Austria marks annexation by Germany 75 years ago

VIENNA -- In shockingly graphic detail at ceremonies marking Austria's annexation by Germany 75 years ago, the son of an anti-Nazi activist recounted Monday how his stepmother found his father's guillotined head after the end of World War II in a hospital ward used for medical experiments under Hitler.

Schoolchildren read moving passages from letters to family members from those awaiting execution on conviction of anti-Nazi activities at Vienna's Central Cemetery, at an event to honor Austrians who opposed Hitler and his 1938 "Anschluss."

The Anschluss was formally proclaimed March 12, 1938. A referendum a few weeks later formally ratified the fait accompli with more than 99 percent in favor.

Still, thousands were opposed -- and executed by the Nazis, along with the more than 100,000 Austrian Jews, Gypsies or other Austrians killed directly or indirectly because they were deemed inferior to the Aryan ideal.

Since the end of the war, Austrians have moved from claiming to be Hitler's first victims to widespread acknowledgment they were among the most committed of Hitler's henchmen. The government has tried to make amends through reparation payments, restitution of property and, as yesterday, public acknowledgment of the nation's guilt.

"We are never permitted to forget or diminish the darkest time in the history of our country," Chancellor Werner Faymann told guests gathered at a cemetery section holding the remains of those killed for opposing Hitler.

No one described the horrors of that era more effectively than Gerhard Kastelic, whose father was beheaded in 1944 for his anti-Hitler stance.

Commemorations such as yesterday's serve in part to show the world that Austria has learned from the past. Surveys show a steady decline in anti-Semitism among Austrians. Yet, a poll published this weekend by the newspaper "Der Standard" found that 42 percent of respondents said "not everything was bad under Adolf Hitler," and 54 percent of the 502 respondents said a Nazi party would have some success in democratic elections today.