Andreas Maislinger (born 26 February 1955 in St. Georgen near Salzburg, Austria) is an Austrian historian and political scientist and founder and former chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad. He also is the founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award, the Braunau Contemporary History Days and the inventor of the idea of the House of Responsibility.
Maislinger studied law and political science in Salzburg and political science and eastern-European history in Vienna, with study visits in, amongst others, Frankfurt am Main and Innsbruck. During his studies in Salzburg, Maislinger advocated for Austrian participation in the International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim/Auschwitz; Austrian president Rudolf Kirchschläger declined. [1] Kirchschläger later acknowledged the value of Maislinger's proposal of civilian service for reconciliation and atonement related to the Holocaust. [2]
In 1980 he received his doctorate for a dissertation on the problems of Austrian defense policy. He subsequently held posts at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Innsbruck, the University of New Orleans as visiting assistant professor, the Humboldt University of Berlin for a research visit, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In 1982 he co-founded the working group of independent peace initiatives of Austria and in 1986 he became a member of the founding committee of the Austrian-Israeli society Tirol. Until 1996, he published columns in the "Jüdische Rundschau" (Jewish Review).
Together with Andreas Hörtnagl, Maislinger founded the Gedenkdienst (Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service). [3] He successfully pleaded for the legal establishment of this kind of alternative to mandatory military service, aiming at promoting education and raising awareness about the Holocaust.
On 1 September 1992 the first young Austrian started his Gedenkdienst at the Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Since then more the 1000 Gedenkdiener served in 23 countries worldwide. [4] Prominent supporters of this program include Simon Wiesenthal, Teddy Kollek, Ari Rath and Gerhard Röthler.
In 1998 he founded the Austrian Service Abroad with Andreas Hörtnagl and Michael Prochazka, adding the Austrian Social Service and the Austrian Peace Service to the portfolio.
In October and November 2009 Andreas Maislinger made a 3-week lecturing and promotion tour through Canada and the United States. [5]
In May 2023, Maislinger stepped down as chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad after public criticism. [6]
As a reaction to the participation of the FPÖ (Austrian Freedom Party) in the Austrian federal government in 2000, Maislinger suggested that the city of Braunau am Inn [7] should establish a "House of Responsibility" [8] in the birth house of Adolf Hitler.
On 10 May 2023 the Austrian weekly news magazine Falter made severe accusations against Maislinger. [9] Maislinger called one Gedenkdiener and threatened him with suicide, saying, "You'll have to live with the fact that I'm going to kill myself now.", according to Austrian news station Puls 24. [10] Jonathan Dorner, who was doing his Gedenkdienst in 2019, was also the target of a suicide threat and numerous other threats after he had contradicted Maislinger and addressed problematic circumstances. Dorner sees a system in these threats; the announcement of his suicide was used against the young people in the association "to get his way when something did not go according to his plan." [9] Furthermore, threats of criminal charges were also alleged. [9] In response to an inquiry by Austrian newspaper Kurier, Maislinger commented that the allegations had been clarified with the help of an ombudsman team two years ago and that he had no intention of participating in a public discussion. [11]
The Ministry of Social Affairs, which is supporting the organization financially, had been aware of the allegations since the fall of 2022, according to Puls 24. [10] A suspension of funding would have been unreasonable based on the state of knowledge at the time, the ministry commented in response to an ORF query. [12] Three days after the allegations were made public, Maislinger announced his resignation as Chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad. An external investigation of the allegations came to the conclusion that there had been cases of abuse of power by Maislinger. The organizational structure had been adjusted to prevent a similar concentration of power as had occurred under Maislinger. [13]
Since 1992, Maislinger has served as the scientific director of the annual Braunau Contemporary History Days in Braunau am Inn.
He also participates actively in projects promoting gifted children.
Since 2003 he is in charge of the Georg Rendl Symposion. He had founded the symposium to familiarise people with the life and works of the painter and author Georg Rendl, whom Maislinger had already met as a child in his hometown St. Georgen/Salzburg.
In 2006 he initiated the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award, [14] rewarding people who actively contribute to the remembrance of the Holocaust.
In 2005 Maislinger received the Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria [15] from the president of Austria, Heinz Fischer, and the Medal of Merit of the state of Tirol from Herwig van Staa and Luis Durnwalder.
On 8 November 2009 Andreas Maislinger was awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award for "his 10 year fight to obtain official recognition of alternative, philanthropic service" at the Annual Dinner [16] of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust together with Holocaust survivor and producer of Schindler's List Branko Lustig. [17]
On 2 October 2012 Andreas Maislinger was awarded the Ordre national du Mérite issued by the president of France Nicolas Sarkozy in the French embassy in Vienna.
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Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass 30 km (19 mi) to the south, it had a population of 132,493 in 2018.
