Oliver Rathkolb

Though three of his four grandparents were from America and the first language he learned at home was English, Baldur von Schirach became one of the Third Reich’s most influential individuals. He joined the Nazi Party as early as 1925 at the age of eighteen and three years later became a member of its National Leadership. He also married Henriette, the daughter of Hitler’s personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann. Von Schirach continued to rise through the ranks of the Nazi Party, reaching the rank of SA-Gruppenführer. It was as the leader of the Hitler Youth organization, however, for which von Schirach is best remembered, becoming Reichsführer of the Hitler Youth on 16 June 1932, and the following year was given responsibility for all youth organizations in Germany. He also became a member of the Reichstag as a representative of the Party. Despite his influential position, he was called up for military service and served in the French campaign of 1940. Following this he became Reich Governor and the Nazi’s Gauleiter Reichsstatthalter in Vienna – powerful positions he retained until the final collapse of the Third Reich in May 1945. His responsibilities as Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter included overseeing the deportation of Vienna’s Jews to ghettos and concentration camps in occupied Poland. Though a confirmed anti-Semite, later in the war he pleaded for a moderate treatment of the eastern European peoples and criticized the conditions in which Jews were being deported. This caused a breach with Hitler and the Nazi leadership, though he managed to retain his position in Vienna. Following his capture by US troops, von Schirach was among the major war criminals put on trial at Nuremburg. Found guilty of crimes against humanity on 1 October 1946, von Schirach was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. He served out his time in the company of Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer in Spandau prison. He admitted his crimes and his role in the deportations and in his autobiography, I Believed in Hitler, he explained how he was drawn into the world of the Nazis. He also said that his aim was destroy any belief in the rebirth of Nazism as well as blaming himself for not having done more to prevent the concentration camps. This detailed and balanced analysis of Baldur von Schirach reveals the true and ambivalent nature of a complex and fascinating individual who played a key role in the events leading up to, and during, the Second World War.

Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth

Baldur von Schirach

Petra Mayrhofer

This issue of zeitgeschichte off ers a comprehensive survey of aspects of Yugoslav foreign policy during Cold War détente. Due to its geostrategic location on the Balkan peninsula, Yugoslavia became an important focus for the U.S.S.R. and the United States during the East–West confl ict. After the break with Stalin in 1948, the Yugoslav "leader" Tito sought to position Yugoslavia as a non-aligned state on the international level and played a hegemonic role in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The articles analyze Yugoslav policy in the 1960s and 1970s, examining its intentions, its developments, its strategic advantages, and its limits in the context of (geo-)political, economic, and cultural circumstances, with a focus on non-alignment as a leitmotiv of Yugoslav political ambitions, political and economic relations between Yugoslavia and countries of the NAM, the role of the Balkans in U.S. Cold War policy, and aspects of Yugoslav labor migration.

Interactions during Détente

Diplomacy in Southeastern Europe

Florian Kührer-Wielach

This special issue of the journal "zeitgeschichte" presents the results of the doctoral theses written within the framework of the "Doctoral College European Historical Dictatorship and Transformation Research" (2009–2012) as selected scholarly essays. The contributions are devoted to authoritarian regimes of the 20th century in Austria, Belarus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the Soviet Union. Using various methods from the humanities and social sciences, diff erent aspects of mainly "small" dictatorships are examined: conditions of emergence, structures, continuities, as well as preceding and subsequent processes of political and social transformation. Das vorliegende Sonderheft der Zeitschrift »zeitgeschichte« stellt die Ergebnisse der im Rahmen des Initiativkollegs (IK) Europäische historische Diktatur- und Transformationsforschung (2009–2012) verfassten Promotionsarbeiten in Form ausgewählter wissenschaftlicher Essays vor. Die Beiträge widmen sich autoritären Regimes des 20. Jahrhunderts in Belarus, Griechenland, Italien, Lettland, Litauen, Österreich, Polen, Portugal, Rumänien, Spanien, Ungarn und der Sowjetunion. Mittels verschiedener geistes- und sozialwissenschaftlicher Methoden werden unterschiedliche Aspekte vor allem »kleiner« Diktaturen untersucht: Entstehungsbedingungen, Strukturen, Kontinuitäten sowie vor- und nachgelagerte Prozesse politischer und gesellschaftlicher Transformation.

