Third Reich Recycling

Herbert Kuhner Violence Under the Guise of Art or Third Reich Recycling

Herbert Kuhner, the writer, is in a sense a historian. His life story runs parallel to history and illustrates that history is too serious matter to be left exclusively to bona fide historians. “In 1935, the year of his birth, the Nuremberg Laws were imposed in Germany. In 1938, when he was three years old, “The doorbell rang and I ran to the door and opened it. My mother swept me away as two men in street clothes entered. One of them, I remember clearly, wore a brown suit and limped. The other was thin and balding and wore a grey suit. They searched the apartment. The brown-suited man pushed my grandmother, who was eighty-three away from the sideboard in order to ransack it. And indeed it contained her shopping money.” (from Felled by Friendly Fire, a Memoir) 1 - Peter Malina, historian

“In my view there is a Biedermeier-like silence concerning this topic. It is good that you have broken through it.”2 - Kuno Knöbl

Delving

Experiences I had in young years in Third-Reich Austria and returning later, has enabled me to attain a personal insight into post-war and present-day events in the land of my birth.

Much has been written about the days when the Third Reich officially ceased to be, however certain facets of the aftermath and aftereffects have in my view not been brought to the fore. I could not help but delve. I wanted to get to the core and I have been gathering material over the years.

There are similarities in the German and Austrian approach to National Socialism, but there are also considerable differences. Herein I present aspects of the shadow and echo of bygone days that have hitherto been omitted.

The Nub

The pernicious spirit of the Third Reich has been channeled into the arts, flowing with great ease, with no end in sight. Its advocates operate under the sacred carapace of art, while journalists bow low in abject approval and politicians dance to their tunes.

There are no inhibitions in presenting the aims. The doctrine of cruelty is clearly delineated in words and practiced in deeds, leaving little to the imagination. This aspect has established itself as an integral part of Austrian culture.

1 Peter Malina, Mit der Ziehharmonika, No.1, May, 1995 2 Kuno Knöbl. March 3, 2004, Düsenberg; En Route Herbert Kuhner, Film by Fritz Kleibel, 2014. 1

There is usually a price to pay for such revelations, but since the pen is my business, I could not resist making use of it.

There have been repercussions.

Prologue: The Cult of Cruelty

“Blasphemy, obscenity, charlatanism, sadistic excesses, orgies, the aesthetics of the cesspool are our moral means.3 That includes rape and murder.4 Murder is an integral part of sex. 5 It will soon become an ethical necessity to rob banks and to shoot a random cripple down.” 6 - Otto Mühl, Actionist

Otto Mühl Exhibit in the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, March 3 – May 31, 2000: Original MAK title: “Life as a Work of Art”

“I knew a university professor named Stephan Koren. He was cripple and wanted to convince me that he was a man like me.…This scum of the nation fills every healthy Austrian with such dread that the pupils of his eyes would burst at the sight.”7 - Peter Weibel, Actionist, Culture Commissar

“A bird is tied to a pedestal with a thin cord. I kneel in front of the bird on the pedestal and then I pour scalding wax over it. When I knock the pot of wax over with my head the bird’s head is inundated and my right hand is doused.” 8 - Valie Export, Actionist & designer of the anti-fascistic monument in Allentsteig, Lower Austria

“One of the women, who is now 29 years old, describes how Mühl forced her to engage in sexual actions with him in front of the leadership of the commune at the age of five. Both women state that at the time of Mühl’s trial, they were forced to remain silent about these occurrences by members of the Commune.” 9 - Der Spiegel, March 1, 2004

“But if you observe him now, you see the members of the group who remained with him. I would like to be a part of it; they are having fun…something’s really happening there…. I saw that the women were happy ....I am the patron of an organization against sexual abuse (Power4me).10 - Dagmar Koller, musical comedy star, concerning Otto Mühl

3 Transparent Spezial, ORF (Austrian Radio), May 8, 1996. 4 Josef Dvorak: “Die Faschisten von heute: Antwort an Hermann Nitsch,“ Neues Forum, No. 246, June 1974, Vienna, p. 44; Otto Mühl, ZOCK, Aspekte einer Totalrevolution 66/71 Munich, 1971; Supervisuel 6, „Otto Mühl will Menschen schlachten,“ Zurich, 1970. 5 Fritz Rumler:” Ein Problem der Umweltverschmutzung?,“ Der Spiegel, 1968 (exact date illegible), Frankfurt, p. 254 6 Josef Dvorak: “Amoklauf der Aktionisten,“ Neues Forum, Sept./Oct. 1974, Nos. 249/250, p. 2. 7 Peter Weibel, Valie Export: Wien, Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970; Speech at the University of Vienna, June, 7, 1968. 8 performance-art-research.de/AndereTexte.htm; Beschreibung von VALIE EXPORT in: http://www.urban- infill.com/asemie2.htm, 20.02.2004. 9 Jürgen Kremb: „Opfer der Kommine“ Der Spiegel, No. 10, March 1, 2004, p. 156. 10 Barbara Stöckl, ORF (Austrian TV), April 11, 2013, 11 p.m. 2

“Mühl’s specialty is minors and sex, and my specialty is the agonizing torture of animals....I could well envision that murder could be a component of a work of art.11 Killing was and is beyond all moral judgments. 12 - Hermann Nitsch, Actionist

“Nitsch is a sadist with a mania for approbation, an autistic alcoholic who’s completely narcissistic and a mother’s boy who didn’t get enough attention. Rainer is genuinely violent and a sadist. Nitsch torments the participants in his actions; they’re constantly freezing. He arranges that intentionally. I’d like to know how many became ill, how many caught pneumonia, how many died.”13 - Otto Mühl, Actionist

“Nitsch, who never slaughtered an animal in his life, is constantly referred to as a slaughterer.” - Profil magazine14

“Nitsch is the greatest animal lover I know. I was present in the Nitsch household at his home when his swatted a mosquito and caused a major marital crisis. Nitsch gave vent to his anger over the senseless death of this living thing.” 15 - Danielle Spera, Museum Curator, Vienna

“The intoxication created by the blood and the ripping apart of raw flesh should be satisfying and enjoyable since it relieves man of his suppressed desires.... If possible I would prefer to work with human beings, with dead human beings, with corpses to be specific.”16I could well envision that murder could be a component of a work of art; the artist’s accountability would have another status…Thus, art can consist of a crime.”17 Killing was and is beyond all moral judgments.”18 - Hermann Nitsch

Headlines, April 2015: „NÖN“, „Heute“ “The emphasis oif my Actions is not on animals.” „ “Nitsch is considering blood orgies by using human cadavers.” www.heute.at “I could very well imagine using human cadavers in my actions,” the artist is quoted by NÖN.“ “The Artist Drank Blood, I have no Money“, Hermann Nitsch:

