Hitler's honorary citizenship in Hermagor finally revealed!

Hitler's honorary citizenship in Hermagor finally revealed!

Adolf Hitler, a name that weighs heavily in German memory, has been honored as honorary citizens in many places. A remarkable case is the Carinthian municipality of Hermagor, which was held by Hitler's honorary citizenship until 2011. This was only revised 80 years after the end of the Second World War. The process for the revocation of this extraordinary honor was initiated by a newspaper article from 1938, which pointed out that Hitler remained in this function despite his serious crimes. According to Krone, this fact was hardly known in Hermagor.

Bernhard Gitschtaler, a political scientist and founder of the associations of "Gailtaler Zeitbilder" and "Remembering Gailtal", the public drawn attention to this questionable honor. His commitment shows how important it is to deal with history and to promote the culture of remembrance.

The context of honorary citizenships

The honor of Adolf Hitler was not only an issue in Hermagor. In Germany, many cities and municipalities have been involved in the history of these controversial honors since Hitler's seizure of power in 1933. Examples of the awarding are the cities of Aachen, Ahrensmoor, Aichach and many others who made Hitler as honorary citizenship between 1932 and 1933. Often this recognition was only abolished decades later, such as in Aachen, where honorary citizenship was revoked in 1983, even though it had already gone out in 1945. Wikipedia lists numerous examples of such reveals.

Overall, there are dozens of cities in Germany that appointed Adolf Hitler as an honorary citizen during the Nazi era. These lousy awards are a lasting legacy of a dark past and ask questions about the responsibility and processing of National Socialist history. Historical treatises, such as those of the Bundestag, thematize the political and social dimensions of these honors and Revision.

The discretion of honorary citizenship Hitler in Hermagor is a step in the right direction and signals that society has to deal intensively with its history. The work of Gitschtaler and other historians is crucial to raise awareness of such historical entanglements.