Austrian Chansellor Karl Nehammer Visits Yad Vashem, Announces New Partnership
Strengthening Holocaust Remembrance: A Multi-Year Collaboration with Yad Vashem
June 24th, 2024
Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer of Austria paid a significant visit to the international Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem today. His visit included a tour of the poignant exhibition “Flashes of Memory- Photography at the Time of the Holocaust”, which features photographs capturing three distinct perspectives: those of the perpetrators, the victims, and the liberators, taken before, during and after the Holocaust.
Accompanying Chanselor Nehammer were Austrian Minister of Defense Klaudia Tanner, Minister of the Interior Gehard Karner, and Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Davan. The delegation also attended an official commemoration ceremony in the Memorial Hall, visited the Children’s Memorial dedicated to the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust, and signed the Yad Vashem guest book.
During his address at Janusz Korczak Square on the Mount of Remembrance, Chancellor Nehammer announced a multi-year partnership between Yad Vashem and the Austrian Federal Chancellery. This collaboration will focus on four critical areas: preserving Holocaust-related documents, developing new forms of commemoration, reaching new target groups, and advancing further research.
“Austria, as a state and through many of its citizens, has long seen itself as the first victim of the Nazis after the Second World War. Today, we acknowledge the significant and tragic role played by many Austrians in this dark chapter of history,” Nehammer stated. “We can’t undo what happened, but we can do two things: apologize for the injustices committed by Austrian perpetrators and ensure that the memory of the Holocaust victims endures.”
He emphasized the increasing importance of strengthening Holocaust remembrance as the number of survivors dwindles. “It’s crucial to bolster places of remembrance and communication about the Shoah, such as Mauthausen and now Gusen in Austria, and Yad Vashem. I am therefore pleased to announce the start of even closer cooperation between Austria and Yad Vashem,” he concluded.
This partnership marks a significant step in Austria’s commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education, ensuring that the atrocities of the past are never forgotten and continue to inform future generations.