Gedenkdienst is the concept of facing and taking responsibility for the darkest chapters of one's own country's history while ideally being financially supported by one's own country's government to do so. Founded in Austria in 1992 by Andreas Maislinger, the Gedenkdienst is an alternative to Austria's compulsory national military service as well as a volunteering platform for Austrians to work in Holocaust and Jewish culture-related institutions around the world with governmental financial support. In Austria it is also referred to as Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service provided by the Austrian Service Abroad. The Austrian Gedenkdienst serves the remembrance of the crimes of Nazism, commemorates its victims and supports Jewish cultural future. The program is rooted in the acknowledgment of responsibility by the Austrian government for the crimes committed by National Socialism.
The Austrian Service Abroad is a non-profit organization funded by the Austrian government which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in form of the Gedenkdienst, supporting vulnerable social groups and sustainability initiatives in form of the Austrian Social Service and realizing projects of peace within the framework of the Austrian Peace Service. The Austrian Service Abroad is the issuer of the annually conferred Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award.
The House of Responsibility (HRB) in Braunau am Inn is the idea of establishing an international meeting place and a place of learning in the birth house of Adolf Hitler. People from all countries, backgrounds, religions and cultures should meet in order to discuss, learn and develop projects revolving around the concept of responsibility relating to the dimensions of past, present and future. The main demography shall be young people. The idea for a House of Responsibility originates from the founder of the Gedenkdienst and chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad Dr. Andreas Maislinger.
The Austrian Peace Service is one of the three sections of the non-profit organisation Austrian Service Abroad and offers a 6-12 months voluntary service at its partner institutions. Male Austrians may accredit their Austrian Peace Service as an alternative to the Austrian national or military service, provided their service abroad lasted a minimum of 10 months. Austrian Peace Servants are financially supported by the Austrian government.
The Bezirk Salzburg-Umgebung is an administrative district (Bezirk) in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, and congruent with the Flachgau region, except for the Statutarstadt of Salzburg, which forms a district of its own.
Andreas Hörtnagl is an Austrian politician.
The Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award (AHMA) was founded by the Austrian Service Abroad in 2006.
The Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation was founded on 17 October 1990 on the initiative of French Prime Minister Michel Rocard and the former Minister of the Interior. It is based in Paris.
The Stolpersteine in the district of Braunau am Inn are small, cobble stone-sized memorials to the former residents of the district who perished at the hands of the Nazis during the Third Reich. Conceived and installed by Cologne artist Gunter Demnig, they were set in the pavement at various locations between August 11–12, 2006.
Sankt Georgen is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg in Austria.
The Braunau Contemporary History Days are a series of conferences organised by the association for contemporary history. Scientifically guided by Andreas Maislinger, it has annually taken place in Braunau am Inn since 1992.
Television in Austria was introduced in 1955. The country uses DVB-T for broadcasting. Analog television was completely shut down on 7 June 2011. Austrian television was monopolised by public broadcasting television stations until 1997. The first private television station in Austria was ATV.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland.
Michael Prochazka is an Austrian social scientist and economist and vice-chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad.
Walter Guggenberger is an Austrian civil servant and politician (SPÖ). From 1983 to 1999, Guggenberger was a member of the National Council of Austria.
Gunter Demnig is a German artist. He is best known for his Stolperstein memorials to the victims of Nazi persecution, including Jews, homosexuals, Romani and the disabled. The project places engraved brass stones in front of a former residence for a Holocaust victim who was deported and murdered by Nazi Germany. The memorial effort began in Germany and has since spread, with more than 100,000 stones placed across 26 countries in Europe.
Franz Löschnak is an Austrian jurist and politician for the SPÖ. From 1987 to 1989 he was Secretary of Health in the federal government and from 1989 to 1995 he was head of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Austria).
The International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim/Auschwitz is an educational institution whose campus lies between the center of the Polish city of Oświęcim and the former German concentration camp of Auschwitz. More than one million persons, mostly Jewish and Polish, were murdered at Auschwitz during the Second World War (1939–1945). Proposed in 1971, the center was opened in 1986 following years of planning, negotiations, and fundraising. It seeks to "develop the understanding of National Socialism and its consequences, particularly among young Germans, through dialogue and encounter between people of different origins", and is particularly engaged with Germans and Poles, Christians and Jews. In 2010, the Center hosted more than 17,000 overnight stays by youth groups participating in its programs. Many young Germans and Austrians have held year-long voluntary positions at the Center that satisfy their civilian service (Zivildienst) responsibility. One of these, Robert Thalheim, wrote and directed the German-language dramatic film And Along Come Tourists (2007) that features the center and its activities.
The Zivildienst is the most common mandatory alternative service for conscientious objectors of the national military service in the Austrian Armed Forces. Officially called Zivildienstleistender (ZDL) or Zivildiener it is common to call them Zivi. Since 1975, drafted men may refuse the military service on conscientious reasons and serve in the compulsory alternative community service instead. This generally involves work in social services like hospitals, youth organisations, nursing homes, rescue services, emergency medical services, and care of the disabled. The service usually lasts nine months. About more than 40% of the drafted male citizens in Austria choose this option by declaring a conflict of conscience. There is no conscription for women, therefore women are not obliged to serve as a Zivi, which is just a substitute for the still existing mandatory military service.
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