About us

Funding bodies and project participants

“Far Removed. Austria and Auschwitz” (“Entfernung. Österreich und Auschwitz”) – exhibition of the Republic of Austria, opening in October 2021, funded/supported by the:

Federal Chancellery (BKA)
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF)
Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA)
Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI)
Austrian Federal Fortress Authority (BHÖ)
Federal Provinces of Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna
Future Fund of the Republic of Austria
National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism

Coordination and realisation: National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism in coordination with the bodies providing funding and administrative support and represented on the Steering Committee

Coordination Office at the National Fund: Hannah M. Lessing (Secretary General), Claire Fritsch (Project Manager), Walter Amtmann, Michael Doujak, Ulrich Fischer, Carina Fürst, Doris Macht, Michaela Niklas, Sonja Öhler, Judith Pfeffer

Concept and curation: Hannes Sulzenbacher (Head Curator), Albert Lichtblau (Scientific Director), Barbara Staudinger (Curator), Siegfried Göllner (Historian), Birgit Johler (Curator), Christiane Rothländer (Historian);

Assistance and internships: Christoph Mai (administration), Manuela Bauer, Philipp Lugmayr, Johanna Taufner

Education/learning: Association _erinnern.at_ / Christian Angerer, Jennifer Barton, Louise Beckershaus, Maria Ecker-Angerer, Martin Krist, Peter Larndorfer, Nicole Mairhofer, Maria-Theresia Moritz, Axel Schacht, Moritz Wein

Exhibition design: Architect Martin Kohlbauer, Stefanie Diwischek, Vienna

Exhibition construction: Winter Artservice GmbH, Vienna

Media technology: MVD-Austria, Vienna

Realisation of the virtual exhibition area (video walls): 7reasons, Vienna

Audio station with interviews with Heinrich and Anni Sussmann, Polish and English version, recording and audio post-production: Wundervoices GmbH, Aachen; speakers: Esther Fritsch (Polish), Maciej Salamon (Polish), Emma Hignett (English), Liam Quigley (English)

Film and sound editing for content of the picture walls and the listening station (German): Nikolaij Kreinjobst, National Fund

Reproductions: Gerald Schedy Art Reproductions, Vienna

Restoration of the Heinrich Sussmann glass windows: Ars Vitrea II Marcin Heine, Krakow

Layout and typesetting: BKA Design & Grafik, Federal Chancellery, Vienna / Florin Buttinger (coordination, design and typesetting), Thomas Eder (coordination)

Translations/proofreading: Sarah Fink (English), Martin Niklas (German, English), both National Fund; Monika Anna Sarkady (Polish), Vienna; Agata Żukrowska (Polish), Krakow

Object handling: Gabriele Klein, Vienna;

Restoration/conservation/appraisal of exhibits: Academy of

Academy of Fine Arts, Institute for Restoration-Conservation, Vienna; Federal Fortress Authority, Department for Conservation and Restoration, Vienna

Provision of data for the database of Austrians deported to Auschwitz ("Database of prisoners at Auschwitz"): Gerhard Ungar, Ursula Schwarz, Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), Vienna

Preparation of the data provided by the DÖW for the database of prisoners at Auschwitz: Wolfgang Gasser, National Fund

Database of perpetrators at Auschwitz: compiled on the basis of the study by Christiane Rothländer on Austrians among the SS guards and camp SS at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Renovation and conservation of Block 17

The renovation and conservation of the entire listed building took place from autumn 2019 to spring 2021 as part of the Austrian financial contribution to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, and with further funding from the Federal Government and the Austrian Federal Fortress Authority.

Coordination and realisation: National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism.

Coordination Office at the National Fund: Hannah M. Lessing (Secretary General), Claire Fritsch (Project Manager), Walter Amtmann, Michael Doujak, Ulrich Fischer, Carina Fürst, Doris Macht, Michaela Niklas, Sonja Öhler, Judith Pfeffer

Technical consultant, construction management, project control in Austria: Johannes Hofmeister, Vienna

Project management in Poland, local construction supervision: Aleksander Kaczmarczyk, Krakow

General planner: Arkona Sp. z o.o., Krakow

General contractor: Tomasz Francuz, Krakow

Preliminary investigations/static survey of Block 17: Stanisław Karczmarczyk, KB – Projekty Konstrukcyjne Sp. z o.o., Krakow, Krakow University of Technology

