Andreas Maislinger (born 26 February 1955 in St. Georgen near

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) is an Austrian political scientist and founder and former chairman of the

Austrian Service Abroad The Austrian Service Abroad () is a non-profit organization funded by the Austrian government which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in form of the Austrian Memorial Service, support ...

. He also is the founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award, the Braunau Contemporary History Days and the inventor of the idea of the House of Responsibility.

Studying and learning

Maislinger studied law and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in Salzburg and political science and eastern-European history in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, with study visits in, amongst others,

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. During his studies in Salzburg, Maislinger advocated for Austrian participation in the International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim/Auschwitz; Austrian president Rudolf Kirchschläger declined. Kirchschläger later acknowledged the value of Maislinger's proposal of

civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious o ...

for reconciliation and atonement related to the Holocaust. In 1980 he received his doctorate for a dissertation on the problems of Austrian defense policy. He subsequently held posts at the Institute for Political Science at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

, the University of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

as visiting assistant professor, the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

for a research visit, and the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. In 1982 he co-founded the

working group A working group is a group of experts working together to achieve specified goals. Such groups are domain-specific and focus on discussion or activity around a specific subject area. The term can sometimes refer to an interdisciplinary collab ...

of independent

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

initiatives of Austria and in 1986 he became a member of the founding committee of the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i society Tirol. Until 1996, he published columns in the "Jüdische Rundschau" (Jewish Review).

Austrian Gedenkdienst

Together with Andreas Hörtnagl, Maislinger founded the

Gedenkdienst ''Gedenkdienst'' is a concept in Austria aimed at young people to face and take responsibility for the darkest chapters of the country's history while being financially supported by Austrian government. Founded in Austria in 1992 by Andreas ...

(Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service). He successfully pleaded for the legal establishment of this kind of alternative to mandatory military service, aiming at promoting education and raising awareness about the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. On 1 September 1992 the first young Austrian started his Gedenkdienst at the Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Since then more the 1000 Gedenkdiener served in 23 countries worldwide. Prominent supporters of this program include

Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal (31 December 190820 September 2005) was an Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and writer. He studied architecture, and was living in Lwów at the outbreak of World War II. He survived the Janowska concentration camp (la ...

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek (; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978 Jerusalem ...

, Ari Rath and Gerhard Röthler. In 1998 he founded the

with Andreas Hörtnagl and Michael Prochazka, adding the Austrian Social Service and the Austrian Peace Service to the portfolio. In October and November 2009 Andreas Maislinger made a 3-week lecturing and promotion tour through Canada and the United States. In May 2023, Maislinger stepped down as chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad after public criticism.

House of Responsibility (HRB)

As a reaction to the participation of the

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five par ...

(Austrian Freedom Party) in the Austrian federal government in 2000, Maislinger suggested that the city of

Braunau am Inn Braunau am Inn (; ) is a town in Upper Austria on the border with Germany. It is known for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. Geography The town is on the lower river Inn below its confluence with the Salzach, where it forms the border with ...

should establish a " House of Responsibility" in the birth house of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

Criticism

On 10 May 2023 the Austrian weekly news magazine '' Falter'' made severe accusations against Maislinger. Maislinger called one Gedenkdiener and threatened him with suicide, saying, "You'll have to live with the fact that I'm going to kill myself now.", according to Austrian news station Puls 24. Jonathan Dorner, who was doing his Gedenkdienst in 2019, was also the target of a suicide threat and numerous other threats after he had contradicted Maislinger and addressed problematic circumstances. Dorner sees a system in these threats; the announcement of his suicide was used against the young people in the association "to get his way when something did not go according to his plan." Furthermore, threats of criminal charges were also alleged. In response to an inquiry by Austrian newspaper Kurier, Maislinger commented that the allegations had been clarified with the help of an ombudsman team two years ago and that he had no intention of participating in a public discussion. The Ministry of Social Affairs, which is supporting the organization financially, had been aware of the allegations since the fall of 2022, according to Puls 24. A suspension of funding would have been unreasonable based on the state of knowledge at the time, the ministry commented in response to an ORF query. Three days after the allegations were made public, Maislinger announced his resignation as Chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad. An external investigation of the allegations came to the conclusion that there had been cases of abuse of power by Maislinger. The organizational structure had been adjusted to prevent a similar concentration of power as had occurred under Maislinger.

