PDF Version - Österreichischer Auslandsdienst

Presentation of the
Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award 2016
to Prof. Giorgio Frassineti in Predappio on September 3, 2016.
„Memories deal with the past but take place in our present.“
With these words mayor Giorgio Frassineti announced his support for the Austrian project „House of Responsibility“ which aims to rebrand Hitler‘s birthplace in Braunau. Being the mayor of Predappio, Giorgio
Frassineti has been confronted with a similar challenge as Predappio is the birthplace of the Italian fascist
ruler, Benito Mussolini. Both cities have to cope with a difficult heritage, but this shared burden connects
and unites them fondly.
Finding an appropriate way to deal with the past proves to be very difficult as the city‘s history attracts
numerous neo-fascist pilgrims. Giorgio Frassineti is determined to change the image of the city and fortunately his determination and ambition has borne fruit. With the aim to encourage critical reflection and
examination of Italian fascism, Giorgio Frassineti initiated the creation of a documentation center of the
20th century in the town center. „The House of Responsibility“ and the documentation center share two
fundamental principles - „Memory and Responsibility“ - in an era “where walls and fences are built again
to divide humanity”.
The Austrian Service Abroad wants to honor Giorgio Frassineti‘s ambition and success against neo-fascism
by awarding him with the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award. Together with the community of Predappio
we kindly invite you to the upcoming ceremony in honor of Giorgio Frassineti‘s exemplary actions:
Time & Place: September 3, 2016 at 4pm in the Teatro Comunale in Predappio, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Programm:
»» Welcome/Opening address
»» Introduction of the association Austrian Service Abroad and the work of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servants in Italy
»» G
reetings by President Dr. Heinz Fischer and the Minister of Social Affairs Alois Stöger - both recorded
on the July 1, 2016
»» Honorific speech by Prof. Alberto de Bernardi, a native of Romagna and professor of contemporary history at the Università degli Studi di Bologna
»» Presentation of the award by Dr. Andreas Maislinger
»» Final words by Prof. Giorgio Frassineti
Austrian Holocaust
Memorial Award
From September 2nd until 4h, the village fair „I Tre Giorni del Sangiovese” will take place in Predappio with
live music and stands offering culinary delicacies all around the town. Furthermore, the ceremony is accompanied by a program which gives the opportunity to get to know more about the region Emilia-Romagna.
If you have any inquiries concerning the event feel free to contact Dr. Andreas Maislinger. If you want to take
part, please be so kind to give us notice:
Dr. Andreas Maislinger
Austrian Service Abroad
Email: [email protected]
Tel.: +43 664 1008361
General information
The Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award
Since 2006 the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award has been rewarded to individuals who show outstanding engagement in the reappraisal of the atrocities committed by National Socialism The award was given
to personalities who spurred discussion and reflection of the past not just in but also beyond the German-speaking area. Among those who received the award are Munich contemporary witness Hugo Höllenrainer, Latvian Holocaust survivor Marģers Vestermanis or Schindler-biographer Erika Rosenberg-Band.
The projected documentation center on the history of fascism and
the 20th century in Predappio
Predappio, which encompasses 6000 inhabitants and lies in the Italian area Emilia-Romagna, is the place
where Benito Mussolini was born in 1883. In the 1920s and the 1930s as the „Duce” - or the leader of Italian
fascism - he reshaped the town entirely in the style of fascism.
Austrian Holocaust
Till today the association betweenMemorial
Mussolini and Predappio
remains. Numerous pilgrims visit Mussolini‘s
Award
birthplace each year and acquire fascist souvenirs such as flags, busts or magnets with the face of Mussolini.
Mayor of Predappio, Giorgio Frassineti aims to give Predappio a new image by introducing the documentation center. Predappio shouldn‘t only be associated with Mussolini and his fascist rule but also with a place
where critical reflection over the past, in particular fascism and the 20th century, is taking place. The documentation center will offer a permanent exhibition on an area of 1000 m². The exhibition will be created by
Italian and international historians under the direction of the Institute Parri of Bologna and strives
to work educationally. In addition, there will be space for various further projects that allow a critical and
objective examination of the time period and at the same time cause a „learning from the past“. The synergies with the project „House of Responsibility“ for the Hitler house in Braunau am Inn could provide a fertile
framework for further collaboration between the two projects. Appointing a Holocaust Memorial Servant to
the documentation center could be a possibility.
On July 19, 2016 the local council of Predappio officially ordered the Institute Parri to work on the realization
of the documentation center. Three million Euro are needed, two million Euro will be provided by the region
Emilia-Romagna using European Structural-Fond-Capital.