Inventory: Kadex Geodezja Polska Sp. z o.o., Poznan

Conservation survey: Pracownia Projektowa Piotr Turkiewicz, Krakow

Conservation programme: Agata Mamoń-Prokop, Krakow

Conservatorial supervision: Bożena Opiłło, Kraków

Translations German/Polish: Magdalena Worytkiewicz, Krakow

Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to:
The members of the Steering Committee Christian Autengruber (BMEIA), Elisabeth Freismuth (BMBWF), Barbara Glück (Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial), Andreas Grad (BKA), Herwig Hösele (Future Fund), Christoph Kainz (Future Fund, d. 2018), Martina Maschke (BMBWF), Reinhold Sahl (BHÖ) as well as the former members Karl Albrecht-Weinberger (Federal States), Thomas Michael Baier (BMEIA, d. 2021), Harald Dossi (BKA), Michael Haider (BMEIA), Isabelle Hassler (BKA), Gerhard Hesse (BKA), Bernadett Humer (BKA) and Johannes Strasser (BMEIA);

The Scientific Advisory Board
chaired by Brigitte Halbmayr, Karin Liebhart (Vice Chairperson), Wolfgang Neugebauer (former Chairperson) and the members Gerhard Botz, Gerhard Jagschitz (d. 2018), Michael John, Thomas Lutz, Peter Plener, Ilse Reiter-Zatloukal, Kurt Scholz, Horst Schreiber and the former members Karl Albrecht-Weinberger and Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek;

The Societal Advisory Board
chaired by Herta Neiß, Albert Dlabaja (Deputy Chair), Rudolf Sarközi (Deputy Chair, d. 2016), Norbert Lopper (Honorary Chair, d. 2015) and the members delegated by the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministries for Education, Science and Research, for European and International Affairs, for Finance, for the Interior as well as for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, by all parties represented in the National Council, by the Future Fund, by the National Fund as well as by the following victims’ organisations, religious communities and interest groups: Federation of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters, Victims of Fascism and Active Anti-Fascists; Claims Conference, Inc. – Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria; Evangelical Church in Austria; Homosexual Initiative (HOSI) Vienna – 1^st Lesbian and Gay Association of Austria; Jewish Religious Community; Jehovah's Witnesses in Austria; Catholic Church in Austria; Cultural Association of Austrian Roma; Concentration Camp Association/Anti-Fascist Alliance – Federal Association of Austrian Anti-Fascists, Resistance Fighters and Victims of Fascism; Austrian Camp Community Auschwitz; Austrian People’s Party Fellowship of Political Persecutees and Advocates for Austria; Memorial Service Association; Never Forget Association;

The lenders
Albertina, Vienna; Archive of the Jewish Community Vienna; Archive of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Vienna; Archiwum Instytutu Pamięci Narodwej, Krakow; Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum, Oświęcim; Gerhard Botz; Berlin Federal Archives; Pascal Caïla; Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, Jerusalem; Christine Danimann; Documentation Centre of the Austrian Resistance Vienna; Günther Dörfler; Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam; Filmarchiv Austria, Vienna; Edith Friedlander/Barbara Staudinger; Kurt Fuchs; Museum of Military History, Vienna; Holokauszt Emlékközpont, Budapest; Jewish Museum Vienna; Martin Krist; Kurt Langbein; LILA WINKEL – Association for the Rehabilitation and Support of Victims of the Nazi Era, Empersdorf; National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, Vienna; Natural History Museum, Vienna; Austrian National Library, Vienna; Austrian Film Museum, Vienna; Austrian State Archives, Vienna; Anton Pelinka; Helga Pollak-Kinsky (d. 2020); Rossijskij Gosudartstvennyj Vojennyj Archiv, Moscow; Baden Municipal Archives; Hohenems Municipal Archives; Salzburg Municipal Archives; Tyrolean Provincial Museums/Folk Art Museum, Innsbruck; United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington; Rita Vogel; Harald Walser; Anna Wegscheider; Vienna Library at the Town Hall; Renée Wiener; Municipal and Provincial Archives of Vienna; Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem; Gerhard Zeillinger.

Thanks are due to:
Brigitte Bailer, Bertrand Perz and Heidemarie Uhl for the preliminary scientific study for the realisation of this exhibition.