Preconditions, Structures, Continuities – Contributions to European Historical Dictatorship and Transformation Research

Authoritarian Regimes in the Long Twentieth Century

Imbi Sooman

English summary: English summary: This anthology focuses on the comparison of historical memory debates concerning Holocaust, National Socialism, Communism and Stalinism in the larger Baltic sea area since the 1990s. As the enlarged Baltic Sea Region through its entire history was filled with conflict lines and cooperation regions, it offers an ideal field of research for various theories, notions and narratives of the cultural historical memory as well as for patterns of conflict solutions and can be productively compared with structurally similar border regions. History has left deep traces in the relationships between the regions or states of the Baltic Sea Region as well as in the interaction between majorities and minorities in the single states. As history, in having its impact also upon the border-crossing dialogue of this old region, essentially and subconsciously contributes to today's Region-Building of North-Eastern Europe, we regard it important to be consciously aware of its influence. German description: Seit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges ist die Auseinandersetzung mit der Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts auch im erweiterten Ostseeraum gepragt von der Beschaftigung mit Geschichtspolitik und Erinnerung (Memory) sowie der Suche nach transnationalen vergleichenden europaischen Zugangen zu bisher nationalgeschichtlich gepragten Perspektiven. Dieser Band analysiert den europaischen Raum im ostlichen Norden am Beispiel der geschichtspolitischen Debatten seit 1991. Im Zentrum stehen zentrale historische Leitbilddebatten in den Transformationsphasen der estnischen, lettischen und litauischen Gesellschaften. Dabei hat die Reflexion uber die kommunistische Diktatur einen hohen Stellenwert; ebenso die Auseinandersetzung mit Zweitem Weltkrieg und Holocaust. Als geschichtspolitische Kontrollgruppe werden Finnland, Schweden und Deutschland eingebunden. German description: Seit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges ist die Auseinandersetzung mit der Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts auch im erweiterten Ostseeraum gepragt von der Beschaftigung mit Geschichtspolitik und Erinnerung (Memory) sowie der Suche nach transnationalen vergleichenden europaischen Zugangen zu bisher nationalgeschichtlich gepragten Perspektiven. Dieser Band analysiert den europaischen Raum im ostlichen Norden am Beispiel der geschichtspolitischen Debatten seit 1991. Im Zentrum stehen zentrale historische Leitbilddebatten in den Transformationsphasen der estnischen, lettischen und litauischen Gesellschaften. Dabei hat die Reflexion uber die kommunistische Diktatur einen hohen Stellenwert; ebenso die Auseinandersetzung mit Zweitem Weltkrieg und Holocaust. Als geschichtspolitische Kontrollgruppe werden Finnland, Schweden und Deutschland eingebunden.

Geschichtspolitik im erweiterten Ostseeraum und ihre aktuellen Symptome

Friedrich Stadler

English summary: The year 1968 remains a central topic of public debate and of contemporary history with special focus on myth building and myth deconstruction. Both the 1968er generation and their opposing groups tried to influence and dominate politics. 1968 is a symbol of a decade between revolution and rebellion, shaped by resistance against open and structural violence of the social and political establishment - a concrete utopia of an other society. In this anthology, the year 1968, still highly disputed among contemporary historians and political scientists, is analyzed from an interdisciplinary and international perspective with intense descriptions and comparative approach: singular events are discussed within a context, the loaded symbols are interpreted, ambivalent codes are decoded and relevant historiography is expounded - influenced by legitimization efforts and fundamental critique. German text. German description: Das Jahr 1968 bleibt Gegenstand offentlicher Debatten und der zeitgeschichtlichen Historiografie zwischen Mythos-Pflege und kritischer Rekonstruktion. Diese Historiografie hat den Anspruch, die 68er-Generation und legitimatorische Strategien pro und contra 1968er-Bewegung aus gegenwartiger Sicht zu deuten. 1968 steht international als Symbol fur eine Dekade zwischen Revolution und Rebellion, den Widerstand gegen die offene und strukturelle Gewalt des gesellschaftlichen und politischen Establishments - als konkrete Utopie von einer anderen Gesellschaft. Das bis heute in der Zeitgeschichte kontrovers dargestellte Jahr 1968 wird in diesem Band aus interdisziplinarer und internationaler Perspektive in Form von dichten Beschreibungen und Analysen vergleichend behandelt: Die singularen Ereignisse werden kontextuell beschrieben, die aufgeladenen Symbole interpretiert und die mehrdeutigen Chiffren dekodiert. Nicht zuletzt wird dessen Historiografie zwischen Legitimation und Fundamentalkritik problematisiert.

