Discussion with Siegfried Beer (historian, Graz), Eduard Freudmann (artist, Vienna), Erich Klein (journalist, Vienna), and Heidemarie Uhl (historian, Vienna)
Moderated by Gerald Lamprecht

In April and May 1945, Allied troops liberated Austria from National Socialist rule. In Styria, these included Soviet, British, American, Yugoslav, and Bulgarian forces. Restored to its pre-1938 borders, Austria was divided into British, French, American, and Soviet occupation zones. It was not until 26 October 1955 that Austria passed a federal constitutional law on the country’s neutrality. This date has been celebrated as a national holiday since 1965. The Befreiungsdenkmal in Graz’s Burggarten is the only monument of its kind in the entire province of Styria, but which “liberation” does it commemorate? The discussion examines this controversial question with local experts and historians, broaching the contentious topic of Austria’s role in the war as a part of Nazi Germany and what this memory means today.