Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Summary</jats:title>
<jats:p> The election of Kurt Waldheim as Austrian Federal President in June 1986 as well as Austrian public reaction to western criticism, have made one thing clear: More than 40 years after the catastrophe of National Socialism, the mechanisms of forgetting and ignoring are still in full swing in Austria. Guilty for the collective inability to remember, the inability to realize Austria’s culpable involvement in the Nazi dictatorship and thus for the current neurosis, the growing anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, are the silent Church, and particularly the political parties and the Austrian media. In the second year after Waldheim’s election - if one analyzes the structures of public communication in Austria - there is less talk than ever of dealing with history, enlightenment, or even “sad work”. Public opinion emphasizes chauvinism of the Alpine republic, hatred of Jews, and hostility toward the United States. In addition, basic media difficulties can be seen in handling the past, particularly the difficulty to make historical processes visible in the abundance of shots of current events, and the focusing of the media on what is going on here and now.</jats:p>