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 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)