VIENNA — Austria’s president unveiled a newly revamped memorial Thursday commemorating victims of the Nazis, including those who lost their lives because they stood up to the brutal regime.
The remembrance site is situated in the heart of Vienna, the Austrian capital, where a luxury hotel once stood that served as a coordination center for the Gestapo, Adolf Hitler’s secret police.
The remembrance site is situated in the heart of Vienna, the Austrian capital, where a luxury hotel once stood that served as a coordination center for the Gestapo, Adolf Hitler's secret police.
Dedicated.
Austrian Press Agency (APA), in a report broadcast on Friday, quoted Fischer as assailing such right-wing groups for using the question of immigrants as an issue for political power struggles and petty goals.
Man's dignity, human rights and cooperation among human beings are general and basic humanitarian values that must not be neglected by any state, religious authority or political party, he stressed, criticizing those who trigger racial conflict with people of different languages or religions.
He however praised the Austrian Government new policies for the immigrants, such as granting them special cards, the white and red cards, to facilitate their residency and work in the European nation.
The president also expressed hope that the issuance of these cards, similar to the green cards given to the non-natives in the United States of America, would settle the expatriates' legal and psychological problems and hardships.
One of those portrayed is Jacob Kastelic, a resistance fighter who was executed on Aug. 2, 1944.
His son, 71-year-old Gerhard who was not even 4 years old when his father was killed, said he hoped the memorial would help today’s youth realize that, during a dark time in Austria’s history, there were individuals who had the courage to stand up for their convictions.
“It’s a way to show young people that while many Austrians at the time were, unquestionably, perpetrators ... there was also resistance,” he told The Associated Press.
Also Thursday, the mayor of the southern city of Klagenfurt, Christian Scheider, issued an emergency decree that immediately nullified the granting of honorary citizenship to Hitler although officials said they had no proof and referred to the move as a “preventive measure.” On Tuesday, the city of Amstetten struck Hitler’s name from its list of honorary citizens, sparking a countrywide discussion.
Austria officially became part of a Greater Germany on March 12, 1938, when Wehrmacht troops crossed into the country. Just days after the “Anschluss,” Hitler basked in the adoration of nearly 200,000 in a downtown Vienna square known as the Heldenplatz.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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