Reviewing 1945: Eleven new perspectives

Nazi terror, the end of the war, beginnings of democracy – spring to autumn 1945 is a time of extremes. While Vienna is already liberated and people are openly showing their support for the new democratic administration by wearing armbands with the Austrian colours, forced Hungarian-Jewish labourers are being murdered by local Nazis in Upper Austria. In summer, the US administration organises the first Salzburg Festival of the Second Republic. At the same time, the British army’s decision to hand over Cossack Wehrmacht soldiers and most of their family to the Soviet Union triggers panic and desperation within the Cossack community. Most Wehrmacht soldiers have been taken prisoner; war criminals are trying to escape. In Carinthia, high-ranking Nazis, co-responsible for the Holocaust, are trying to escape but soon get arrested by the British. Nazi memorabilia are being destroyed, but some are reused, concealed or hidden away. The long-term impact of the Nazi regime inhibits but also shapes the newly evolving democratic system. Nevertheless, Austria’s liberation marks a new beginning. One of the objects presented exemplifies this ambivalence: It's a Nazi law book, hit by shrapnel in 1945 and irreparably damaged. But it's kept in the library of a local insurance company for years.