We particularly encourage students of Archaeology, Ethnology, Cultural Anthropology and History to participate in the seminar.
Remains of the Third Reich’s apparatus of violence and terror – the most notorious of which are concentration camps – have survived in Austria and across Europe. Today, many of these sites serve as memorials to the victims of Nazi persecution.
In his presentation, the speaker will discuss various approaches to the materiality of National Socialist violence in Austria and to preserving its memory. Peter Hinterndorfer will examine the spatial organisation of sites of repression, drawing on recent research projects in historical archaeology. These include excavations at the "Lager am Wehr" forced labour camp in Kirchbichl, Tyrol, where, among others, Polish forced labourers employed in the construction and operation of a nearby hydroelectric power plant were held.
The presentation will also refer to the results of research on the crash sites of Allied military aircraft, as well as a project to map the infrastructure of the Ebensee concentration camp and its associated forced labour sites. The speaker will additionally discuss ways of commemorating the victims of National Socialism in Lower Austria.
