New Perspectives on Austrians and World War IIFor more than a generation after World War II, offi cialgovernment doctrine and many Austrians insisted they hadbeen victims of Nazi aggression in 1938 and, therefore, bore noresponsibility for German war crimes. During the past twentyyears this myth has been revised to include a more complexpast, one with both Austrian perpetrators and victims. Part one describes soldiers from Austria who foughtin the German Wehrmacht, a history only recently unearthed.Richard Germann covers units and theatersAustrian fought in, while Th omas Grischany demonstrateshow well they fought. Ela Hornung looks atcase studies of denunciation of fellow soldiers, whileBarbara Stelzl-Marx analyzes Austrian soldiers whowere active in resistance at the end of the war. StefanKarner summarizes POW treatment on the Eastern front.Part two deals with the increasingly diffi cult life on theAustrian homefront. Fritz Keller takes a look at how Viennasurvived growing food shortages. Ingrid Bhler takesa rare look at life in small-town Austria. Andrea Strutzanalyzes narratives of Jewish refugees forced to leave forthe United States. Peter Ruggenthaler and Philipp Lesiakexamine the use of slave laborers. And Brigitte Kepplingersummarizes the Nazi euthanasia program. The third part deals with legacies of the war, particularlypostwar restitution and memory issues. Based on newsources from Soviet archives, Nikita Petrov describes theRed Army liberation. Winfried Garscha analyzes postwarwar crimes trials against Austrians. Brigitte Bailer-Galandaand Eva Blimlinger present a survey of postwarrestitution of property. And Heidemarie Uhl deals withAustrian memories of the war. Gnter Bischof is the director of CenterAustria and MarshallPlan Professor of History at the University of New Orleans; FritzPlasser is professor of political science and dean of the facultyof political science and sociology at the University of Innsbruck;Barbara Stelzl-Marx is an APART-fellow with the Austrian Academyof Sciences and the deputy director of the Ludwig BoltzmannInstitut fr Kriegsfolgen-Forschung in Graz. |
Other editions - View all
New Perspectives on Austrians and World War II Gunter Bischof,Fritz Plasser,Barbara Stelzl-Marx Limited preview - 2011 |