Ceremony in memory of 150 murdered Jews
A ceremony in memory of 150 Jews murdered by the Nazis in March 1945 in Burgenlands Oberwart district took place yesterday (Sun).The forced labourers had been working on the so-called southeast wall that the Nazis had built to hinder the advance of Soviet forces into Austria.The murders at Kreuzstadl took place on the same evening as a “comradeship evening” at Rechnitz Palace attended by Nazi officers. The victims’ mass grave has not been located.The ceremony in memory of the victims was organised by R.E.F.U.G.I.U.S. (Rechnitz Refugee and Commemoration Initiative Foundation).Speakers included Antony Scholz from the Graz Jewish Community, who called on Austrian authorities to do everything possible “to find the mass grave.”Writer and journalist Elfriede Hammerl criticised Austrian officials for their handling of the case of Arigona Zogaj in Upper Austria. Her mother and she are under threat of deportation back to their native Kosovo.Evangelical Superintendent Manfred Koch warned against the danger of trivialising neo-Nazi behaviour and ideology.The organisers Paul Gulda stressed the importance of open, public discourse, which had not always been possible in the past.A symposium on National Socialism and its impact on the post-war generation occurred on Saturday in Oberwart.