Further activities

Since 1992, Maislinger has served as the scientific director of the annual Braunau Contemporary History Days in Braunau am Inn. He also participates actively in projects promoting gifted children. Since 2003 he is in charge of the Georg Rendl Symposion. He had founded the symposium to familiarise people with the life and works of the painter and author Georg Rendl, whom Maislinger had already met as a child in his hometown St. Georgen/Salzburg. In 2006 he initiated the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award, rewarding people who actively contribute to the remembrance of the Holocaust.

Awards

In 2005 Maislinger received the Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria from the president of Austria,

Heinz Fischer Heinz Fischer Order of Prince Henry, GColIH, Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI, Order of the Seraphim, RSerafO, Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, GCollSE (; born 9 October 1938) is an Austrian politician who served as the pre ...

, and the Medal of Merit of the state of Tirol from Herwig van Staa and Luis Durnwalder. On 8 November 2009 Andreas Maislinger was awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award for "''his 10 year fight to obtain official recognition of alternative, philanthropic service''" at the Annual Dinner of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust together with Holocaust survivor and producer of ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...

'' Branko Lustig.LA Museum of the Holocaust honors AHMS Founder Andreas Maislinger
(Embassy of Austria) On 2 October 2012 Andreas Maislinger was awarded the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

issued by the president of France

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

in the French embassy in Vienna.

Publications

(Selection) *"Friedensbewegung in einem neutralen Land. Zur neuen Friedensbewegung in Österreich. (Peace movement in a neutral country. Related to the new peace movement in Austria.) In: Medienmacht im Nord-Süd-Konflikt". (''The power of media in the north – south conflict''.) Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1984 *"'Neue' Österreichische Friedensbewegung". (''"New“ Austrian Peace Movement''.) In: ''Österreichisches Jahrbuch für Politik 1983''. (''Austrian Annual for Politics 1983''.) Vienna, 1984 *"Das katholisch-konservative Lager". (''The catholic – conservative side''.) In: ''Widerstand und Verfolgung in Tirol 1934–1945'', Band 2. ÖBV, (''Resistance and Persecution in Tirol 1934–1945'', Band 2. Austrian book publisher), Vienna 1984 *"'Den Nationalsozialisten in die Hände getrieben'. Zur Geschichtspolitik der SPÖ von 1970 bis 2000". (''"Drifted into the National Socialists Hands“. Related to the history politics of the Socialists in Austria from 1970 to 2000''.) In: ''Europäische Rundschau'', (''European review''), number 3/2001

Publishing

*''

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur eines Staates mit ständiger aktiver und unbewaffneter Neutralität.'' (''Costa Rica, Politics, Society and Culture of a State with Continuous Active and Unarmed Neutrality''.) Inn-Verlag, Innsbruck 1986 *''Der Putsch von

Lamprechtshausen Lamprechtshausen (Central Bavarian: ‘’Låmbéhausen’’) is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg in Austria. Geography Lamprechtshausen lies in the north of the district of Salzburg-U ...

. Zeugen des Juli 1934 berichten.'' (''The Putsch of Lamprechtshausen. Report of Witness to July, 1934''), Self - published, Innsbruck 1992

References

External links

Embassy of Austria, Washington D.C.: Other Famous Austrians

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120204095252/http://www.auslandsdienst.at/intro/US.htm Homepage of Austrian Service Abroad
Homepage of Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service

Homepage of Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service

Maislinger page
at

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

CLIO Catalogue Columbia University New York, books

CLIO Catalogue Columbia University New York, articles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maislinger, Andreas 1955 births Living people Catholic pacifists People from Salzburg-Umgebung District People from Braunau am Inn District Austrian political scientists 20th-century Austrian historians Historians of Nazism International relations scholars Austrian Christian pacifists Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria Austrian Roman Catholics University of New Orleans faculty Austrian anti-war activists Free University of Berlin alumni University of Innsbruck alumni Austrian activists University of Salzburg alumni University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Innsbruck Marietta and Friedrich Torberg Medal recipients 21st-century Austrian historians