11 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 12 Paula Devarney: “Nitsch - Art of Killing,” Caellian, 9. Oct. 1970; Hermann Nitsch: Das rote Tuch - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater - Im Spiegel der Presse 1960-1988, Freibord, Vienna, 1988, p. 106. 13 Andreas Schlothauer, Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität p. 122. 14 Gerhard Jaschke, Ed.: Reizwort Nitsch, Sonderzahl, Vienna, 1995, S. 20, “Einen Spaß,” from Profil, Sept. 1988. 15 Danielle Spera: Hermann Nitsch. Leben und Arbeit, Brandstätter, Vienna 2002. p. 9. 16 Mojca Kumerdej: “Hermann Nitsch o smrti in Zivljenu,” Delo, Ljubljana, Oct. 3, 1992; “Im Blutrausch,” News,, No. 30/95, p. 190; “Sechs Tage blutiges Welttheater,” News, No. 40/96, p. 190, “The Devil In a Grey Beard,” interview with Adrian Searle, The Guardian, Manchester, Nov. 15, 1997, p. 17; News, No. 27, July, 2001, p. 7. 17 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 18 Paula Devarney: “Nitsch - Art of Killing,” Caellian, 9. Oct. 1970; Hermann Nitsch: Das rote Tuch - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater - Im Spiegel der Presse 1960-1988, Freibord, Vienna, 1988, p. 106. 3

“Dear Herr Chancellor, if your daughter were to be placed on a stage with shaven head and have her genitalia penetrated under the direction of Herr Nitsch, I would like to know whether you would still speak about ’the freedom of art.’”19 - Lore Jarosch, author

Hermann Nitsch stated in a TV-interview that we all had skeletons in our closets but that (Otto) Mühl had to atone for us.” - Günter Brus

“We guarantee Nitsch the protection of the state for practicing his profession freely.”20 - Dr. Peter Wittmann, Austrian State Secretary for Culture

“You have taken this all out of context.“ (to H.K.).21 - Ferdinand Lacina, former Minister of Finance and President of the Austrian League for Human Rights

“If we don’t prosper, the world will be blown up.”22Take your cock out! Exhibitionists to the fore! ... We will beat citizens until they become human beings.”23 - Peter Weibel, Actionist and Culture Commissar

“We thought about killing people as a work of art, or that sort of thing – if that is radical. But it did not happen. Bayer, Achleitner, Rühm and I met for intensive discussions on an almost daily basis for two or three years.”24 - Oswald Wiener, author and Actionist

“In other words, in the cultural scene one can give vent to Nazi-type barbarity under a Leftist banner.” 25 - Lutz Dammbeck, director of The Master Game

It takes true genius to execute inhumanity and brutality with impunity under the cloak of freedom of art. - Johannes Diethart, author and publisher

No doubt about it. Third Reich inhumanity was the precursor to today’s Actionist cult in the arts.

“The new fascism will not declare itself as fascism, but rather as anti-fascism.” - Ignazio Silone

19 Letter to the editor by Lore Jarosch, Neue Kronen Zeitung, August 4, 1998, p. 20. 20 “Kultur-Alarm,” News, No. 16, 1999, p. 140. 21„Geschichte der Menschenrechte, Soll und Haben, Eine Brisante Bilanz“, ÖBV-Atrium, Grillparzerstraße 14, 1010 Vienna, January 31, 2002. 22 Josef Dvorak: “Amoklauf der Aktionisten,” Neues Forum, Sept./Oct. 1974, Nos. 249/250, Vienna, p. 2. 23 Fritz Rumler: “Exhibitionisten an die Front,” Der Spiegrel, No. 17, 21, 1969. p. 194. 24 Oswald Wiener: „Über Kunst und Automatentheorie: Ein Gespräch mit Stan Lafleur“; Textauszug aus: Eckhard Hammel, Hrsg., Synthetische Welten. Kunst, Künstlichkeit und Kommunikationsmedien, Essen, Verlag der Blaue Eule, 1996, p. 199-213. 25 Fritz Dammbeck in the film The Master Game, Germany, 1998. 4

The Aftermath and the Aftereffects of Yesteryear

Being in Third-Reich-Austria at an early age, and then returning to my birthplace 24 years later, afforded me a unique historical view.

My piece bearing the title Violence Under the Guise of Art contains aspects of the Aftermath and Aftereffects of the Third Reich that have not yet been brought to the fore.

The present is a key to the past and vice versa.

The Aftermath and the Aftereffects exceed being a Shadow and an Echo.

Is Actionism a follow-up of days gone-by that have actually not quite gone by?

Was the Brown Baton passed on? Did the Actionists grab it and fill the gap?

Is Actionism the old spirit in a new garb? I answer in the affirmative!

Violence has been integrated into the arts and poses as a protest against violence.

Actionist anti-humanist deeds and declarations cry out for comparisons.

Comparing today’s diction to yesteryear’s more than makes the case.

Actionism is not a catharsis for barbarism. It is a bona-fide ideology and mode of behavior.

The dedication to promulgating inhumanity is unadulterated.

Advocates espouse extreme forms of violence with no holds barred.

They are providers as well as doers. 5

Actionist violence borders on crime, and at times transcends that border.

Violence Under the Guise of Art is a money-making operation.

Sado-masochism sells. Sadism is a bestseller. The idea of packaging this as art is brilliant, and labeling it as anti-fascism is a stroke of genius.

Actionism and Revisionism

The fact that the Revisionists have latched onto Actionism is self-evident! It provides them with a smoke screen for their own surreptitious dealings.

The Revisionists do not want to admit what has inspired Violence Under the Guise of Art, namely Third-Reich anti-humanism and barbarism.

Revisionists concentrate on excesses of the Left and soft-pedal the crimes of the Brown past, as well as those of the contemporary Hard-Right.

The fact that the Revisionists have latched onto this is self-evident!

By “opposing“ Actionism, the Revisionists help perpetuate it.

These “rival” factions “complement each other. They are competitors, rather than adversaries.

No advocate of Violence Under the Guise of Art was ever prepared to discuss these matters.

A demagogue cannot turn a lie into the truth, nor can he turn the truth into a lie.

Violence Under the Guise of Art is grist for the Revisionist mill. What a boon and a blessing for them!

Calling attention to the sado-masochistic events of the Actionists 6

provides the Revisionists with a smoke screen for their own dealings.

A Revisionist is opposed to violence when it is perpetuated by those of another political hue.

Actually, the two “rival” factions “complement” each other.

Actionists and Revisionists are competitors, rather than adversaries.

Demagogues don't always lie. They tell the truth when it serves their purposes.