The association „Austrian Service Abroad“
The association Austrian Service Abroad („Österreichischer Auslandsdienst“) is an organization recognized
by the Federal Ministry for Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection pursuant to section 46 paragraph
5 FreiwG which gives participants the possibility to do a voluntary or alternative civil service abroad. One
has the possibility to choose among three different types of services: Holocaust Memorial Services, Social
Service or Peace Service.
The Austrian Service Abroad partners globally with more than 50 organizations that receive Servants.
In Italy there are currently three partner organizations of the Austrian Service Abroad: In Rome (Fondazione
Museo della Shoah), in Milano (Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea) and in Prato
(Museo e Centro di Documentazione della Deportazione e Resistenza).
Austrian Holocaust
Memorial Award
Information about the speakers
Prof. Giorgio Frassineti
Giorgio Frassineti was born on September 29, 1964 in Forlì. He graduated
from the University of Bologna in 1990. Giorgio Frassineti has been the
mayor of Predappio since June 9, 2009 in a center-left coalition.
Occasioned by the fond uniqueness of Predappio, Frassineti is determined to not only preserve the old buildings that have left unmistakable
traces in the town but to breath fresh life into them.
He puts himself out for a strengthened cultural and economic recognition of Predappio as he is convinced that changing the city‘s difficult
image as well as the current state of isolation could only be achieved
through opening up and dealing with the past. Frassineti is one of the
founders of a society that espouses the preservation of architectural fas-
cist communities.
He lives with his wife Claudia and his ten year old son Alessandro in Predappio.
Dr. Andreas Maislinger
Dr. Andreas Maislinger was born on February 26, 1955 in St. Georgen near
Salzburg. He studied law and political science at the University of Salzburg as well as political science and East-European history at the University of Vienna. Moreover, Dr. Andreas Maislinger spent study stays at Universities in Frankfurt, Berlin and Oslo. He successfully got his doctorate
in 1980 writing on the „Flaws of the Austrian defense policy“.
Dr. Maislinger was, on a voluntary basis, part of the „Polenreferat“ in the
range of a project called „Sühnezeichen“. Under the framework of this
project he took care of German juveniles at the memorial place Auschwitz-Birkenau. He did his compulsory community service at the international „Versöhnungsbund“ in Vienna.
During the years from 1985-1991 he worked at the University of Innsbruck,
New Orleans, the Humboldt-University in Berlin, the Johannes Kepler
University in Linz as well as the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. After
attending a course on the Holocaust at the memorial site Yad Vashem he
published an essay on „the process of coming to terms with one‘s past in
the Federal Republic of Germany, the DDR and Austria“ in 1990. From 1992
till 2012 Dr. Maislinger was the academic head of the „Braunau Contemporary History Days“.
Andreas Maislinger initiated the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service („Gedenkdienst“) which allows conscripts to do their service abroad by working in the field of Holocaust education. In 1992 he finally managed
to get the Memorial Service enshrined into law. In 1998 Maislinger founded the association Austrian Service
Abroad. Besides the Holocaust Memorial Service, the branches Social Service and Peace Service were included for the first time.
Austrian Holocaust
Memorial Award
In 2000 Andreas Maislinger presented his concept „House of Responsibility“ for a new use of the Hitler
birthplace in Braunau am Inn.
In 2005 Andreas Maislinger received the Medal of Merit of the Region of Tyrol as well as the Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria honoring his commitment.
Prof. Alberto de Bernardi
Alberto de Bernardi is Professor for Contemporary History at the University of Bologna. He finished his studies at universities in Milano, Paris
and in the USA.
De Bernardi was director of the Institute for the History of Resistance and
Contemporary Age in Milan (Istituto milanese per la storia della resistenze e dell‘eta contemporanea) from 1986 till 1996 in Milano. Subsequently,
he was responsible for the historical inventory of the Institute Gramsci
Emilia Romagna. In 1998 he became the scientific head of the National
Institute for the History of the Liberation Movement in Italy (INSMLI).
Between 2003 and 2009 Alberto de Bernardi supervised the institution
for history at the University of Bologna. Since 2010 Alberto de Bernardi
has been the president at the historical Historical Institute Parri Emilia - Romagna.
In 2015 de Bernardi received the „Premio G. Imbucci“ of the University of Salerno for his book „Un paesa in
bilico“.
Alberto de Bernardi has put his focus on social studies, fascism, anti-fascism and the republican Italy since
the late 1990s. He gained a reputation for publishing a comparative work on European totalitarianism during the interwar period. De Bernardi made an analysis of the post-war period with an emphasis on anti-fascism, the creation of democracy, the resistance movements of the 60s and the change of the last 30 years.
Austrian Holocaust
Memorial Award