Organization
for Alternative Service Abroad (Verein fuer Dienste
im Ausland)
The
Organization for Alternative Service Abroad the organization
that sends the two interns to the Center for HGPS.
It is also the biggest organization in Austria that
provides alternative services. Beside the Gedenkdienst,
the association also provides places in the Sozialdienst
(social service) program and in the Friedensdienst
(peace service) program. The founder and chairman
of the Verein fuer Dienste im Ausland is also the
founder of the Gedenkdienst, Political Scientiest
Dr.
Andreas Maislinger (maislinger@aon.at).
Verein
Gedenkdienst
Another
organization that sends Gedenkdienst interns to Holocaust
institutions. It was also the first organization founded
by Maislinger.
Braunau's
Days of Contemporary History
Braunau's
Days of Contemporary History is a three day conference
in the city of Braunau that deals with contemporary
topics such as the first one in 1991 about the "Unwanted
Heritage". In the year 2000 the topic was "Divided
ways. Germans, Jews, Austrians, Czechs in the 20th
Century". The conference is held by Braunau's
Organization for Contemporary History.
House
of Responsibility
In
1999 the city of Braunau started yet another initiative
to deal with their past and work for a peaceful future.
All political parties of the city as well as Braunau's
Association for Contemporary History signed a declaration
about peace and tolerance. Their goal is to buy the
"Hitler house", the house in which Adolf
Hitler was born, and turn it into a house of responsibility.
Once the house is bought, the bureau of the Austrian
Gedenkdienst and Braunau's Association for Contemporary
History will be in it.
Jewish
Museum Hohenems
The
Jewish Museum in Hohenems provides the area of Vorarlberg
(in the west of Austria) with information about the
Jewish community that lived there from 1617 until
assimilation and the annexation of Austria in March
1938 brought an end to it.
Austrian
Government
Since
1992 the Austrian government approves and sponsors
the Gedenkdienst program as a unique alternative to
the compulsory national military service.
