Discussion with Thomas Casagrande, Karl Pfeifer and Leopold Steurer

Presentation: Sabine Mayr and Joachim Innerhofer

Karl Pfeifer is one of the most critical Austrian journalists with a special focus on nationalism, antisemitism, remembering the Austrian past and on antifascism. Karl Pfeifer was born in 1928 in Baden. After the "Anschluss" he escaped to Hungary, where in 1940 he joined the socialist-zionist youth organisation Haschomer Hatzair. In January 1943 he managed to reach Palestine in a most adventurous way. Karl Pfeifer published the following books: „Nicht immer ganz bequem“ (1996), die Israel-Studie mit Theodor Much „Bruderzwist im Hause Israel“ (1999), „Einmal Palästina und zurück: Ein jüdischer Lebensweg“ (2013), „Immer wieder Ungarn. Autobiographische Notizen, Nationalismus und Antisemitismus in der politischen Kultur Ungarns – Texte 1979 bis 2016“ (2016).

Thomas Casagrande wrote the book "Südtiroler in der Waffen-SS. Vorbildliche Haltung, fanatische Überzeugung" (2016), which dealst with the biographies of young men from South Tyrol joining the "Waffen-SS", among them Thomas' father Otto Casagrande. Casagrande keeps visiting South Tyrol, in order to discuss his book with students. Other publications comprise: "Die volksdeutsche SS-Division 'Prinz Eugen'. Die Banater Schwaben und die nationalsozialistischen Kriegsverbrechen" (2003).

Leopold Steurer studied history, philosophy, German philology and political science at the Universities of Vienna and Bonn. From 1981 to 2010 Leopold Steurer taught history and philosophy in Bozen/Bolzano, now he is freelance publisher. His many publications include: "Südtirol zwischen Rom und Berlin 1919-1939" (1980) and "Deutsche! Hitler verkauft euch! Das Erbe von Option und Weltkrieg in Südtirol" (2010).

Link to the article "L'ombra lunga dei fascismi che intossica il Sudtirolo" by Jimmy Milanese in the daily newspaper "Alto Adige" (8 May 2018)