First official visit of an Austrian delegation in Oradour-sur-Glane
Marina Ruhland-Chrystoph, Robert Hébras and Andreas Maislinger
- Photograph: France 3 Limousin
The close Austrian-French relationship now results in the first visit of an Austrian delegation to Oradour-sur-Glane: Marina Ruhland- Chrystoph, embassy counselor of the Republic of Austria in Paris, and Andreas Maislinger, chairman and founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service, visited the remains of the martyr's village as well as the commemoration site of Oradour on March 19, 2008.
"Austria was allied to the German Reich 70 years ago. Due to this anniversary we're getting reminded of that very often. The participation of many Austrians in the NS crimes, though, has been concealed for a very long time", says Andreas Maislinger. "1970 the German chancellor Willy Brandt kneeled before the monument in Warsaw's ghetto. At the same time Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky admitted former Nazis in his government. Only the end of "Real Socialism" in Middle- and Eastern Europe facilitated a change of views in Austria. Thinking about the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service, I had places like Marzabotto, Lidice, Distomo or Oradour in mind from the very beginning on."
Highlight of the visit in Oradour was a meeting and a guided tour through the ruins of the village by Robert Hébras, the last survivor who could escape the mass murder of Oradour. On March 17, 2008, only two days before the arrival of the Austrian delegation in Oradour, Austria's ambassador Hubert Heiss awarded Robert Hébras with the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award in the embassy in Paris.
French survivor of the SS massacre in Oradour receives Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award
Granddaughter Delphine Hébras, 99-year old Jean Serog, Robert Hébras and Austria's ambassador in Paris Hubert Heiss - Photograph: Vicent Clausell
As a representative for the victims and survivors of all SS-mass murders in Europe, Robert Hébras (82) received the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award (AHMA) in the Austrian Embassy in Paris on March 17, 2008.
He was suggested by the current Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant at the Centre de la Mémoire d'Oradour, René J. Laglstorfer. The Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service wants to remind of the historical, but publically mostly hushed up fact, that Austrians were, measured against the total number of people, above-average participants in the SS.
Apart from Jean-Marcel Darthout, Robert Hébras is the only person alive, who could luckily escape the mass murder of Oradour on June 10, 1944 by pretending to be dead and hiding under the pile of dead bodies of his friends and neighbours.
Andreas Maislinger, chairman and founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service: The awarding of Robert Hébras is a bow for the victims of Oradour and expresses our respect for the performance of the survivors. As the founder and head of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service I want to thank Robert Hébras for the warm reception of young Austrians."
Since seven years the Centre de la Mémoire d'Oradour cooperates with the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service already. Werner Kutil was the first Austrian to do his National Service in 2001. René J. Laglstorfer, who moved to France in November, 2007, is the fourth Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant at the Centre de la Mémoire already. Mathias Althaler is going to follow him in September 2008.
The first and the current Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant in Oradour: Werner Kutil and
René J. Laglstorfer - Photograph: Vicent Clausell
While the name of the small village Oradour became a symbol of the NS-crimes in postwar France, its sad story remained almost unknown abroad. Four days after D-Day in Normandie, Oradour was surrounded by a unit of the SS-tank-division "Das Reich". Almost the whole civilian population (207 children, 254 women and 181 men) was shot, suffocated in the village's church or burnt alive. Altogether, only one woman and five men survived this in Western Europe unusual massacre on civilians. At the Eastern front, Nazis killed millions of innocent people this way.
After June 10, 1944 Robert Hébras participated in the resistance against National Socialism and fought with the French Résistance during the last year of the war. Despite the immense woe the then 19-year-old suffered from - he didn't only lose his mother in the massacre, but also two of his three sisters - Robert Hébras committed himself to reconciliation between Germans, Frenchmen and Austrians.
Especially, Robert Hébras was engaged in the commemoration as a time witness and a book author. Despite his old age the grandfather of three grandchildren still gives tours through the ruins of the martyr's village. He is available for young people, especially for students, volunteers, and Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servants, for interviews and still plays an active part at the Centre de la Mémoire d'Oradour.
Guestlist:
Photograph: Vicent Clausell
Stéphanie Boutaud,
Centre de la Mémoire d’Oradour, Limoges
Vicent Clausell,
Spanish Photographer, Limoges
Michèle Faure,
Centre de la Mémoire, Guéret
Sandra Gibouin,
Centre de la Mémoire, Oradour-sur-Glane
Robert Hébras,
Survivor of the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane, St. Junien
Christine Hébras,
Wife of Robert Hébras, St. Junien
Delphine Hébras,
Granddaughter of Robert Hébras, St. Junien
Dr. Hubert Heiss,
Ambassador of the Republic of Austria, Paris
Richard Jezierski,
Director of the Centre de la Mémoire, Oradour-sur-Glane
Beate Klarsfeld,
Journalist and famous Nazi hunter, Paris
Werner Kutil,
First Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant in Oradour (2001/02), Rouen
René J. Laglstorfer,
Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant in Oradour (2007/08), Limoges
Yves Lescure,
Director of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation, Paris
Dr. Andreas Maislinger,
Chairman and founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service, Innsbruck
Dr. Stefan Martens,
Co-Director of the German Historical Institut, Paris
Jutta Perisson,
Austrian Institute for Culture, Paris
Mag. Marina Ruhland-Chrystoph,
Embassy counselor of the Republic of Austria, Paris
Angelika Schenk,
Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste e.V, Limoges
Nicola Schieweck,
Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste e.V., Paris
David Schwarzenbacher,
Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant at the Fondation pour la Mémoire (2007/08), Paris
Jean Serog,
Oldest refugee of National Socialism in Paris
Daniel James Schuster Austrian Servant Abroad of the year 2007
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On 11 October 2007 the Israeli Ambassador Dan Ashbel awarded Daniel James Schuster as "Austrian Servant Abroad of the year 2007" at the Palais Epstein in Vienna. The award was based on an invitation by the president of the parliament Barbara Prammer. Daniel James Schuster was an Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem from September 2006 until August 2007. As he holds an Austrian-Australian citizenship the Australian Ambassador Peter James Shannon held a speech and congratulated Daniel at the ceremony.
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