Parndorf, 17 November 2024 - UPF-Burgenland organised a commemorative event for the victims of National Socialism in Parndorf.
A festival of peace and a new culture of remembrance
It took 78 years to build, but at last in April 2023, a memorial for the victims of National Socialism in Parndorf, was solemnly blessed in front of the Parndorf cemetery.
The mayor of Parndorf gave a moving opening speech, and representatives of the Catholic Church (Can. MMag. theol. Michael Wüger, vicar General of the Catholic Church in Eisenstadt), the Protestant Church (Pastor Mag.a Silvia Nittnaus) and the Mosques Establishment Association MEEV (Mr. Ibrahim Bilir), gave their blessings.
This was followed by a celebration in the Parndorf elementary school where several people spoke: Elisabeth Böhm, member of the state parliament and mayor of Neusiedl am See, Christa Wendelin, head of the non-partisan working group for the establishment of the memorial, and the historian Herbert Brettl who spoke about the importance of a culture of remembrance.
The Tamburizza orchestra played appropriate music for this beautiful and moving celebration.
There was also a ready2print exhibition by Yad Vashem about the Auschwitz album and "Lights in the Dark", an exhibition about women during the Holocaust.
Event on 17 November 2024 in Parndorf
A living culture of remembrance also includes a tradition of remembrance!
UPF-Burgenland, together with the non-partisan initiative for the establishment of the memorial, decided to organise an annual commemorative event as part of a culture of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism in Parndorf. The first such event was held on November 17, 2024. Because this was a small beginning, we did not expect a large turn-out and were delighted that fifty guests attended. There were local media reports in German and Croatian.
The Tamburizza Orchestra gave the event a dignified setting with its usual professional performance. Before the Mayor of Parndorf, Wolfgang Kovacs, who is a UPF peace ambassador gave the opening speech. He spoke about the war zones in the Middle East and Ukraine and remarked that it had been a long time since the danger of escalation had been as great as it is today. He deplored the socio-political developments popularizing the denigration of people with a different skin color, religion or nationality. This problematic trend increases the importance of even small initiatives.
Father Franz Borenitsch offered Francis of Assisi’s prayer: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace".
Burgenland-Croatian actress Valentina Himmelbauer read from a heartfelt speech written by Anna Baar who delivered it on May 9, 2024 at Heldenplatz in Vienna. Christa Wendelin, head of the working group for the establishment of the memorial for the victims of National Socialism, told the life story of Josef Kiraly, a decoy leader from Parndorf, who was sentenced to forced labor for the crime of saying that he trusted the Hungarian radio station more than the German. He died in a labor camp in 1944.
The root of National Socialism was systematic exclusion policy which ultimately led to the murder of millions of people. Exclusion policy is still alive and reappears in new clothes over the years. We must therefore be aware of our own feelings when politicians spread xenophobia or hatred against others.
Some heartbreaking fates of Jewish families, people of other religions or races, critics of the regime, victims of the "euthanasia program", the "racial hygiene" of the National Socialists also played out in our village. Over the course of a few months in 1934, all 36 Jews who lived in Parndorf were expelled from the village. Some managed to escape; at least seven died in ghettos and concentration camps. None returned.
The Catholic saint "Edith Stein", whose religious name was "Teresia Benedicta of the Cross" was a German philosopher and women's rights activist of Jewish origin. Edith Stein, considered a bridge builder between Christians and Jews, was baptized into the Catholic Church in 1922 and in 1933 entered the Order of Discalced Carmelites. She was arrested by the Nazis on August 2, 1942, deported and murdered on August 9, 1942 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp (Poland) together with her sister Rosa.
To close the event, the Jam Club Parndorf, Dominik Rechberger's school band, played the anti-war song "Zombie" by the Cranberries.