Festival of Joy on Heldenplatz

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), May 8, 2024

The Festival of Joy took place on Heldenplatz for the twelfth time on Wednesday evening. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra and a contemporary witness commemorated Austria's liberation from National Socialism. However, there were also some downsides.

For Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, the celebratory mood was not unclouded in view of the sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents. There must be “zero tolerance” for anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews. In his speech on Wednesday evening, he called for civil courage. “We must confront hatred of Jews and anti-Semitism with zero tolerance. Resolutely. Every day. Everywhere.”

Behind the statistics on anti-Semitic attacks are people who are shamed, insulted and, in the worst cases, physically attacked. The fact that a boy with a kippah was threatened with death by three youths on the streetcar, as happened some time ago, “simply must not happen in Austria”, he emphasized. “Jewish life belongs to Austria and, in particular, Jewish life belongs to our common home of Vienna.”

No IKG representatives at the celebrations

The Jewish Community (IKG) criticized the inadequate reaction to the march of an activist with a Palestine flag at the Mauthausen memorial service last Sunday. This was an “affront to all those murdered during the Shoah”. As a reaction to this and the, in their opinion, inadequate reaction of the Mauthausen Committee (MKÖ), no official representatives of the IKG will be present at the “Festival of Joy”, the IKG told APA.

An activist from the left-wing splinter group “Party of Labor” had turned up at the celebration with a Palestine flag and caused a stir. Because a concentration camp liberation ceremony is “no stage for such a show”, as one participant put it. It is fitting that the “Party of Labor” is considered a prime example of left-wing anti-Semitism and that after the Hamas massacre it was stated on its homepage that the “Palestinian resistance against occupation and oppression is a just cause”.

MKÖ Chairman Willi Mernyi reacted with regret to the cancellation: “For us, the focus on this day is on commemorating the victims and liberation from the Nazi terror regime. We regret that the IKG has canceled its participation in the Festival of Joy.”

Focus on the Nazi legal system

May 8 marks the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht exactly 79 years ago. In memory of the end of National Socialism, the Mauthausen Committee Austria (MKÖ) is organizing a solemn commemoration ceremony at Heldenplatz at 7.30 pm.

The Festival of Joy was organized this year with a focus on “Law and Justice under National Socialism”. The Nazi legal system was used specifically to persecute minorities. Criticism was nipped in the bud. Offenders were sentenced and executed without a fair trial, the Mauthausen Committee recalls.

This examination of the Nazi understanding of the law is intended to show how far apart law and justice can be. But it is not only the memory that counts, the present is also to be examined as part of the commemorative event, according to the organizers.

Speech by contemporary witness Rosa Schneeberger

Following the withdrawal of the IKG, the event is now being supported by the Gedenkdienst association and the Documentation Archive of Austrian Resistance. Together they want to inform, educate and, above all, sensitize the younger generations. The event will be hosted by actress Katharina Stemberger and Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen will give a speech. Contemporary witness Rosa Schneeberger will also speak at the event.

When Schneeberger was three years old, in 1939, her father and his brothers were arrested by the Nazi terror regime and deported to Dachau concentration camp and later to Buchenwald concentration camp. Rosa Schneeberger was five years old when she was arrested together with her mother and siblings as a Sintizza and deported to the Lackenbach camp. Schneeberger and her family survived in the Lackenbach camp until they were liberated by the Red Army in April 1945.

The eyewitness recounts what happened to her out of fear that history could repeat itself and that the atrocities of the Nazi terror regime could be committed again today. Schneeberger speaks to warn and admonish young people in particular and to appeal for a “never again”.

Concert in any weather

The free concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra will take place whatever the weather. Seating is limited and is primarily intended for the elderly and people with special needs. It is not possible to reserve seats. This year's concert will be performed by various chamber music ensembles of the orchestra. You can hear “Wiener Blut”, “I got rhythm” or the “Moritat” from the Threepenny Opera. This year's finale will once again be the “Ode to Joy” from Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

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