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Sound
installation accompanying the exhibition 'Persecuting grandfathers,
interviewing grandsons?'. Based on voice recordings from oral
history interviews with Austrian-Jewish refugees, conducted by young Austrians
(among them Bernhard Gál) since 1995
as part of the Austrian Heritage Collection Project.
Persecuting
grandfathers,interviewing grandsons?
Austrian Gedenkdienst in New York
In 1995 the New York Leo Baeck Institute established a fascinating new
project: Young Austrian conscientious objectors came to New York to do
the equivalent of their military service by working at the Leo Baeck Institute
interviewing Austrian refugees from their grandparents' generation. These
encounters have gradually evolved into the Austrian Heritage Collection
at the Leo Baeck Institute. Today it is among the most significant oral
history projects on Austrian modern history that includes numerous documents
and well over 2200 biographical entries. This unique collection is the
starting point of the exhibition, "Persecuting Grandfathers, Interviewing
Grandsons?" Its focal point is the often difficult communication
between the generations as a result of the catastrophic historic events
of the last century. The exhibition takes visitors to the places where
the emigrants and the Gedenkdiener meet. Photographer Arno Gisinger has
captured the atmosphere in the New York apartments in a series of panoramic
photos. Interviews with the emigrants and the Gedenkdiener give an idea
of how young Austrians, descendants of the perpetrator generation, were
able to develop mutual trust and understanding with the older Austrian
Jews who were forced to flee their once loved Heimat. The exhibition is
scheduled to take place simultaneously at the Jewish Museum Vienna and
in the gallery of the Leo Baeck Institute New York. Visitors to one exhibition
can continue the encounter by contacting visitors to the other.
Curators:
Niko Wahl, Christian Prasser, Werner Hanak
Exhibition designers: cp architektur
Designer:Thomas Geisler
Photographer: Arno Gisinger
Audio installations: Bernhard Gál
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