Image: APA/EVA MANHART
On Monday, Austria’s liberation from the Nazi regime and the end of the Second World War in Europe were commemorated with a ceremony in the Chancellery. In addition to representatives of the government and parliament, contemporary witnesses also took part.
“We are here to remember together the day when the darkest chapter of our history ended”, said Chancellor Karl Nehammer. He reported on his visits to the Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camps in the previous week. Together with a contemporary witness, he visited the Bergkristall tunnel system in Gusen. For every meter of this tunnel that was built, one person died. Nehammer said that being human had no value under the National Socialists, which can also be seen from the allocation of numbers “Our task is to give the dead their name back.”
His mother grew up as an orphan because her father never returned from the war, Nehammer continued. Even today, the memory of this time must be maintained. The Chancellor pointed out that the government had created a fund to enable schoolchildren to visit the memorial sites.
Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) also recalled that Austria had denied and suppressed the war for too long. One must continue to resist the beginnings, he demanded. Historian Barbara Stelzl-Marx warned to remain vigilant, democracy cannot be taken for granted. In the evening, the Festival of Joy was celebrated on Heroes’ Square.
Source: Nachrichten