Das Jahr 1968 - Ereignis, Symbol, Chiffre

Otmar Binder

Austria, a small-state society with barely eight million inhabitants differs from the rest of Europe in that it displays various paradoxical developments in its political culture, social life, and economy. First, most Austrians are the descendents of immigrants from all parts of the Habsburg Monarchy due to intensive migration occurring before 1913. Yet contemporary election campaigns and domestic and international politics have been dominated by xenophobic anti-migration slogans, especially since 1989. Without migration, the country's population would be in serious decline. Second, the Austrians have profited enormously from EU membership and EU enlargement but are stubbornly opposed to EU institutions, and there is little evidence of any EU hyphenated identities. Last, attitudes to historical events are equally contradictory: even though up to 600,000 Austrians were members of the Nazi Party, often holding prominent positions (Adolf Hitler himself), the German Reich has been regarded as solely responsible for the Holocaust. These and a number of other paradoxical perceptions are explored and interpreted in this fascinating and wide-ranging work by one of Austria's leading historians.

Austria 1945-2005

The Paradoxical Republic

Seit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges ist die Auseinandersetzung mit der Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts auch im erweiterten Ostseeraum geprägt von der Beschäftigung mit Geschichtspolitik und Erinnerung (Memory) sowie der Suche nach transnationalen vergleichenden europäischen Zugängen zu bisher nationalgeschichtlich geprägten Perspektiven.Dieser Band analysiert den europäischen Raum im östlichen Norden am Beispiel der geschichtspolitischen Debatten seit 1991. Im Zentrum stehen zentrale historische Leitbilddebatten in den Transformationsphasen der estnischen, lettischen und litauischen Gesellschaften. Dabei hat die Reflexion über die kommunistische Diktatur einen hohen Stellenwert; ebenso die Auseinandersetzung mit Zweitem Weltkrieg und Holocaust. Als geschichtspolitische Kontrollgruppe werden Finnland, Schweden und Deutschland eingebunden.

Geschichtspolitik im erweiterten Ostseeraum und ihre aktuellen Symptome – Historical Memory Culture in the Enlarged Baltic Sea Region and its Symptoms Today

Markus Stumpf

Herbert Posch

Die Bibliothek und das Schrifttum Guido Adlers (1855–1941), des prominentesten Vertreters der Musikwissenschaft der Universität Wien, wurde von den Nationalsozialisten unter reger Beteiligung von Mitarbeitern der Universität Wien geraubt und später nur zum Teil zurückgegeben. Im Rahmen der NS-Provenienzforschung an der Universitätsbibliothek Wien konnten Restbestände der Bibliothek Guido Adlers festgestellt werden. Auch ein Nachlassfragment wurde als bedenklich identifiziert und mit den Buchbeständen 2012/13 restituiert. Dieser Band dokumentiert die Ergebnisse der NS-Provenienzforschung. Er gibt Aufschluss über den Umgang der Universität Wien mit ihrer Geschichte und leistet einen Beitrag zur Aufarbeitung und Erinnerungsarbeit anhand der Auseinandersetzung mit Musik(wissenschaft).