Demagogues combine lies with half-truths and the truth.

Sometimes the wrong man says the right thing for the wrong cause.

More often than not the wrong people say the right thing for the wrong cause and the right people say the wrong thing for the right cause.

You can conjure up falsehoods, but you cannot conjure up facts.

The Source

There are similarities in the approach to matters concerning the war in Germany and Austria – but there also considerable differences.

Austria was the source and is the source. This is where the innovator in 20th Century cruelty was cultivated. his is where he acquired his philosophical bearings and founded the ideology that made him what he became.

He left Austrian fir Germany and took his show on the road there. Later returned with his entourage to the cheers of multitudes. He had returned to bring his countrymen into the brown fold.

And unfortunately this plant did not cease to grow after his demise.

Incidentally, the Führer's story is also that of a returned emigré. He initially came to Vienna to study art early in the 20th century as Adolf Schickelgruber. He may have failed as an artist, but he succeeded as a spellbinding orator and conqueror – for a while. 7

After the annexation, Austria ceased to exist and “Ostmark” came into being. The doctrine had originated in Austria. This is where Austria’s favorite son had found his philosophical bearings. He had taken his show across the border, and in 1938 he bought it back with flying colors to the cheers of multitudes. Yes, hometown-Braunau-boy had made good.

Indoctrination and conditioning were unnecessary. The emotions were there, they merely had to be unleashed. Austrians were more adept and percentagewise they outdid their German counterparts in all aspects. National Socialism seemed to have been made to measure for the annexed territory and brown glove was and fit as well, if not better than in Germany.

A prominent witness of a brown hue reminisces: “Vienna has never been covered with so many flowers before and there will never be as many flowers in Vienna ever again….This was not an act of war, but an act of liberation, a homecoming.”

Another chimes in: “Everyone can't go onto the streets, but when the streets are packed with people, what more could you ask for?”26

Here’s an official view: “The Nazis took Austria by force. The Austrians were the first victims.”27 “The sovereign state of Austria was literally the first victim of the Nazi regime…. I consider this question to have been decided. The country was a victim of aggression, specifically a military aggression. I will never permit Austria not be viewed as a victim.” 28 - Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor

And here’s an analysis: “The Austrian were the first victims of Nazi Germany, and the Jews were the victims of the victims.”29 - Helmut Zilk, Mayor of Vienna

Those days were dark for the victims but “bright” for those who maltreated and pilfered them. There were man who pitched in with verve, harassing and humiliating the victims and gathering up the spoils.

Anyone who asked questions or expressed his disapproval was quickly cancelled out.

For a year-and-a half there was a non-war period, which consisted of preparation for war. This was followed by a war that lasted for six years.

The Annexation

In March of 1938, after Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, I witnessed the marauding of my grandmother’s apartment by Austrian Storm Troopers. I was three years old at the time. When the doorbell rang, it was I who opened the door for the marauders. That occurrence is permanently ingrained in my memory. I can still see it as clear as day.

26 Quotes by Hellmut Wolff & Dr. Franz Klinger from Egon Humer’s documentary film Schuld und Gedächtnis (Guilt and Remembrance), 1992. 27 Wolfgang Schüssel, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 9, 2000; Wiener Zeitung, Nov. 10/11, 2000. 28 Wolfgang Schüssel, Österreichischer Bundeskanzler Neue Züricher Zeitung, Feb. 15, 2005. 29Wären die Wände zwischen uns aus Glas/If the Walls Between Us Were Made of Glass, Daniel, Diethart, Kuhner, Verlag Der Apfel, 1992, p. 24-25. 8

Another chimes in: “Everyone can't go onto the streets, but when the streets are packed with people, what more could you ask for?”30

Here’s an official view: “The Nazis took Austria by force. The Austrians were the first victims.”31 “The sovereign state of Austria was literally the first victim of the Nazi regime…. I consider this question to have been decided. The country was a victim of aggression, specifically a military aggression. I will never permit Austria not be viewed as a victim.” 32 - Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor

And here’s an analysis: “The Austrian were the first victims of Nazi Germany, and the Jews were the victims of the victims.”33 - Helmut Zilk, Mayor of Vienna

Those days were dark for the victims but “bright” for those who maltreated and pilfered them. Much of the population pitched in with verve, harassing, humiliating the Jewish victims and gathering up the spoils.

Anyone who asked questions or expressed his disapproval was quickly cancelled out.

For a year-and-a half there was a non-war period, which consisted of preparation for war. This was followed by a war that lasted for six years.

Four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Hitler declared war on the United States. In the following year, the “bright” days of the conquerors began to darken as the tide turned.

One by one the cities of the Reich were carpet-bombed. Yet, the armies of the Reich did not falter, nor did the morale of the populace slacken.

30 Quotes by Hellmut Wolff & Dr. Franz Klinger from Egon Humer’s documentary film Schuld und Gedächtnis (Guilt and Remembrance), 1992. 31 Wolfgang Schüssel, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 9, 2000; Wiener Zeitung, Nov. 10/11, 2000. 32 Wolfgang Schüssel, Österreichischer Bundeskanzler Neue Züricher Zeitung, Feb. 15, 2005. 33Wären die Wände zwischen uns aus Glas/If the Walls Between Us Were Made of Glass, Daniel, Diethart, Kuhner, Verlag Der Apfel, 1992, p. 24-25.

All the while, the charnel houses and torture chambers remained in full swing and railroads that could have been used for military purposes continued to serve as death transports.

Details may have been obfuscated, but million-folded slaughter cannot be carried out clandestinely. Did anyone believe that the abattoirs in the East were idyllic resorts.

Such tenacious fighting and singleness of purpose indicates a belief in the cause. Yes both the military and the civilian populace were inspired.

Even when victory became nothing but a pipe dream, the Reich fought on to almost the last bullet and the man, and fighting did not cease until three weeks after the Führer’s suicide.

The Post-War Period

The Nazis wanted to be known as brave warriors, not the mass murderers and torturers of helpless civilians. While behaving dishonorably, they wanted to convey an honorable image. Thus, after World War II right up to the present, the official Nazi post-war line is to deny the Holocaust by promulgating the so-called “Auschwitz lie.” And Neo-Nazis still stick to this while they engage in acts of terror against refugees, members of minority groups and those who aid them in Germany and Austria.

After the collapse of the Third Reich, there was a short period of bringing active Nazis to justice. At the advent of the Cold War, a historical eraser was brought into play.

The occupying powers and local political parties courted those with a Nazi past and approved the formation a party for “former” Nazis.

The Nazis remained obstinate and stuck to their guns. For the sake of decorum they deny the reality of the gas chambers, but being what they are, they can’t help declaring their intent to do a thorough job in the future.

