Three whistles were the identifying mark of the Carinthian partisans in the resistance against the Nazi regime. One of these resistance fighters was Helena “Jelka” Kuchar. On Wednesday evening, Gregor Seberg and Sigrid Horn dedicated a commemorative evening to her at “perspective mauthausen” on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the Mühlviertel manhunt.
As part of the Slovene ethnic group in southern Carinthia, Helena Kuchar was left to her own devices with a farm and children after her husband had been drafted into the Wehrmacht. Increasing reprisals from the local rulers prompted the then 35-year-old woman to get involved in the resistance. Knowing full well that she not only put herself in great danger, but also her children. With excerpts from her biography, the actor Gregor Seberg traced some stages of Helena Kuchar’s life. Songwriter and singer Sigrid Horn reinforced these fascinating insights into a life with a great deal of flair on the piano. However, both maintained the balance between dismay and deterrence by addressing threat and danger, but omitting all too gruesome details.
“Let’s take some of this courage home with us,” Seberg appealed to the visitors in the well-filled Donausaal Mauthausen at the end of the evening. “Anyone who has children like me can imagine how courageous Helena Kuchar was. Are you stupid,” said Sigrid Horn, visibly moved. The moving performance ended with standing ovations from the audience. In addition to Mayor Thomas Punkenhofer, NR-Abg. Sabine Schatz and former Provincial Councilor Gerti Jahn was also a guest at this commemorative evening, the human rights prizewinner Anna Hackl, which the “perspective mauthausen” around Walter Hofstätter and Josef Katzlinger organize every year around the anniversary of the Mühlviertel manhunt as a statement for democracy and civil courage.
Source: Nachrichten
