Normalizing Nazism: History on Austrian State Television - Political Programmes in Times of Nationalist Government (with Drehli Robnik) (original) (raw)
2020, Marina Gržinić, Jovita Pristovšek, Sophie Uitz (eds.), Opposing Colonialism, Antisemitism, and Turbo-Nationalism. Rethinking the Past for New Conviviality, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
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The question how Austria and the two Germanys, GDR and FRG, dealt with the Nazi past after 1945 is often answered with Rainer M. Lepsius’ proposal that Austria externalized this part of her history as foreign occupation and forced annexation whereas the GDR developed a universalized approach by denouncing any sort of fascism as integral part of capitalism. Only the FRG, according to Lepsius, choose the way of internalization. A corner stone of externalisation became the “victim myth”, the perception that Austria had been the first victim to Nazi aggression, developed in the immediate post-war for two practical purposes: to regain independence from Allied occupation and to fend off compensation and reparations claims. Whereas the first aim was reached with the State Treaty of 1955, Austrian foreign policy continued to hinge on the second aim. Moreover, the victim myth became a “life lie” (G. Botz) upon which the new Austrian identity was based. This perception remained practically unquestioned for the next decades. The few critical voices like Helmut Qualtinger (Herr Karl, 1961), Ingeborg Bachmann or members of “Forum Stadtpark” did hardly influence official and public opinion. The same goes for scholarly publications in the field of contemporary history (e.g. by Erika Weinzierl). From today’s perspective, it was the year 1986 which became decisive for a revision of Austria’s Nazi past. The “Waldheim Debate” ignited a broad discussion of Austria’s and Austrians’ role during the period of 1938 to 1945. As a result, there was general agreement that the Nazi period cannot be denied and must be seen as an integral part of Austria’s history and the Second Republic must accept moral responsibility for the participation of Austrians in Nazi crimes. This contribution tries to focus on the ambiguities of “1986” as a turning point in Austria’s perception of the Nazi past: 1986 was also the year of Jörg Haider’s putsch to take over the then liberal Freedom Party and his subsequent attempts to justify certain aspects of National Socialism. Consensus on the new interpretation was not as general as often seen. In the mid-1990s, the “Wehrmacht exhibition” became the object of a new broad and highly emotional debate on the role of Wehrmacht soldiers. In the year 2000 Haider’s electoral success led to a far right-wing coalition government. Although the government implemented the Historical Commission on expropriations during the Nazi era, paid compensations to Jewish survivors and former forced labourers, and started a “reform initiative” for Mauthausen Memorial, these measures are sometimes interpreted as concessions towards the international community which had reacted harshly to the inclusion of a right-wing party into government and as a fig-leaf that covered the xenophobic traits of migration and security policies. The 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2005 was mainly used to celebrate the success story of the Second Republic. Until today, for many Austrians “real” liberation happened in 1955 and not 1945.
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