The Revisionists are less candid and more subtle. They are experts in the art of sophistry and they do their best to retrieve the “lost honor” of the Third Reich.

The business of the Revisionist is to exonerate and rehabilitate the mass murderers of yesteryear and to downplay their crimes.

The Revisionist plays down and minimizes the “misdemeanors” of days gone by and he attempts to motivate them by denigrating the victims, and thus to justify them, and he compares and equates them with military actions and reactions by the allies.

Revisionists are the “respectable” heirs of the National Socialists and they skillfully act as their apologists.

Revisionism is the close cousin of dialectical materialism. It an attempt to change the past by rewriting history.

Revisionists view the brown barbarism of yesteryear through rose-colored binoculars.

A select group of National Socialist intellectuals converted to Conservatism and adapted themselves to the new situation. They modified their views, toned down their ideology and 10

joined forces, manoeuvring themselves into influential positions in the media. They set about mollifying the depiction of the Third Reich, while presenting themselves as the moral backbone of the nation. Revisionism is the name of the game.

The “Good Sides” of Days Gone By

“Of course the National Socialist Regime had its good sides, but we just don’t hear about them.”34 - Wolfgang Zanger, Freedom Party

“Apparently, today you are required to say that everything in those days was catastrophic: The 1st of May, the church tax, Volkswagen production, and the construction of the Autobahn were all dreadful things”35 - Heinz-Christian Strache, Freedom Party

“There was a dangerous, demented politician who led the German nation on the path to ruin, we’re all aware of that, but there were also positive values such as children, mothers and families and sticking together, and those things were done away with... there were also Autobahns built, and we drive on them.” 36 - Eva Herman, German talk-show host in September of 2007

“I have said that the Wehrmacht soldiers made democracy, as we find it today in Europe, possible…. I have stated that the struggle soldiers were engaged in helped stem the Communist menace, and that is an undeniable fact.37 Their sacrifice must not have been in vain. Without their valor, we would not have the freedom in Western Europe that we take for granted.”38 - Jörg Haider, Freedom Party

“We vigorously oppose the satanic, collective slander that the soldiers of the Second World War were criminals. We don't want the truth to be buried with us in our graves. Winners are bad judges and their history is the history of falsehoods…39 You’d think that after such a long time, bygones should be bygones internationally.40 - Hans Dichand, publisher of the Kronen Zeitung

The Waldheim-story is a Dreyfus Affair with inverted implications.” 41 - Gerd Bacher, Chief of ORF Radio-TV

34 APA Nov. 7, 2006. 35 Pressestunde, ORF, Sept. 23, 2007; News, Sept. 24, p. 7. 36 Hamburger Abendblatts, September 2007. 37 Die Gemeinde, Feb. 1, 1993, Jörg Haider interviewed by Karl Pfeifer; broadcast by Kol Israel, The Israeli Broadcasting System, January 22, 1993. 38 Kärntner Nachrichten, Oct. 10, 1985. 39 Kronen-Zeitung, Hans Dichand, 23. April 1995. 40Kronen-Zeitung, Cato (Hans Dichand), April 17, 2007, p. 3 41 Neue Kronen-Zeitung, 21. Dez.1986; Gerd Bacher in: “Zeit zum Reden”. Eine noch ältere: 11

Otto Schulmeister, 1989: “There were many swine at the time, not only brown ones…” And he added, “The Revisionists are right about that. Not only Nazis committed crimes. And not only Jews were victims. There were many victims at the time and many since then. And as we see in Israel, Jews can also be oppressors.” Asked whether he regretted what he had written during the Third Reich in National Socialist organs, he replied: “Not in the least!”

Half-Truths are the most dangerous lies. - Joseph Goebbels

“There were gas chambers, but not in the Third Reich, but rather in Poland. That’s what the school books say.”42 - John Gudenus, Freedom Party

The Austrian were the first victims of Nazi Germany, and the Jews were the victims of the victims.”43 - Helmut Zilk, Mayor of Vienna

“In 1945 we were allegedly liberated from fascism and from tyranny and then we entered the next tyranny.”44 - Ewald Stadler, right-wing Catholic

“Austrians may have rejoiced in 1938, but they welcomed annexation to the Reich, not National Socialism." - Josef Ratzenböck, Governor of Upper Austria

“You’ll find people in Gurk, who are either socialists or conservatives, who now and then may say that we need Hitler here now, but that doesn’t mean that they are Nazis.”45 - Karl Felsberger Deputy Mayor of Gurk, Carinthia

Hitler did not instill hatred. He merely released the pent-up hatred already festering. The soil was right for the plant. All it needed was a little irrigation. And that was duly provided.

The Old Spirit in a New Garb

German and Austrian culture are bonded by the same language. Yet each has its national and lingual earmarks. German s tend to be straight arrows who are fascinated by razzle-dazzle, and the cousins beyond the border can provide that abundantly. Adolf seemed to have provided proof of that. “I am the greatest film actor in Germany.” And he was also the most popular one too. The German speakers beyond the Austrian border were the first to fall for him. He opened up his bag of tricks there before taking his show back home.

42 diepresse.com, June 8, 2005. 43Wären die Wände zwischen uns aus Glas/If the Walls Between Us Were Made of Glass, Daniel, Diethart, Kuhner, Verlag Der Apfel, 1992, p. 24-25. 44 Ewald Stadler, May 8, 2002; Der Standard, 5. Juli 2002. 45 Profil, No. 23, June, 6, 2005. 12

Many artists and literati of the coprolaliac variety have taken the same route. The road to success is from Austria to Germany and then back again. As a result of rolling in dung, they are rolling in dough. Some of these round-trippers were begotten by brown-tainted fathers. And in their way, they're chips off the old block. Only red is the color they generally identify with.

After the military defeat of the Third Reich, its spirit merely reasserted itself in another ambiance. What had previously taken place backstage was then presented onstage.

According to “legend,” the post-war literary leftovers of a brown hue were displaced by an “anti-fascist” literary movement in the Nineteen Fifties. The Actionists composed part of that movement. Those who had served a barbarous regime were replaced by those who favored the public practice of violence. And they have held sway ever since. After the collapse of the Third Reich its spirit merely reasserted itself in another ambiance. What had previously taken place backstage was then presented onstage.

Advocates espouse extreme forms of violence such as rape, murder, political assassination, and the vilification and killing of cripple. The abuse of children is also part of the picture. It is self-evident that the public and private sado-masochistic performances are geared for audience participation.

I do not have to make comparisons with the past events. The quotations I have accumulated speak for themselves.

Violence has been integrated into the arts and poses as a protest against violence. The fact that the Revisionists have latched onto this subject is self-evident!

