In the final days of the war, thousands of people on Austrian soil fell victim to Nazi terror. The further the Allies advanced, the more fanatical the regime’s calls to persevere became, and the more brutal the violence against ethnically persecuted people, political opponents, and prisoners of war.
On March 29, 1945, the Red Army entered what is now Austrian territory for the first time near Klostermarienberg. This marked the beginning of a phase in which the National Socialist regime, facing its own collapse, escalated its violence once more.
In the final days of the war, thousands of people on Austrian soil became victims of Nazi terror. The further the Allied forces advanced, the more fanatical the regime’s slogans of perseverance became, and the more ruthless the violence grew.
The population was led to believe that the enemy powers were determined to “exterminate the German people” and that there would be neither a ceasefire nor a peace agreement. Therefore, every inch of German soil had to be defended “until total annihilation.” The goal was to maintain the collapsing state authority through terror, to murder as many politically and “racially” persecuted people as possible, and to leave behind a “scorched earth” for the Allied troops — a land on which no new state could be rebuilt.
The film is a countdown through the final weeks and days of the war: the outbreaks of violence primarily targeted ethnically and “racially” persecuted people, political prisoners, and prisoners of war.
The documentary presents exemplary crimes from these areas — in part stories that have never before been told, or that researchers have only recently uncovered. It sheds light on the mechanisms of incitement, fear, and terror, but also on the courage of people who acted humanely when others looked away — despite the danger of becoming victims themselves.
A film by Klaus T. Steindl.
Credits
Documentary
52 min.
Written and directed by: Klaus T. Steindl
Producers: Dieter Pochlatko, Jakob Pochlatko
Line Producer: Heinrich Mayer-Moroni
Production Manager: Florian Brandt
Director of Photography: Hubert Doppler
Sound: Ekkehard Braun, Robert Neumeyer, Klaus Tauber
Music: Andreas Radovan
Edited by: Martin Biribauer
Narrators: Stefan Fleming, Michael Dangl, Wolfgang Hübsch
Commissioning Editor ORF: Ernst Pohn
among others
produced in: 2020
first broadcasted: May 8, 2021
a co-production by EPO-Film, ORF III
co-funded by Fernsehfonds Austria, State of Styria, FilmCommission Graz, VAM
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