KZ GUSEN MEMORIAL COMMITTEE
within ARBEITSKREIS FUER HEIMAT-, DENKMAL- UND GESCHICHTSPFLEGE (AHDG)
and Local-International Platform ST. GEORGEN/GUSEN, Austria
KZ Mauthausen-GUSEN Info-Pages
Local-International Commemoration
May 5-7, 2000
Ecumenical Service at St. Georgen Parish Church
Peace be with you!
The commemoration activities for the year 2000 were completed by an ecumenical
church service at the St. Georgen/Gusen parish church on Sunday,
May 8th, with guests from Poland (among them the newly introduced ambassador
of the Polish Republic, Dr. Irena Lipowicz, and her staff) and Lithuania as well as
the local population.
The service was concelebrated by the Protestant Polish Bishop
Ryszard Borski and the Roman Catholic parish priest Franz Benezeder,
both in their respective mother-tongues.
Regular church goers as well as visitors were delighted by the sights and sounds of
three choirs: a Polish teenage choir from Plock, a choir from Vilnius/Lithuania
in colourful national costumes, and a choir of local young people.
The service was held in commemoration of the liberation of the terrible concentration
camps of Gusen and Mauthausen on May 5th, 1945 by US soldiers.
Having regained their much-cherished freedom again, a number of liberated Polish priests
from KZ Gusen stumbled right into the parish church of St. Georgen to thank God
for their survival, which, given the extremely cruel conditions in the camps was more than
unlikely. Starving to the point of emaciation, they said their prayers
lying flat on the floor of the church, an incident still remembered
by some elderly people of St. Georgen.
However, the purpose of this year`s service was not to only look back at a dark chapter
of Austrian history but even more so to reconcile former enemies.
It may come as a surprise that so many Polish survivors (as well as those from other nations)
feel a strong desire to return to a place they associate with unbearable tortures
they received and horror they witnessed. Yet, if you ask them about their reasons
they tell you that a part of them was left here at Gusen. It is a time they never ever will forget
and they will always remember and honour their friends who were cruelly murdered. They seem to get some comfort from coming back every year,
even if painful memories come up again, and they find the activities of the local committee a hope for the future.
Everything must be done to keep up a peaceful relationship among different nationalities,
and one strategy to do so is furthering international contacts: That is actually meeting and talking to each other.
Mutual understanding is possible despite all language barriers. This became obvious
when all those participating in the church service said the "Lord`s Prayer" in their
mother-tongues and wished each other "Peace be with you" afterwards.
There is nothing else to add but - we are all deeply responsible for our neighbour`s peace.
Siegi Witzany-Durda
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Most recent updates of this page were made on
000711 by Rudolf A. HAUNSCHMIED,
Martha Gammer, Siegi Witzany-Durda and
Jan-Ruth White with her students in US-Alabama