Violence Under the Guise of Art is grist for the Revisionist mill. What a boon and a blessing for them!

The Revisionists depict the brown past in rose-colored tones. They mitigate the barbarism of the Third Reich but condemn the violent acts of the Actionists. The Revisionists mitigate the barbarism of the Third Reich but condemn the violent acts of the Actionists. A Revisionist is not opposed to violence per se, he merely assumes the role of critic when its advocates and perpetrators are at home in another political camp. This boils down to the pot calling the kettle black – or brown, if you will.

Calling attention to the sado-masochistic events of the Actionists provides the Revisionists with a smoke screen for their own dealings.

Actionism has become an integral part of anti-fascism in Austria. This enables the apologists for National Socialism can assume a holier-than-thou stance and enables them to score easy points against the “anti-fascists.”

The sado-masochistic “extravaganzas” of the Actionists provide the Revisionists with a smoke screen for their own dealings.

I quote the sociologist Michael Ley: “The ‘anti-fascist’ label seemed to insure immunity from any criticism and every critic was classified as a ‘fascist.’”46

Advocates and practitioners of Violence Under the Guise of Art are being coddled and propelled forward in Austria by the powers-that-be.

Flowers do not sprout without irrigation. And there has been plenty of that.

Basically, the competition is between who strive to improve the Reich's “image” and those who use violence for their own intents and purposes.

What a blessing for the Revisionists! They are being served the best cards on a silver tray, enabling them to flay present events, as well as play down the past.

These two factions are competitors rather than adversaries.

The syllogism used is by the pro-Actionist faction is that since condemnation comes from the Revisionist; all adversity must be associated with Revisionism. Thus, the pro-Actionism faction has skillfully maneuvered the Revisionists into a position of not having to use mendacity on this particular subject. “Opposition” by the Revisionists is opportune and fits into the scheme of things.

Repercussions have been forthcoming for bringing attention to this delightful garden.

The National Socialists mostly practiced barbarism in venues shielded from public view or in conquered eastern territories. While committing crimes en masse, they wanted to present a decent and honorable image to the world. Today the word “decent” is used as a Nazi code word. This has become a tradition.

According the artist Adolf Frohner: “The Actionists remonstrated against the silence that followed 1945. Influential positions were still occupied by those who had held them during the Nazi era. Their Swastika badges were either pinned under their lapels or had been thrown away.”47

“I consider Viennese Actionism an essential component of the history of art, which stemmed from the actuality of the concealment of National Socialism at that period in Austria.48 - Peter Huemer, historian

Indeed, delving into the violent behavior Actionists is a necessity when delving into Austria’s National-Socialist past.

46 Michael Ley: “Die Würdigung blieb aus,” Neue Illustrierte Welt, April, 1995, p. 21. 47 Adolf Frohner, ORF 2 (Austrian TV) , Zeit im Bild (News Report) January 16, 2000. 48 Peter Huemer, Brief an Herbert Kuhner. 14

“Blood and Soil” was the basis Nazi art. This has given way to “Blood and Feces.”

“It was not easy to drink my urine and eat my feces.... Long before Actionism, Rühm and Bayer wrote: ‘Defecation and urination are art.’”49 - Oswald Wiener, writer and Actionist

Sometimes the “antidote” is not less toxic than the poison.

The Actionists are promoted by the cultural and political powers-that be, as well as those aspiring power. The promoters are skillful polemicists And are well-versed in the art of sophistry. What’s more, they have become an integral part of the anti-fascist “scene.”

Advocates espouse extreme forms of violence such as rape, murder, political assassination and the vilification and killing of the handicapped The abuse of children is also part of the picture. The public and private sado-masochistic performances are geared for audience participation.

There is no need to make comparisons to past events. The quotations accumulated speak for themselves and the events depicted need no interpretation.

“Viennese Actionism can no longer be the basis for dispute in a civilized state; it has been canonized for quite some time and has found its place in museums. Today anyone who opposes Actionism simply disqualifies himself.” 50 - Sigrid Löffler, literary critic.

The Revisionists are less candid and more subtle. They do their best to retrieve the“lost honor” of the Third Reich by mitigating its barbarism and depicting the brown past in rose- colored tones. They mitigate the barbarism of the Third Reich but condemn the violent acts of the Actionists

A Revisionist is not opposed to violence per se, he merely assumes the role of critic when its advocates and perpetrators are at home in another political camp. This boils down to the pot calling the kettle black – or brown, if you will.

Actionism has become an integral part of anti-fascism in Austria. This enables the apologists for National Socialism to assume a holier-than-thou stance and to score easy points against the “anti-fascists.”

49 Oswald Wiener interviewed by Friedrich Geyerhofer, Wiener Sonderdruck, Wiener Aktionismus, 1981, p. 58. 50 Sigrid Löffler: “Banausie am Balhausplatz,” Profil, No. 39, Sept. 21, 1992, Vienna, p. 11. 15

I quote the sociologist Michael Ley: “The ‘anti-fascist’ label seemed to insure immunity from any criticism and every critic was classified as a ‘fascist.’”51

The discourse concerning the Third Reich is influenced by those who strive to improve the Reich's “image” and those who use violence for their own intents and purposes.

The syllogism used is by the pro-Actionist faction is that since condemnation comes from the Revisionists, all adversity must be associated with Revisionism. Thus, the pro-Actionism faction has skillfully maneuvered the Revisionists into a position of not having to use mendacity on this particular subject. “Opposition” by the Revisionists is opportune and fits into the scheme of things.

The National Socialists mostly practiced barbarism in venues shielded from public view or in conquered eastern territories. While they were committing crimes, they wanted to present a decent and honorable image to the world. Today the word “decent” is used as a Nazi code word. This is part of a tradition.

Basically, the competition is between who strive to improve the Reich's “image” and those who use violence for their own intents and purposes.

The “old” spirit is very much alive today and its manifestation is meticulously asserted, leaving nary an element unarticulated.

The Core

The quotations listed and the situations described are so apparent that they simply invite comparisons.

Much has been written about the days when the Third Reich officially came to an end, but a scrutiny of certain aspects of aftermath and aftereffects of National Socialism in Austria is called for.

I wanted to get to the core and have been gathering material over the years, delving into aspects that have conveniently been passed over.

Perhaps I have succeeded in providing a piece of the puzzle. Repercussions are invariably a confirmation and indeed, they have been forthcoming.

I quote the sociologist Michael Ley: “The ‘anti-fascist’ label seemed to insure immunity from any criticism and every critic was classified as a ‘fascist.’”52

The discourse concerning the Third Reich is influenced by those who strive to improve the Reich's “image” and those who use violence for their own intents and purposes.

