Auschwitz Liberation 80 Years Ago: Commemoration in the Viennese Parliament and at Heldenplatz

Over a million people were murdered there before the Red Army liberated the camp on January 27, 1945. The anniversary was later commemorated as Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Austria, in addition to the commemoration at Heldenplatz, there will also be one in Parliament with National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ).

Together with the second National Council President Peter Haubner (ÖVP), the third National Council President Doris Bures (SPÖ) and Federal Council President Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler (ÖVP), Rosenkranz has invited to a discussion event in Parliament. Neither he nor the numerous deputies participating in the event will speak. Instead, students will discuss with the contemporary witness Erika Freeman.

Several Hundred Commemorate at Vienna's Heldenplatz

The Israelite Cultural Community has sharply criticized in recent months that Walter Rosenkranz, a member of the Freedom Party and a fraternity member, is at the head of the National Council. For example, the National Council President was prevented by the Jewish Student Union from laying a wreath at Judenplatz in memory of the victims of the November pogroms, after he had previously not been invited to the event at the Shoah Name Wall by the IKG. The IKG also did not want to participate in meetings of the National Fund for the Victims of National Socialism if they were to be led by Rosenkranz as required by law. The fraternity member then considered "quite seriously" stepping aside for his deputy. He had already announced this shortly after his election.

As in previous years, the victims of National Socialism will also be commemorated at Heldenplatz. The event of the "JetztZeichenSetzen" platform starts at 6 p.m., where descendants of Auschwitz survivors will speak. In addition to a Jewish choir, the victims will also be remembered with a wreath-laying ceremony. In the past years, 300-500 people attended the event, due to the anniversary, the organizers expect several hundred more this year. The IKG will also be represented there by Vice President Claudia Prutscher.

Van der Bellen at Commemoration in Auschwitz

IKG President Oskar Deutsch, along with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and numerous other heads of state, will be present at the official commemoration event in the Auschwitz camp. Government leader Alexander Schallenberg will be in Brussels on Monday due to the EU Council and will be represented in Auschwitz by Chancellor's Office Minister Susanne Raab (both ÖVP).

"In such freight wagons, the German Nazis brought people here. These wagons connected ghettos and hiding places with the place of death," said Piotr Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz Museum when the wagon was first displayed on the ramp.

(APA/Red)

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