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Otto Habsburg
in Nazi 'victims' row
The week commemorating the 70th anniversary of the
"Anschluss" or German annexation of Austria in 1938 has proven to be
a sensitive occasion as it invokes a period of history that many Austrians
would prefer to forget.
Otto Habsburg, the son of the last Austrian Emperor
Karl I, has aroused controversy because of his remarks at an ÖVP event
commemorating the Anschluss.
Habsburg, 95, claimed that "there is no country in
Europe that has a better claim to be a victim of the Nazis." Habsburg
added that it was natural that so many Austrians had turned out to hear Hitler
speak at the Heldenplatz on March 13, 1938 since people had been curious about
him.
In response, SPÖ Defence Minister Norbert Darabos
called Habsburg's remarks "unacceptable" and "a veritable
democratic-political scandal" that had "insulted the victims of
National Socialism." He called on the ÖVP to distance itself from them.
Darabos recalled that former SPÖ Chancellor Franz
Vranitzky in remarks to the Israeli Knesset had correctly portrayed Austria in
1938 after "years of ignorance."
The minister added that "collective
consciousness-building" had occurred since Vranitzky's remarks, which
should have laid the groundwork for "a basic national consensus."
ÖVP military spokesman Walter Murauer came to
Habsburg's defence, stressing that his remarks had focussed on states rather
than on people.
Murauer claimed that there was another reality behind
the mass of people who listened to Hitler on the Heldenplatz: "thousands
in the resistance and thousands in prison waiting to be transported to (Nazi
concentration camp) Dachau" near Munich.
Murauer also recalled that (former Austrian Chancellor
Engelbert) Dollfuß had been the only head of government in Europe to have been
murdered by the Nazis.
Murauer advised Darabos "to avoid populist
pot-shots against an honourable European of the highest calibre."
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