51 Michael Ley: “Die Würdigung blieb aus,” Neue Illustrierte Welt, April, 1995, p. 21. 52 Michael Ley: “Die Würdigung blieb aus,” Neue Illustrierte Welt, April, 1995, p. 21. 16

These two factions are competitors rather than adversaries.

The National Socialists mostly practiced barbarism in venues shielded from public view or in conquered eastern territories. While committing crimes, they wanted to present a decent and honorable image to the world. Today the word “decent” is used as a Nazi code word. This is part of a tradition.

Basically, the competition is between who strive to improve the Reich's “image” and those who use violence for their own intents and purposes.

Ideology “Honestly” Stated

“Most of you know what it is like to see a hundred corpses lying side-by-side, or five hundred corpses, or a thousand. To have participated in this – and barring human weakness – to have remained decent, has toughened us and is a page of glory in our history not to be mentioned and never to be written.”53 - Heinrich Himmler, Oct. 4, 1943, to leaders of the SS in Posnan

One and a half million children were murdered by National Socialists. Those who attempt to rehabilitate the Third Reich are not genuinely interested in the fate of children, to put mildly.

Krenn contributed to cultivating the “Anderl von Rinn Legend,” an anti-Semitic concoction which claims that a Catholic boy ritually murdered by Jews in the Middle Ages.54

“The Church as herald of the truth was paramount to him.”55 - Bishop Klaus Kung, obituary for Bishop Krenn

“A man (Otto Mühl) who says that his victims enjoyed being abused is revolting.” - Peter Pitzinger 56

“I’m a Catholic who avows Bishop Krenn and the Pope”. - Pitzinger again

The Catholic Seminary in St. Pölten, which was under the good bishop’s aegis, was a homosexual bastion, which may have been a Church problem, not a societal one. However, seminarians downloaded child pornography from internet, thousand-fold, which is contrary to law. These future priests viewed the abuse of children with delectation and contributed to it by purchasing the videos.

53 Heinrich Himmler, Oct. 4, 1943 to leaders of the SS in Posnan. 54 Die Welt, Nov. 29, 2005. 55 Kurier, January 25, 2014, p.17. 56 stjosef.at/artikel, NÖ Landesstelle für Sektenfragen im NÖ Familienreferat. 17

Krenn comments: “These were by no means incidents that have anything to do with homosexuality. They were simply pranks – boyhood pranks. 57

He has no doubts: “The good Lord will have to resign before I even question the validity of the road I have taken.”58

Krenn’s liberal adversary Joachim Angerer, former Abbot of Geras Monastery, Lower Austria announces: “We thought that a transfer would solve the problem. I did not know then what I know now….If I had that knowledge then of how much a victim suffers…I was not aware of that at the time. I adhered to customary Church procedure.“59

Right-wing politician Edwald Stadler is a staunch opponent of the Actionist violence cult but a staunch defender of right-wing Bishop Kurt Krenn. Stadler on the bishop: “Krenn will be remembered with nostalgia. The Catholics who adhere to tradition have no one to lead them now. There are thousands in Lower Austria alone.” 60

Ewald Stadler on yesteryear: “In 1945 we were allegedly liberated from fascism and from tyranny and then we entered the next tyranny.”61

Clerical promotion of practitioners of child abuse has not been limited to those in the art world.

Abbot Joachim Angerer concerning sexual abuse of children: “I did not know then what I now know…If I had that knowledge in 1978 – namely, what pedophilia is – how much a victim suffers…I did not have that knowledge at the time.” 62

The great crimes of this earth are murder, rape and torture. A murderer takes the life of a human being. A rapist violates a human being. A torturer inflicts unbearable pain on his victim. The suffering of a murdered victim ceases after he has been killed. A victim of rape is spiritually killed but continues to live. - Herbert Kuhner

Günter Brus: “People do not know about the crimes that have occurred in the name of the Church. People are mostly idiots.”63

The Belgian Catechism includes a preparation for assenting to pedophilic advances.. There is a drawing of a naked infant girl, which is captioned to show her saying she welcomed stroking of her genitals, “I like to take my knickers off with friends,” and “I want to be in the room when mum and dad have sex.” Another illustration shows a naked little boy and girl “playing doctor.” The little boy says, “Look, my willy is big.” 64

57 News magazine, No. 530 January 25, 2014, p. 15; freigeisterhaus.de/viewtopic. 58 News, No. 530, January 25, 2014, p. 15. 59 Schauplatz Gericht, ORF, Dec. 23, 2011. 60 Österreich-Nachrichten Online, Katholische Nachrichten Online, Oct. 2004. 61 Ewald Stadler, May 8, 2002; Der Standard, 5. Juli 2002. 62 Schauplatz Gericht, ORF, Dec. 23, 2011. 63 www.wienerzeitung.at Feb.2,2013. 64 LifeSiteNews.com (LSN), 18

This catechism is used for religious instruction in Catholic schools in Belgium. Illustrations of naked children are used. Children make graphic sexual statements in dialogue bubbles.“65

Petersplatz, Vienna

In 1966 a six-year-old boy was raped in Petersplatz 6, the rectory of St. Peter’s Church. The next morning the boy’s moth end grandmother were refused entry at the rectory. Then the two women went to the Archbishop’s Palace, which is a short distance from Petersplatz.

Here is the victim’s present-day account: “My mother and grandmother then went to the Archbishops Palace. They were brought to a room. A priest entered and they told him what had happened. When they asked to see the bishop, they were told that he was not available. The priest then asked them to leave the premises. Tears were running down my mother’s face, and both women insisted on seeing the Archbishop. The priest left them and returned with three priests. The four priests then grabbed the women and hustled them to the palace door. The women were pushed out onto the pavement and told to go home and attend to their household chores. If they persisted in spreading false rumors, they would be excommunicated and prosecuted for defamation.” (Back then, Franz König was Cardinal. Of course the Cardinal was left in the dark.)

Joachim Angerer, former Abbot of Geras Monastery, Lower Austria concerning a priest who sexually abused children: “At the time, I transferred him, which I now deeply regret. This was common procedure prior to the Groër Affair. We placed him in therapy – you have compassion for a fellow brother, and you forgive....We thought that a transfer would solve the problem. I did not know then what I now know….If I had that knowledge in 1978 – namely, what pedophilia is – how much a victim suffers, I would have had him removed immediately. I was not aware of that at the time. I adhered to customary Church procedure.” 66

Hitler had Ernst Röhm and his SA-henchman done away with in June of ‘34. Röhm was Hitler's adversary, but he was anything but an anti-Nazi. Which goes to show that birds of a feather don't always flock together. That same year, Hitler ordered the murder of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. Dollfuss was an anti-Nazi, but not an anti-fascist. Stalin was an anti-fascist, but he was not anti-totalitarian. It is essential to know what one favors as well as what one opposes.

