News
2005-06-16
Vienna to
dedicate memorial to gay victims of the Nazis
The Austrian
capital unveiled plans Wednesday to honor gay victims of the
Nazis, organizing a competition to design a memorial fo
The Austrian
capital unveiled plans Wednesday to honor gay victims of the
Nazis, organizing a competition to design a memorial for a
group of victims often overlooked in accounts of World
War II atrocities. Vienna's top official in charge of
culture, Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, said that like other
groups who were targeted, this group of victims should be
remembered in a year marking the 60th anniversary of the end
of World War II in Europe. "It is critical in
this...year to remember this group of victims, who
were not only forgotten...but even prosecuted,"
Mailath-Pokorny said, referring to laws in postwar Austria
that forbade homosexual behavior. Such laws made it
even more difficult for gays to stand up and make
others take notice of what occurred to them during the war.
The work will be placed at the site of the
city's former Gestapo headquarters, which activists
had long considered a focal point of outrage against
Nazi persecution. City cultural officials plan a
competition among eight artists for the task of designing
the memorial, which will have to incorporate an
existing memorial to all victims of the Gestapo
already at the site, known as Morzinplatz.
Artists who have been invited to take part
include AA Bronson of Canada, Matt Mullican of the
United States, and Ann-Sofi Siden of Sweden as well as
Ines Doujak and Hans Kupelwieser of Austria. The Nazis
killed Jews, Gypsies, gays, and others whom Adolf
Hitler deemed not fit to live. (AP)
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1