Special thanks for cooperation and support go to:
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial under the management of Director Piotr Cywiński and Vice-Directors Andrzej Kacorzyk and Rafał Pióro, as well as the staff of the exhibition department, the scientific department, the archive, the collections department, the investment department and the conservation department, especially Jolanta Banaś-Maciaszczyk, Elżbieta Cajzer, Magdalena Drozd, Magdalena Drzyźdżyk, Magdalena Emilewicz-Pióro, Zuzanna Janusik, Jan Kapłon, Szymon Kowalski, Paulina Krasowska-Żiomek, Wojciech Płosa, Alicja Wójcik, as well as former staff members Deputy Director Krystyna Oleksy, Ewa Pasterak and Teresa Zbrzeska,

The Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, in particular the former Head of Department for Building Affairs Kurt Melichar, as well as the Austrian diplomatic missions in Poland, in particular the Austrian Embassy in Warsaw under Ambassadors Werner Almhofer, Thomas Buchsbaum and Herbert Krauss, and Envoys Christian Autengruber, Stella Avallone and Martin Hermges, the Consulate General in Krakow under Consul General Philipp Charwath, the former Honorary Consul General Andrzej Ryszard Tombiński as well as Consul General Christophe Ceska and Consul General Hermine Poppeller and the staff of the diplomatic misisons, in particular Joanna Chwastek and Jolanta Traczyk.

The Coordination Office and the curatorial and scientific team would also like to express their sincere thanks for the dedication and help of:

Monika Anderl (Federal Ministry of Finance), Gerhard Baumgartner (DÖW), Uwe Beyer, Matthias Beitl (Vienna Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art), Karl Berger (Tyrolean Folk Art Museum), Margit Berner (Vienna Natural History Museum), Gudrun Blohberger (Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial), Ludwig Csepai (Cultural Association of Austrian Roma), Christine Danimann, Werner Dreier (_erinnern. at_), Anita Dumfahrt (Future Fund), Evelyn Dürmayer, Eva Dutton, Helga Embacher (University of Salzburg), Daniel Ennöckl (University of Vienna), Bernd Euler-Rolle (Federal Monuments Office), Sigrid Eyb-Green, Walter Fantl-Brumlik (d. 2019), Raimund Fastenbauer (Jewish Community Vienna), Hanna Feingold (Jewish Community Salzburg), Marko Feingold (Jewish Community Salzburg, d. 2019), Erich Finsches, David Fischer, Georg Friedler (Vienna District Museum Leopoldstadt), Rodolphe Friemel, Jutta Fuchshuber (Memorial Service Association), Anita Gamauf (Vienna Natural History Museum, d. 2018), Rudolf Gelbard (d. 2018), Yossi Gevir (Yad Vashem), Heidi Gsell (LILA WINKEL), Erich Hackl, Werner Hanak (Jewish Museum Vienna), Andrea Härle (Romano Centro Vienna), Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, Andreas Heindl (Federal Chancellery), Anna Horner (Tyrolean Folk Art Museum), Michael John, Olivia Kaiser (Memorial Service Association), Robert Kanfer (d. 2017), Roland Kanfer, Elisabeth Klamper (DÖW), Konrad Koloseus, Shimon Kornfeld, Martin Krist, Lisa Langbein (d. 2018), Mirjam Langer (National Fund), Hanno Loewy (Jewish Museum Hohenems), Renate S. Meissner (National Fund), Evelina Merhaut (National Fund), Gerhard Milchram (Vienna Museum), Matthias Öhler, Alexander Patsch, Anton Pelinka, Peter Plener, Robert Pinzolits, Helga Pollak-Kinsky (d. 2020), Gert Polster (Burgenland Provincial Museum), Sylvia Preinsperger (Federal Monuments Office), Christa Prokisch (Jewish Museum Vienna), Hildegard Pruckner, Karl Ratzer, Anika Reichwald (Jewish Museum Hohenems), Johannes Reiss (Austrian Jewish Museum Eisenstadt), Ilse Reiter-Zatloukal (University of Vienna), Philipp Rohrbach (Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies), Karl Rothauer (University of Salzburg), Josef Salomonovic, Andreas Sarközi (Cultural Association of Austrian Roma), Kurt Schmutzer (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Multimedia Archive), Barbara Schrotter (Federal Ministry of the Interior), Christine Schwab (General Settlement Fund), Hannes Schwantner (d. 2018), Michael R. Seidinger (National Fund), Michael Simonson (Leo Baeck Institute New York), Dorothea Smatloch-Klechowska, Katarzyna Sobolewska, Michael Spiegl (Memorial Service Association), Katharina Trettnak-Hahnl, Susanne Uslu-Pauer (Archive of the Jewish Community Vienna), Michael Vigl (Federal Monuments Office), Michaela Vocelka (Documentation Centre of the Federation of Jewish Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Simon Wiesenthal Archive), Pia Wallnig (Austrian State Archives), Günther Weinlinger, Florian Wenninger (Memorial Service Association), Erwin Wolfslehner (Austrian State Archives), Andreas Wolken-Kamieniecki, Judit Zeller.