Head of Yad Vashem Visits Vienna
On the occasion of his visit to Vienna, Dani Dayan, the director of the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, comments on Corona demonstrations, and Austria's role in the Holocaust and met with high-ranking Austrian politicians.
Federal Minister Karoline Edtstadler received the Chairman of Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan, for a conversation about Holocaust commemoration. / Picture: © Bundeskanzleramt (BKA) / Andy Wenzel
Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, visited Vienna to observe the process of coming to terms with the past in Austria, meeting with high-ranking politicians.
View photos from @AmbDaniDayan's Austria tour, as he visited Holocaust memorials in Vienna with @LessingHannah. Dayan also met @k_edtstadler & will open an international conference marking the 30th anniversary of Gedenkdienst Association by the Austrian Service Abroad. pic.twitter.com/BtdpjMz5Fs
— Yad Vashem (@yadvashem) August 30, 2022
Dani Dayan said in an interview with DerStandard, "We cannot change history, so it depends on how these countries deal with their history. Germany and Austria have done a lot, although Austria has taken a long time to start. Now it's about reaching out to broad sections of society."
Austria, despite its Holocaust remembrance work and its desire to come to terms with the Nazi past, still has many monuments to soldiers who are undifferentiated and praised as "heroes" and to anti-Semitic agitators. According to DerStandrad, Dayan stated, "It is not enough to make a political statement, there must be a comprehensive atmosphere of enlightenment, a strong awareness of history in society. That Austria has changed its official attitude is only a first step."
On the corona pandemic, which has also given new impetus to anti-Semite conspiracy theories, Dayan said inappropriate comparisons between vaccination cards and Jewish stars are a "terrible trivialization of the Shoah," according to DerStandard.
Happy and honoured to meet Chairman @AmbDaniDayan of Yad Vashem in the Federal Chancellery today. Thank you for the fruitfull discussions, Austria remains a strong Partner of Yad Vashem and Israel. @IsraelinAustria pic.twitter.com/K4eOeW0uVp
— Karoline Edtstadler (@k_edtstadler) August 30, 2022
Dani Dayan still met with Karoline Edtstadler, who as Federal Minister for EU and Constitution in the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria also deals with the preservation of Jewish life in Austria, as Vindobona.org reported. In addition, Dany Dayan also visited Holocaust memorials in Vienna.
Yad Vashem is the name of the "Memorial to the Martyrs and Heroes of the State of Israel in the Holocaust," the most important memorial site commemorating and scientifically documenting the Nazi extermination of Jews.