Protest by the IRK against the actions of the Austrian authorities at Persmanhof

27.09.2025

The facts: On July 27, 2025, a heavily armed police force with dogs and a helicopter treated the participants of an international educational camp organized by the Club of Slovenian Students in Vienna (KSŠŠD) at the memorial site at Peršmanhof in Bad Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla like criminals and severely disturbed them. At a place where a Nazi police battalion murdered seven children and four adults in April 1945. This was a place where a Nazi police battalion murdered seven children and four young adults in April 1945. The participants wanted to learn about the history of National Socialism, in particular the expulsion and persecution of Carinthian Slovenes and the resistance of the partisans.

IRK-CIR International Ravensbrück Committee Comité International de Ravensbrück

Headquarters 10, Rue Leroux, door 25

75116 Paris (France)

La Présidente/Prasidentin Ambra Laurenzi Viale Venere,36 05018 Orvieto (Terni) ITALY e-mail:laurenzi.irk@gmail.com

20 September 2025

To Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen To the Governor of Carinthia Peter Kaiser To the Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner

The International Ravensbrück Committee supports the OLGR/F in its protests against the police attack on the Persmanhof memorial site, during which young people participating in a memorial camp at the site were attacked.

We hope that the Austrian authorities can help to promote understanding that remembrance is an indispensable tool for democratic coexistence in any community.

                  President
              Ambra Laurenzi