It was 80 years ago that the Second World War and the rule of the National Socialists ended with the liberation of Austria. The victims are commemorated with numerous memorial celebrations.
So also on the factory premises of the Voestalpine. The newly designed memorial of the III concentration camp was opened on Friday morning at the Voest sports club. Around 5,600 people were dismissed and exploited in a said camp for forced laborers at Hermann Göring works. 1000 of them lost their lives. The Mauthausen concentration camp was the largest of its kind in Linz.
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Organizer Dietmar Keck, former SP National Councilor and SK Voest chairman, recalled this at the beginning of the commemorative celebrations that were musically framed by the Avodah children’s and youth choir. Members of the Amicale de Mauthausen, the Association of French concentration camp survivors, also took part in the celebrations.
The site is a place that is shaped by history, said Voestalpine board member Hubert Zajicek. On the one hand from industrial development, on the other hand of the incredible suffering and injustice that happened here.
All those who are now here were not there 80 years ago. However, they would have the great responsibility not to allow the events to be forgotten. The contemporary witnesses would gradually fall silent, the more it is due to society to keep the memory awake. “Memory is not a book that you read, strike and lay away,” said Zajicek. Rather, it is a process that you have to actively operate.
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Image: Martin Eder
Source: Nachrichten
