Commemoration versus Vergangenheitsbewaltigung: Contextualizing Austria's Gedenkjahr 2005

Child Murder in Nazi Germany: The Memory of Nazi Medical Crimes and Commemoration of “Children’s Euthanasia” Victims at Two Facilities (Eichberg, Kalmenhof)

“…Today, the city of Leipzig has among the most active forms of commemoration of child victims anywhere. The same can be said for Vienna [118], as the "externalization" of Nazi crimes by viewing Austrians as "victims" may be in retreat [141,142]. In Poland and in the Czech Republic commemoration of Nazi medicalized killings of children depends on local initiatives.…”

Rethinking Holocaust Representation: Reflections on Rex Bloomstein'sKZ

“…They are not just bystanders in the sense that they live in the shadow of their town's dark past, but as Austrians who bear some of the stigma of their ancestors’ involvement or inactivity. This is still a hugely contentious political issue in Austria (Berg ).…”

“…How can societies overcome the burdens of past history without recognising and reconciling past complicities and crimes? In present‐day Austria for example, there are still concerns about anti‐Semitism, right‐wing political sensibilities (Berg ), and a lack of empathy for victims of the Holocaust, especially Jewish victims (Kovacs ). Although Austria now seems to be acknowledging a more nuanced interpretation of its role in the Holocaust, unfavourable comparisons are made with a more progressive German state that has more fully embraced remembering and compensating for past wrongs.…”