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Austria remembers Nazi annexation | Austria remembers Nazi annexation |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A joint session of parliament has been held in Austria to mark its annexation by Nazi Germany 70 years ago. | A joint session of parliament has been held in Austria to mark its annexation by Nazi Germany 70 years ago. |
On 12 March 1938, German troops marched into Austria and Hitler declared "Anschluss", or political union. | On 12 March 1938, German troops marched into Austria and Hitler declared "Anschluss", or political union. |
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer told the sitting that "no compensation can ever diminish the wrong that the Nazis did to our Jewish fellow citizens". | |
Later, 80,000 candles will be lit outside parliament, where Austrians cheered Hitler's arrival 70 years ago. | |
The candles represent the number of Austrian Jews and others who died at the hands of the Nazis. | The candles represent the number of Austrian Jews and others who died at the hands of the Nazis. |
The organisers have dubbed the ceremony "The Night of Silence" in contrast with the enthusiasm of the welcome given to the German takeover. | The organisers have dubbed the ceremony "The Night of Silence" in contrast with the enthusiasm of the welcome given to the German takeover. |
Mr Gusenbauer also announced that the government would build a Simon Wiesenthal Centre in honour of the Nazi hunter who died in 2005. | |
Austria haunted by Nazi past | Austria haunted by Nazi past |
He told parliament that no pay-off could undo what had been done. | |
"I can only humbly beg survivors and their relatives to accept this gesture for what it is: a trifling acknowledgement of the injustice that was done to you," he said. | |
On Tuesday, Vienna's Jewish community formally re-opened the Hakoah sports club complex which had been confiscated by the Nazis in 1938. | On Tuesday, Vienna's Jewish community formally re-opened the Hakoah sports club complex which had been confiscated by the Nazis in 1938. |
The previous day, Mr Gusenbauer opened an exhibition showing how Jewish staff of the State Opera were purged under Nazi rule. | The previous day, Mr Gusenbauer opened an exhibition showing how Jewish staff of the State Opera were purged under Nazi rule. |
The anniversary of the Anschluss has revived debate among Austrians about whether they were victims or supporters of the Third Reich. | The anniversary of the Anschluss has revived debate among Austrians about whether they were victims or supporters of the Third Reich. |
Otto von Habsburg, 95, the son of Austria's last emperor, told a commemorative meeting that no state in Europe had "a greater right than Austria to call itself a victim". | Otto von Habsburg, 95, the son of Austria's last emperor, told a commemorative meeting that no state in Europe had "a greater right than Austria to call itself a victim". |
But the president of the lower house of parliament, Barbara Prammer, told Wednesday's session that Austrians were complicit in Nazi crimes. | |
She said any suggestion that they had been forced to commit atrocities was a "fiction of history". |