65 kath.net, 8. Juli 2010. 66 Schauplatz Gericht, ORF, Dec. 23, 2011. 19

When Josef Goebbels publicized the Soviet massacre of Polish officers in Katyn in 1941, he did so because it fit into his concept. We know that he was not opposed to massacres; the murders he was responsible for and approved of were million-fold.

Sometimes the wrong man says the right thing for the wrong cause.

Demagogues don't always lie. They use the truth to serve their purposes.

A demagogue cannot turn a lie into the truth, nor can he turn the truth into a lie.

It is impossible for me to deal with Austrian Actionism without referring to my own fate as a remigré. As one who had to flee Austria, or rather “Ostmark,” in 1939 or share the fate of those who chose to stay or could not leave, I have aversion to the gratuitous stifling of life, wanton brutality and the degradation of man.

When I returned to Austria in 1963, I was confronted with a closed-door policy as a writer. In 1972 when I published my satire on Actionism, Da-Da Ga-Ga Ca-Ca, Duck! The future's upon us, the key was turned in the lock. 67

After publication of this satire, Helmut Butterweck of Die Furche told me: “You have just committed literary suicide.” (A man who is dead in this sense cannot do himself in, but he can prolong his death, which I probably did.)

“Only an ostracized outsider discerned what really lay concealed behind the fraudulent phrase ‘anti-fascist art’: the affirmation of totalitarian violence and not its censure.”68 - Michael Ley:

Actionists do not merely depict violence, they engage in it.

Violence for its own sake is the antithesis of anti-fascism.

Anti-fascism and anti-humanism are contradictory elements.

It takes true genius to execute inhumanity

67 Herbert Kuhner: „Da-Da Ga-Ga Ca-Ca,“ Die Pestsäule, No.1, Sept. 1972, p. 69-74; Der Ausschluss: Memoiren eines Neunundreißigers (Memoirs of a 39er: a novel of sorts), Edition 39/Verlag Der Apfel, Vienna, 1988, p.40-46. 68 Michael Ley: „Die Würdigung blieb aus,“ Illustrierte neue Welt, April 1995, Vienna, p. 21. 20

and brutality with impunity under the cloak of freedom of art. - Johannes Diethart, author and publisher

Violence as Art & Art as Violence

In art and literature it becomes more and more difficult to separate the sheep from the goats, in other words: valid artists from charlatans. It's all a matter of opinion. (In my humble opinion, the goats gained the upper hand long ago, and their bleating is the dominant sound.) However, public “Actions” such as the flagellation of self and others, the drinking of blood and urine, the eating of feces, copulation to the accompaniment of fecal production, self- mutilation, self-immolation and tormenting animals to death are actions that I for one could not keep silent about. Examples: Valie Export poured scalding wax over live birds.69 Günter Brus slit his chest open with a razor blade70 and declared that the next step would be to cut a piece of himself off and eat it. Rudolf Schwarzkogler committed suicide in a ritualistic act of self-immolation. It is alleged that he cut his penis off before defenestrating himself.71

These Actions are engaged in and promoted by the Austrian cultural elite, la crème de la crème, and meet the approval of those in power as well as those aspiring power. They are very skillful and well-versed in the art of sophistry.

Such excrescences are engaged in and supported by the Austrian cultural elite, la crème de la crème. They meet the approval of the powers-that-be, as well as those aspiring to power. The advocates are skillful and well-versed in the art of sophistry and have become an integral part of the anti-fascist scene.

It is revealing that those who have literally defecated on the State been sanctioned and sanctified by the State and are thus sacrosanct. They have achieved the highest status and have been awarded the most prestigious prizes and honors by the State. They are even depicted on postage stamps.

As things are, having a critical stance is tantamount to opposing the State. Speaking out means countering power and influence and can have dire consequences. Those who are not proponents or fellow travelers have been cowed and invariably keep mum.

In this topsy-turvy situation, criticism of Actionist violence does not come from the Left, but rather predominantly, nay almost exclusively from the hard Right. To have a critical view means being lumped together with unsavory political elements and being smeared with a brown brush.

The question is whether mendacity and calumny can serve a good purpose. I answer that in the negative. Clarification is long overdue. And I say: Let the chips fall where they may!

No, Sir!

69An der Grenze des Erlaubten: Kunst und Zensur in Österreich, Ein Projekt des Universitätszentrums Unikum, Klagenfurt, 1996, S. 62. 70 Peter Weibel, Valie Export, eds., Wien: Ein Bilkdkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970, p. 62; Wiener Sonderdruck, Vienna, 1981, p. 53. 71 Kate Connoly, Adrian Searle: “The Devil In a Grey Beard,” The Guardian, Manchester, Nov. 15, 1997. 21

Comment by Dieter Bandhauer, Sonderzahl Verlag “When we first met at Ubl (Restaurant), we discussed the symposium titled Art and Totalitarianism, from which rapidly distanced myself. After our meeting told Michael (Ley) that I have no interest whatsoever in such a project…. Although I am an adamant critic of fatal Leftist positions, I would not condemn the Leftist project in its entirety, and I certainly do not want do not want to enable Far Right to acclaim such an apotheosis.72

However, not to be outdone and being susceptible to following fashion, the Conservatives got on board as promoters of the trend.

In the Old Days

The Nazis catered to sado-masochistic tastes, with the emphasis on sadism. The Third Reich provided its adherents with the opportunity of living out their sadistic fantasies. The concentration camps and other murderous venues were a Paradise for sadistic camp commanders, administrators, guards, capos and Death’s Head SS-Men.

The Nazis destroyed human values, as well as humans. They attempted to cancel out art and literature, replacing it with an antiseptic and illustrative depiction of the glories of motherhood and military heroism, as well as antiseptic family, farming and factory scenes. Basically, National-Socialist art, or non-art, consisted of a sham portrayal of the patriotic love of Mother Earth and the Fatherland.

The Nazis wanted to be known as brave warriors, not the mass murderers of helpless civilians. While behaving dishonorably, they wanted to be depicted as being honorable and industrious. Thus, they kept their “art,” so to speak, “clean.” (In the post-war period, art would take the opposite turn.)

These were the “honorable” and “decent” perpetrators of crimes and purveyors of inhumanity. They did not come upon the idea of placing their actions in the category of art. Hitler did not see his deeds as artistic endeavor. He did not realize that his career in the arts had not been permanently interrupted. Quite on the contrary, in retrospect, according to current “creative” concepts, he was the greatest artist of all time.

