The first United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day which had been chosen by the United Nations General Assembly to be commemorated annually on 27 January, was observed by leading Austrian Officials at the opening of a photo exhibition entitled "Das sichtbare Unfassbare" at Palais Epstein in Vienna on Monday, 16 January 2006.
Speaker of the Austrian Parliament Andreas Khol together with Internal Affairs Minister Liese Prokop expressed their hopes that the exhibition could help to raise awareness and avoid the repetition of crimes against humanity, such as those committed in the death camp of Mauthausen. Mr. Khol appreciated the importance of the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day as a worldwide commemoration of the unspeakable suffering caused by the crimes committed by the Nazi regime. He pointed out the importance of remembrance and expressed his hopes that many people and among them many pupils and students would visit the exhibition and learn from the information provided.
The exhibition at Palais Epstein was organised by the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs in consultation with the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna. It is presenting more than 450 prints focussing on the tragedy which had happened in the Austrian Nazi death camp Mauthausen, where between 1938 and 1945 approximately 200.000 people from all across Europe had been imprisoned, tortured and forced to heavy labour. Nearly half of them had been murdered. Pictures taken by the Nazis themselves, but also photos of the liberation and the time after are shown. They had been collected from different European countries and the United States.
The exhibition will be open Monday to Friday 10:00-17:00 and Saturday 10:00-13:00, till 27 January, and entry is free of charge.
The intention of the General Assembly to launch an annual International Holocaust Remembrance day was not only to recall the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person as well as the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, but also to remind the world of the tragedy of the Second World War. By informing future generations of the lessons of the Holocaust the United Nations hopes to raise awareness, and help prevent and avoid any repetition of the crime of genocide, such as those committed by the Nazi regime.
Complementing the exhibition is a course of lectures held at the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance.
For further information concerning this additional programme and on guided tours, please contact Mrs. Isolde Ebner, Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs:
Phone: +43-1-53126-3867 ; E-mail:
fotoausstellung@bmi.gv.at
(That information was compiled by Konrad Eckl as part of his internship with UNIS Vienna)
