Die Presse, May 5, 2020

German original: https://www.diepresse.com/5809514/75-jahrestag-der-befreiung-des-kz-mauthausen-fassungslos-auch-heute-noch

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen laid down a wreath on the muster ground of the former concentration camp in Upper Austria . “Bewildered - still today - and full of shame do we bow before the victims of that time.”

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp and its 49 satellite camps, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen put down a wreath on the muster ground of the former camp in memory of the victims. “Bewildered - still today - and full of shame do we bow before the victims of that time,” explained the Federal President in a video message the previous day.

This year’s traditional Mauthausen ceremony does take place on May 10 as usual - however, due to the Corona pandemic it is happening online on the Mauthausen Committee’s website. From 1938 until the final liberation by the 11th Armored Division of the Third United States Army on May 7, 1945, 200,000 prisoners were brought to Mauthausen, half of them did not survive the NS killing machine.

Kurz: “Our Duty is to All of Them”

Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (OVP) evoked the historic responsibility of Austria “for the darkest chapters of history.” Like no other place in our country, Mauthausen stands for the horrors of the NS terror regime. Facing the responsibility of history is all the more important.”

Those “darkest chapters” may never be forgotten. “Seventy-five years after the liberation it is imperative to remember the atrocities and crimes that were committed during National Socialism. We remember that Austrians were not only among the victims, but also perpetrators,” underlined the Federal Chancellor. “Our responsibility is to the 100,000 people, mostly Jewish citizens, who fell victim to Mauthausen. Disabled people, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, resistance fighters and people with differing opinions lost their lives at this fateful place in Austria. Our duty is to all of them.”