Federal President Fischer commemorates the November Pogroms of 1938

November 9, 2015

"The beginning of the destruction of Jewish life during the Nazi era started with the November pogroms of 1938. Today, I commemorated these harrowing events which paved the way for the Holocaust at Vienna's Judenplatz. What happened then is a disgrace that must never be forgotten.”, said Federal President Fischer via his official Facebook page.

Criticism at Opening of Graz Holocaust Museum

November 9, 2015

Graz – The opening of the “first Holocaust- and Tolerance Center” in Austria at the Graz Synagogue on Monday was also accompanied by criticism coming from within the Jewish community in Graz. As the Standard reported, the aftermath of the merger of the Jewish Community for Styria, Carinthia and the Burgenland with the Jewish Community for Vienna and Lower Austria in 2013 has seen some friction.

Memorial Stone Honoring Member of Resistance Vandalized in Salzburg

DerStandard.at, November 2, 2015.

http://derstandard.at/2000024919220/Denkmal-fuer-Widerstandskaempferin-in-Salzburg-beschmiert

Rosa-Hofmann-memorial stone overpainted with blue color just a few days after relocation

Salzburg – Just a few days after its relocation into public space following a suggestion by the Concentration Camp Federation Salzburg, the memorial stone honoring Rosa Hofmann, a member of the Salzburg resistance, has been defiled with blue color. The Concentration Camp Federation Salzburg will press charges for defilement.

Until recently, the memorial was not publicly accessible as it was located in the private gated area of the Maxglan-Stölzlpark kindergarten. The Concentration Camp Federation Salzburg initiated the relocation in May in order to make the memorial open to the public. The memorial was thus moved to the nearby Stölzl-Park.

„Also, even though a small commemorative celebration instead of only a mere relocation of the memorial stone would have been appropriate, we are very happy that the memory of a symbolic figure of the resistance movement against the Nazi terror is now accessible to the public", wrote the Federation in a press release.

Communist member of the resistance

The monument commemorates the communist resistance fighter Rosa Hofmann who lived in Maxglan. She was murdered in 1943 by the Nazis. At that time she was only 23 years old. Hofmann chaired the Communist Youth Association in Salzburg, copied and distributed leaflets for the communist Viennese resistance organization "The Soldiers Council" and even had them circulated among members of the Wehrmacht in Salzburg.

In remembrance of murdered women

As part of the relocation, the Concentration Camp Federation also wanted to expand the remembrance to include other women of the political resistance who were deported and murdered in Auschwitz. To date, seven other murdered female resistance fighters from Salzburg are known: Rosa Bermoser, Maria Bumberger, Anna Frauneder, Marianne Innerberger, Anna Prähauser, Anna Reindl and Josefine Lindorfer.