80 years after the war: HGM celebrates democracy and warning

80 years after the war: HGM celebrates democracy and warning

Vienna, Österreich - On April 7, 2025, Austria commemorates the 80th anniversary since the end of the Second World War and the liberation from the Nazi rule. The director of the Army History Museum (HGM), Georg Hoffmann, emphasizes the importance of memory of the structure of democracy. In this context, a number of scientific events will be opened on April 9, 2025, including a three -day international conference that deals with the topic of "war end crimes". Hoffmann explains that the Nazi ideology of the total war in the last days of the war led to a explosion of violence in which many war crimes took place in Austria.

Martin Prinz, the author of the novel "The last days", refers to his work on files of a People's Court of 1947, which underlines the importance of dealing and memory of this dark time. Hoffmann refers to an initially anti -fascist phase after the war, which, however, ended from 1948. This phase was characterized by an ambivalent handling of its own history, especially with regard to the proclamation of Austria's independence from 1945, which addressed the "imposed connection", but ignored the complicity of Nazi crimes.

memory culture in today's society

With the distance of 80 years since the end of the war, there is a growing generation in Austria that only historically knows National Socialism. This affects history awareness in society. The redesign of the "Republic and Dictatorship" hall in the HGM will not be completed until 2026, but Hoffmann is already planning to redesign the museum in terms of content. People and war should be focused on as a social state.

The new hall should act as a mediation and discourse area and also address current challenges such as the endangerment of democracy. The heroic place, a central location of the memory, is emphasized in the debates about the contextualization of the heroic monument, while the state foundation monument in the Swiss Garden, which is reminiscent of the establishment of the second republic, is little known.

commemoration in the further Europe

The memory of the Nazi crimes is not only limited to Austria. Internationally, the Holocaust victim will be commemorated on January 27, 2025, among other things at the monument to the murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. These memorial days and monuments, including the Sinti and Roma pursued under Nazi ideology, play a central role in German memory culture. The examination of the past is essential for today's society to develop empathy for the victims and to draw teaching from history.

The culture of remembrance is now facing challenges, such as the increase in group -related misanthropy. It is therefore crucial to interpret and convey the teachings of the past in a contemporary manner in order to sensitize society. The continuous examination of the contaminated history is necessary to clarify future generations and to understand the tendencies that could lead to repeating such offenses.