8. Dialogue Forum Mauthausen: "Perspectives of Perpetrator Research. Dimensions – Reception – Handling"

For a long time, perpetrator research was neglected by historiography. The subject matter of perpetration was taboo both for Austrian and German post-war societies - therefore, for many decades, the history of concentration camps was almost exclusively told as a history of victims. Even research in Mauthausen took up this topic at a relatively late stage; perpetrators were persistently omitted - with the exception of commanding officers and the heads of detention camps. Only recently, a change of attitude has occurred, as it became evident that historiography is quite incomplete without the history of perpetrators. For this reason, the 8^th Dialogue Forum of the Mauthausen Memorial was dedicated to the topic of perpetrator research and communicated the results of such research.

In panels, workshops and discussions, the various issues have been dealt with by national and international experts, but also by relatives of those perpetrators.

Programme:

19 September 2016

10:00-10:30

Welcoming reception

10:30-11:30

Opening

Keynote

Adelheid Kastner, Psychiatrist and court-certified expert – was in charge i.a. of the case Josef Fritzl

11:30-12:30

Discussion with a Contemporary Witness:

Walter Stern, contemporary witness – searched for Nazi criminals for the OSS  – talking with Gregor Holzinger

12:30-13:30

Lunch break

13:30-15:30

Panel 1: “Willing Helpers of the SS”

Stefan Hördler – Ethnic German SS Members
Andrea Rudorff – SS Wardens
Stefan Petke – Muslims in the Waffen SS

Chair: Johannes Koll

15:30-15:45

Coffee break

15:45-16:45

Talks with children of Nazi perpetrators  in small groups:

Walter Chmielewski, son of the former camp commander of Gusen – talking with Ralf Lechner
Rosa Brodinger, daughter of an SS member of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp – talking with Regina Fritz
Jens-Jürgen Ventzki, son of the former Lord Mayor of Łódź – talking with Philipp Rohrbach

17:00-18:00

Themed tours

Perpetrators – Guided tour of the Mauthausen Memorial
Perpetrators private – Guided tour of residential areas for SS and DESt personnel in Mauthausen
Perpetrators and Environment– Guided tour of the town Mauthausen
Perpetrators and Business– Guided tour of the town St. Georgen a. d. Gusen, visit to the residential areas for DESt and SS personnel.

20:00

Accompanying event

Book presentation: Gregor Holzinger (ed.): “The Second Tier. Biographies of Perpetrators from the Mauthausen Concentration Camp." Mauthausen-Studien (Band 10) – in Brückenkopfgebäude West (Kunstuniversität), Hauptplatz 8, 4020 Linz

20 September 2016

09:30-10:00

Welcoming

10:00-11:00

Summary of the talks with children of Nazi perpetrators

11:00-13:00

Panel 2: “The Post-War Judiciary: Investigations and Trials against Nazi Perpetrators”  

Christian Rabl – The Dachau Trials
Ruth Bettina Birn – The Ludwigsburg Investigators
Peter Eigelsberger – The Hartheim Trials
Thomas Walther – The last Auschwitz Trials

Chair: Winfried Garscha

13:00-14:00

Lunch break

14:00-16:00

“The Perpetrators of Mauthausen - new Research Perspectives”

Bertrand Perz – The “Camp Community” - conceptual considerations of an integrated history of concentration camps
Christian Angerer, Gudrun Blohberger and Ines Brachmann – Perpetrators. How to mediate?
Magdalena Frühmann – Physicians at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp
Andreas Kranebitter – Imprisoned criminals: victims as perpetrators?

Chair: Robert Vorberg

16:00

Conclusion and Closing

Organiser:

Mauthausen Memorial

Venue:

Visitor Center of the Mauthausen Memorial

Contact:

Christopher Posch
Federal Institution KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen / Mauthausen Memorial
Minoritenplatz 9
1010 Wien
Tel: +43 1 53126-2782
E-Mail: christopher.posch@mauthausen-memorial.org