After Attack in Vienna: Woman Wrote Obituary for Killed Sister
The sister of one of the four victims, who were brutally taken from life by the 20-year-old terrorist attacker in Vienna's city center, wrote an obituary for the deceased. "If you want to honor my sister and her memory, then I ask you all not to react with hate and exclusion, as that would trample on everything she stood for, lived for, and advocated for," she writes in the lines published by the "Standard."
Her sister had once again taken the opportunity "to sit with colleagues over a beer on a mild autumn evening after a workday," writes the bereaved. In doing so, she encountered a young man "who obviously saw only one possible path for himself, heavily armed and shooting around to kill as many people as possible before he himself would be killed."
"Put the weapons down and sit here with me"
She, the author of the obituary, now thinks about what her sister would have said if she hadn't been there on November 2nd. "She would have said that anger, hate, exclusion, zero tolerance, violence can never be part of a solution, but that they are very often part of the problem." And: "If my sister had had the power to choose how to act in this situation, she would have wished to face this young person safely from bullets. She would have certainly addressed him quite boldly and said: 'Stop this nonsense immediately, it's ridiculous. Put the weapons down and sit here with me. Tell me what makes you so angry.' And I know she would have talked, discussed, and argued with him until he saw that there are many paths for him and not just this one," it says in the obituary: "But she would never have said 'Get lost, asshole.'"
Her sister, who was partly described in the media as an "older woman" in the first hours after the attack, was "a loving life partner, daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, aunt, cousin - and a good friend to very, very many people." "She was a valued employee and a popular colleague. She had been advocating for the weaker since her childhood, she was very committed to protecting women from violence. She was a great advocate of tolerance, she was a works council member, she was a mediator and always wanted to mediate."
The 44-year-old was a long-time employee of a metal sulfite manufacturer, whose office is located near Schwedenplatz. On Monday, she was shot by the attacker while sitting with friends in the outdoor area of a restaurant in the Bermuda Triangle. She succumbed to her fatal injuries in the clinic.
24-Year-Old Student Died in Hospital
Also taken from life was a 24-year-old student from the University of Applied Arts. She worked in a restaurant at Ruprechtsplatz alongside her art studies and was on duty during the attack. The German citizen was shot by the 20-year-old and also died in the hospital.
Third Victim Celebrated First Job
The third victim was a 21-year-old Austrian citizen who lived in Korneuburg. Like the attacker, he was an Albanian Muslim with roots in North Macedonia. The young man, who played football for FC Bisamberg, wanted to celebrate his first job after apprenticeship and military service in downtown Vienna. He encountered the attacker at the corner of Fleischmarkt and Bauernmarkt.
Operator of Chinese Restaurant Shot
The fourth victim is the 39-year-old operator of a Chinese restaurant. The Austrian citizen was shot in front of a fast-food chain store at Schwedenplatz, not far from his own restaurant.
(APA/red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.