After Ibizagate and with a new government, once again we may ponder the Austrian idea of democracy, which is sometimes confused with harmony.
Tag Archive for ‘National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus)’
Doing Selfies in Auschwitz?
Tourists for decades have taken photos in former concentration camps, even in Auschwitz. The emergence of selfies, however, transforms our perspective on historic sites.
Who owns the “Trümmerfrauen”?
In 2018, a debate arose regarding a monument to the “Trümmerfrauen”, unveiled by the Austrian right-wing Vice-Chancellor H.C. Strache. The core question was whether they deserved a monument at all.
National Socialism: What We Can Learn Today
Some Germans, even in Academia, grow tired of the intense confrontation with the Nazi past. Many historians have stopped exploring it, attribu…
Last Exit Present? “Waldheim’s Waltz”
A documentation about the Waldheim affair in 1986 is an informative presentation of past culture of memory and history. It begs a question: Does it repeat patterns shown in the film?
Late Awareness, Vigorous Remembrance: Austria Today
The Austrian memory of Nazi era and Holocaust remain connected to the “victim thesis”. Austria may often seem unteachable, but several institutions are promoting …
The World of Yesterday is not the World of Today
The rise of right-wing populists and the brutalization of public space that they pursued recalls Stefan Zweig’s narration of the years predating this…
The Force of Fiction
…to understand the past differently: These are some of the forces of fiction. It also reminds us that reality never speaks for itself; the narrative choices and the language used are not neutral.