Restitution und Erinnerung an der Universität Wien

Guido Adlers Erbe

Jill Lewis

Bruno Kreisky

Matthew Paul Berg

Bruno Kreisky (1911-1990) is undoubtedly the most prominent and influential politician to emerge in postwar Austria. For some thirty years, he helped to shape his country's politics and raise its status in the world, first as secretary of state, then as leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party and as foreign minster, and finally as chancellor from 1970 to 1983. During his long tenure of public office, Austria achieved unprecedented levels of prosperity; he promoted electoral and educational reform and weathered the occasional scandal. His analytical mind and intelligence were much appreciated by statesmen in East and West as well as in the academy, as were his deeply felt humanism, integrity, untiring advocacy of tolerance and social justice, and his earnest sense of responsibility. These won him the trust and admiration of the leading international figures of his era, including Tito, Nehru, Nasser, De Gaulle, and Pope John XXIII. His international connections and his position as leader of a non-aligned state allowed him to assume the role of honest broker in international peace, human rights, and development initiatives. His stature enabled him to play an active part in the promotion of the Arab-Israeli dialogue and pave the way for President Jimmy Carter's mediation of the Israeli-Egypt peace accord through his close relationship with Sadat. As a result of such activity, Kreisky was respected and praised by every U.S. administration from Kennedy to Brezhnev, despite his support for the containment of Soviet communism. This annotated volume - a condensed version of the three volumes of the German edition and compiled by Jill Lewis, University of Wales, and Oliver Rathkolb, Director of the Stifung Bruno Archiv - gives a fascinating insight into Kreisky's life and his many activities. He lets us participate in the big decisions in which he was involved and shares his encounters with other world leaders of this time. Austria be a small country, but it produced at least one major leader whose lively and immensely readable account and wisdom many readers will find inspiring.

Bruno Kreisky on Peace and Social Justice

The Struggle for a Democratic Austria

Hauptbeschreibung Dieser Band steht im Zeichen der kritischen Auseinandersetzungen mit der Geschichte der Universität Wien im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Neben Nobelpreisträger Eric Kandel, der über die Kontakte zwischen Juden und Christen im Wien der Jahrhundertwende schreibt, sind weitere hochkarätige Nationalsozialismus-ForscherInnen vertreten, etwa der deutsche Historiker Götz Aly. Die Beiträge spannen den Bogen von Forschungen zu Gewalt und Antisemitismus an der Universität Wien seit der Badeni-Krise 1897 über die Situation jüdischer WissenschafterInnen an der Universität Wien vom.

kritische Auseinandersetzungen mit der Geschichte der Universität Wien im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert

Der lange Schatten des Antisemitismus

Eine Generation zwischen Goethe und Hitler

Schirach

From its emergence out of the ashes of World War II through to the economic and political challenges of today, Austria has embodied many of the contradictions of recent European history. Written by one of the nation’s leading historians, this account of postwar Austria explores the tensions that have defined it for over seven decades, whether in its overlapping policies of engagement and isolationism, its grandiose visions and persistent sense of inferiority, or its position as a model social democracy that has suffered recurrent bouts of xenophobic nationalism. This newly revised edition also addresses the major developments since 2005, including a resurgent far right, economic instability, and the potential fracturing of the European Union.

Austria 1945–2020

Hubert Ehalt

Biographische InformationenProf. Dr. Hubert Christian Ehalt lehrt Sozialgeschichte der Neuzeit an der Universität Wien und ist Wissenschaftsreferent der Stadt Wien. Prof. Dr. Oliver Rathkolb lehrt Zeitgeschichte an der Universität Wien. ReiheZeitgeschichte im Kontext - Band 010.

eine Entwicklungsgeschichte seit 1945

Wissens- und Universitätsstadt Wien

Since the mid-1990s, political, legal, and historical debates about Nazi theft and confiscation of property, the use of slave labor during World War II, and restitution and compensation have reemerged. Revisiting the National Socialist Legacy presents completely new historical research on these issues conducted worldwide.This volume responds to concern about Holocaust era assets in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. It focuses on both reexamination of the history of National Socialist property theft and employment of forced labor in the wartime economy, and the compensation and restitution solutions advanced in various European and Latin American countries since 1945.

Coming to Terms with Forced Labor, Expropriation, Compensation, and Restitution

Revisiting the National Socialist Legacy

Aleida Assmann

 Jan Assmann

Gerechtigkeit ist eine Tugend des Handelns, eine Erwartung an die Gesellschaftsordnung und eine sorgfältige und genaue Reflexion des Geschehenen. Zu dem Bemühen um eine neue allgemeine Rechtssphäre, kodifiziert in den Menschenrechten, bekennen sich immer mehr Menschen und klagen diese Rechte ein, wo immer sie mit Füßen getreten werden. Dabei geraten immer neue Gruppen in den Blick. Die Beiträge der Festschrift sind Hubert Christian Ehalt gewidmet, in dessen wissenschaftlich-publizistischer Arbeit Gerechtigkeit einen zentralen Raum einnimmt - sie vermessen das Spannungsfeld Geschichte und Gerechtigkeit neu.

Oliver Rathkolb

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