Discussion: Have We Learned From History?

1918: The end of WW1. Since then: corporative states, WWII, the Second Republic. Have we been able to learn from the events of the past 100 years: experts debated.

[Translate to Englisch:] v.l.: Historikerin Gudula Walterskirchen, Historiker Roman Sandgruber, Birgit Kirchmayr (Kepler-Uni). Bild: OÖN/VOLKER WEIHBOLD

Organized by ORF and the OÖN, a round-table discussion revising past history featured JKU historians Birgit Kirchmayr and Roman Sandgruber, along with other experts.

Everyone agreed that the research started too late, and particularly in the period after 1918 there is too little research available. There was some discord while discussing the NS period. Kirchmayr remarked that it had been suppressed, up to the 80s. Prof. Sandgruber appealed for a historical analysis that educators can mirror back. He also warned against uncritically accepting accounts by historical witnesses – a controversial approach which made for a heated debate.