott who was shot dead in the middle of the city is still missing. And history has not yet reached the town's wine museum. But it won't be long in coming! Robert Streibel, historian, author and director of VHS Hietzing in Vienna; involved in different activities dealing with history and commemoration.
5 THIS IS EBENSEE, LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS LAKE TRAUNSEE ON TRANSFORMATION A letter Christoph Szalay D I want to tell you a story about the time leaves fell from the trees all at once. I am thinking of cataclysm. More than anything, I want to tell you this. I want to disappear in the night. I want the night to vanish from memory. I want to tell you how this happened. Paul Guest DON'T ASK ME HOW THIS CAME TO BE. MAYBE BECAUSE IT LEAVES ENOUGH SPACE FOR WANDERING THROUGH PAGES AND PICTURES WITHOUT THE DEMAND OF ANALYTICAL NOTATION AND SEQUENCING. MAYBE BECAUSE I NEEDED SOMEONE TO TALK TO OR AT LEAST THE ILLUSION, THE FANTASY OF IT. MAYBE BECAUSE I JUST DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER. YOU ASK ABOUT TRANSFORMATION IN YOUR WORK, THE PROCESS OF URBAN, SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH WHEN I GO ON YOUR WEBSITE, I FIND PICTURES OF STORAGE BUILDINGS, GALLERIES, ABANDONED FACTORIES, FAMILY HOMES, ETC. IN VARIOUS EUROPEAN CITIES AND LANDSCAPES. A LETTER STRUCTURED SOMEHOW LIKE A POEM. ALL OF THEM FORMER LABOUR CAMPS DURING THE NAZI REGIME. I LIKE THE IDEA BEHIND TRANSFORMATION BECAUSE IT SPEAKS OF MOVEMENT AND STORYTELLING. TWO TERMS THAT SEEM TO BE CENTRAL FOR A CONTEMPORARY DISCOURSE ON THE SHOAH AND BEYOND, THE SITES AND STORIES OF NAZI TERROR BEGINNING WITH THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN DACHAU AND ORANIENBURG IN 1933. “I LIKE” IS MAYBE NOT THE RIGHT WORDING; AN HISTORICAL CATASTROPHE CAN BECOME NORMALISED OR NEUTRALISED. INSTEAD, I SHOULD SAY “I AM INTERESTED IN” YOUR FOCUS, SINCE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A CHANGE IN THE NARRATIVE RIGHT NOW AS WE SPEAK. I AM WONDERING WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE STORY, WHO WILL TELL IT, HOW AND TO WHOM?! NAVID KERMANI, A GERMAN WRITER AND ORIENTALIST, RECENTLY WROTE AN ARTICLE IN ONE OF THE BIG GERMAN NEWSPAPERS, THE FAZ, WHERE HE POSES THE QUESTION OF THE FUTURE OF REMEMBERING. AUSCHWITZ TOMORROW AS THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION WOULD GO. HE BEGINS THE STORY WITH AN OBSERVATION. WITNESSES ARE SLOWLY BUT SURELY FADING AWAY. Photo: Tourismusbüro Ebensee ear Hadas, This is a letter. A letter in different parts. A letter in the age of post-intimacy. Of posteverything. WHAT HE OBSERVES IS THE SENSATION OF UNEASINESS AS SOON AS HE AND OTHERS PUT THE DEUTSCH BADGE ON THEIR CHEST, SIGNALLING THE LANGUAGE THEY HAD CHOSEN FOR THE GUIDED TOUR THROUGH AUSCHWITZ- BIRKENAU MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM. AS A SON OF IRANIAN IMMIGRANTS, HE RECALLS THIS AS A DEFINING MOMENT OF BECOMING DEUTSCH, UNCONDI- TIONALLY. WHAT HE AND OTHERS IN THE GROUP FELT WAS SHAME AND GUILT, FIRST AND FOREMOST. AFTER THE HORROR OF THE NAZI REGIME, IN THE SELF- CONCEPTION OF GERMAN SOCIETY. EVEN TO THE POINT, AS KERMANI WRITES, WHERE IN 1951 (ALREADY) THE IMPLEMENTATION LAW FOR ARTICLE 131 OF THE CONSTITUTION ENABLING THE REINTEGRATION OF FORMER CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE NAZI REGIME WAS JUSTIFIED AS NECESSARY IN ORDER FINALLY TO DRAW THE LINE. KERMANI'S EXAMPLES CONTINUE UP UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY, WITH HIS BELIEF THAT THE PERIODS OF TIME LEADING UP TO DEMANDING THESE FINAL LINE- DRAWINGS, UP TO DECLARING THE PAST AS OVERCOME, WILL BECOME SHORTER AND INCREASINGLY GUILELESS. A PERPETUUM MOBILE OF WISHES. WISHES FOR NORMALISATION. WHEN INDEED, AS KERMANI INSISTS, THIS LANGUAGE AND CULTURE WILL NEVER BE, CAN NEVER AND SHOULD NEVER BE, “NORMAL”. BUT THIS IS WHAT HE FEARS AS TRANSFORMATION HAPPENS. AS TIME PROGRESSES. AS DEMOGRAPHICS CHANGE. IF A SOCIETY IS BUILT ON THE STORIES, RITUALS AND MYTHS THAT IT RECOUNTS IN ORDER TO REASSURE ITSELF, IT SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE THE NEGATIVE, THE BAD, THE THE DESIRE FOR NORMALISATION SOON BECAME A DRIVING FORCE EVIL ONES, AND AUSCHWITZ IS THE ULTIMATE EVIL OF GERMAN HISTORY AND SOCIETY, THE ULTIMATE CAESURA IN GERMAN HISTORY AND SOCIETY, ONE THAT CAN NEVER BE “NORMALISED”, CLAIMS KERMANI. BUT IT IS ALSO ONE THAT SHOULD NOT ONLY BE TOLD AS A STORY OF GUILT BUT AS A STORY OF BLANK SPACES THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN FILLED. A STORY OF LOSS. LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE, OF CULTURE, OF LANGUAGE. IN THE END, HE CONCLUDES, IT WILL COME DOWN TO STORYTELLING AGAIN. WHO TELLS THE STORY, HOW AND TO WHOM? SINCE WE ARE TALKING STORY. IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT ONE IN AUSTRIA. THE CONSTITUENT STORY WAS, WITH REFERENCE TO THE MOSCOW DECLARATION FROM 1943, ONE OF BEING THE FIRST VICTIM OF NAZI GERMANY. THERE NEVER REALLY WAS A STORY OF REMEMBRANCE, ONLY ONE OF FALLEN HEROES OF WAR, IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY FOR THE BONDS AND BOUNDARIES OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES, IN CONTRADICTION TO THE EQUALLY GLORIFYING REMEMBRANCE OF THE RESISTANCE. IT TOOK UNTIL THE END OF THE ‘80S BEFORE ALFRED HRDLICKA'S MONUMENT AGAINST 6
Change language