New chair at the National Fund: debate about memorial culture is erect!

New chair at the National Fund: debate about memorial culture is erect!

Österreich - The National Fund of the Republic of Austria for victims of National Socialism faces a possible realignment of his leadership. The second President of the National Council, currently Peter Haubner from the ÖVP, can be elected as the new chairman of the board of trustees, provided that this proposal is supported by the political members of the board of trustees. This is reported by the Kleine Zeitung .

While the Greens welcome the legislative initiative for the new election and mention the opportunity to call "to be impossible", there are also critical voices. The FPÖ rejects the proposal and sees it as an ideological instrumentalization. MP Markus Tschank from the FPÖ expresses concerns about dealing with historical responsibility and the political instrumentalization of the culture of remembrance. He emphasizes that this is a joint task of all parties.

new approach in memorial culture

The chair of the National Fund, Hannah Lessing, emphasizes the need for new tools in memory work. In view of the disappearance of the last contemporary witnesses, modern approaches are urgently required to achieve younger generations. Lessing notes that social media, such as Instagram, should be used to tell stories and tragedies of the Holocaust, such as that of the 13-year-old Eva, who was murdered in the Holocaust, from a contemporary perspective. As Lessing in an interview with katholisch.at , it is crucial that young people recognize the connection between past and present.

A new school project brings descendants of the victims of National Socialism in schools to report on their experiences. The National Fund also promotes memorial services that can be done instead of civil or military service, an offer that also applies to girls. These services offer young people the opportunity to work in Holocaust Museums or Memorials in different countries.

memory as a social responsibility

The member of the Bundestag of the SPÖ, Muna Duzdar, sums up historical responsibility towards the victims of National Socialism. She emphasizes that the National Fund must be able to properly perform its tasks. VP mandatar Wolfgang Gerstl also criticizes the tense view of the FPÖ, which had the opportunity to develop alternative suggestions.

Before the current debates about the National Fund, there was a discussion about a government report on the national strategy against anti -Semitism, which was adopted by all parties. State Secretary Alexander Pröll announced a new strategy to combat anti-Semitism in this context and plans to establish a Holocaust Museum.

The memory work is important for the affected children and grandchildren across generational trauma. As Lessing notes, there is no real reparation for the victims, but it is important to preserve their names and stories. In this sense, contemporary art brings a new dimension to the discussion about the Holocaust and provides a testimony from the crimes committed in the past. An open conversation about the events of the Holocaust is crucial to develop a better understanding of human dignity and the challenges of an increasingly heterogeneous society. In this way, the responsibility for commemoration and education will continue to be relevant in the future in order to learn from history, as in an article of the Deutschlandfunk Kultur