After World War II right up to the present, the official Nazi line is to deny the Holocaust by promulgating the so-called “Auschwitz lie.” And Neo-Nazis still stick to this while they engage in acts of terror against refugees, members of minority groups and their supporters in Germany and Austria.

With few exceptions such as the pogrom of November 9, 1938, which the Nazis termed “the night of broken glass,“ barbarous acts usually took place behind locked doors, closed gates and barbed wire, or in subjugated countries.

The pernicious, anti-humanistic elements in the anti-Semitic tracts, cartoons and propaganda films are rarely to be found in official National-Socialist art. The lie was intended to reflect a movement and society that were “wholesome.” The official art does not bring to the fore the essence of National Socialism. The Nazis had inhibitions about showing the true nature of their movement. The Actionists have no such compunctions. The Actionists are uninhibited about publicly providing what was missing. They are indeed candid about negating human

72 Dieter Bandhauer, Sonderzahl-Verlag , letter, July 3. 2003 22

values. Their ideology is the practice of pure unadulterated evil in word and deed, as well as visually.

Questions that have to be asked: Is the Actionist movement representative of the society in which it is entrenched? Was the Third Reich an anomaly – a simple fluke – or was it endemic?

In 1938, after the annexation, the Wehrmacht marched into Austria to the cheers of multitudes. The ideology seemed to fit like a glove. Does the glove still fit?

The route to the inner sanctum of art is participating or approving of the trend. Artists who are well on in years and keep mum have the prospect of being exploited in their remaining years and having their work sold at high prices posthumously. Acceptance may include participating in activities that make one subject to blackmail so that prices can be controlled.

Opposing Violence Under the Guise of Art is “synonymous” to favoring fascism in present- day Austria.

“We have learned from Hermann Nitsch. We have begun to understand him....Now we think more profoundly. Only the adherents of National Socialism do not understand him.” 73 - Alfred Worm, investigative journalist.

The present is a key to understanding the past, as well as vice versa. You cannot circumvent the subject of Actionism if you want to determine how the past has affected the present.

A brotherhood in evil holds perpetrators together, just as blood served as an agglutinate for the SS.

Open books are not dangerous, Closed books are dangerous.

The Revisionist faction is an open book, but accurate historical perception can only be achieved if closed books are opened.

In the film The Master Game, directed by Lutz Dammbeck, he and Helmut Kohlenberger draw parallels between two quotations. One stems from a letter by the anonymous self- proclaimed perpetrator who alleged to have painted over the painted-over paintings of Arnulf Rainer: “I decided to become an Actionist.” The other is a phrase from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf : “I decided to become a politician.”

Helmut Kohlenberger, philosopher: “The cultural scene in which one makes a decision to become an Actionist is the structural successor to that erstwhile regime. It is the only dictatorship that is presently allowed in this country.

Lutz Dammbeck: “In other words, in the cultural scene one can give vent to Nazi-type barbarity under a Leftist banner.”

73 Club 2, ORF, Feb. 7, 1995. 23

Kohlenberger: “Here is a text that irritatingly brings to mind that there is a continuity right in the midst of the asserted discontinuity, and right where you might least expect to find it, that is among the good old leftist and anti-fascistic artists.”74

“An artist recognizes his work when it is sent to his home free of charge via the media.” (From a letter sent to Dr. Michael Sika, the Director of the Security Police, after the letter- bomb attack on Dr. Helmut Zilk, the Mayor of Vienna.)75

According to Josef Dvorak: “In a back room of the Mühl Commune on Prater Strasse, Hermann Flasch and others were constructing explosive devices. They planned to send letter bombs to various politicians and institutions, and all traces should lead to Hermann Flasch. The police were to find him dead. The suicide was to be carried out according to an exact “happening partitur”, and it was to be filmed. In June of 1972, I found out the details Hermann Flasch’s plan....On June 4th Flasch wandered around aimlessly in the Prater Amusement Park in Vienna and called me to ask for help. We arranged to meet on June 8th, and I saw him three times after that. He showed me the partitur of the suicide-happening, which I had previously seen but not understood at the Mühl Commune. I found out the names of others involved in the “explosive action” ... Beside his body the police found the suicide “partitur.” The suicide had been carried out exactly according this plan. Days after the body had been discovered, the last of the explosive devices arrived at their addressees. In September of 1973, I wrote an obituary for Neues Forum. Mühl blocked its publication, and he threatened me with consequences if I wrote articles critical of Viennese Actionism. I would no longer be able to practice my profession in Austria ... A few days later it became clear that the Affair Case was to be hushed up. The police investigation was superficial and background information did not find its way into the newspapers. An influential political functionary (unsuccessfully) attempted to prevent an anti-Mühl article from being published in the Arbeiter-Zeitung. Colleagues warned me that there would be “repercussions” by influential people: I knew too much.”76

An additional registered suicide in the Mühl Commune: a man was found with seven knife wounds in his body.77

Otto Mühl says it: “Everything is worthy of presentation....That includes rape and murder.78 Coitus, torture and the annihilation of man and beast is the only drama worth viewing.....Murder is an integral part of sex. House pets have to serve as surrogates. I intend to commit the perfect murder on a goat that will serve as a substitute for a woman.79 In my next films humans will be slaughtered. Slaughtering humans must not continue to be a monopoly of the state…. It will soon become an ethical necessity to rob banks and to shoot a random cripple down”80 Direct art also demands the blood toll to which it is entitled! “ 81

Mühls predecessors did not have to use animals as an ersatz. They took the direct path.

74 Helmut Kohlenberger interviewed by Lutz Dammbeck in his film Das Meisterspiel, Germany, 1998. 75 From the film Das Meisterspiel, directed by Lutz Dammbeck, Germany 1998. 76 Josef Dvorak,: „Amoklauf der Aktionisten,“ Neues Forum, Sept./Oct. 1974, Vienna, p. 2. 77 Source: Florence Burnier who was formerly a member of the AAO Commune. 78 Josef Dvorak: “Die Faschisten von heute: Antwort an Hermann Nitsch,“ Neues Forum, No. 246, June 1974, Vienna, p. 44; Otto Mühl, ZOCK, Aspekte einer Totalrevolution 66/71 Munich, 1971; Supervisuel 6, „Otto Mühl will Menschen schlachten“, Zurich, 1970. 79 Fritz Rumler: “Ein Problem der Umweltverschmutzung?,“ Der Spiegel No. 47, Nov. 16, 1970, p. 254. 80 Josef Dvorak: “Amoklauf der Aktionisten,“ Neues Forum, Sept./Oct. 1974, Nos. 249/250, p. 2. 81 Otto Mühl: mama & papa. materialaktion p. 63-69, Frankfurt am Main (about 1969), p. 12. 24

Peter Weibel: “The true heroes of freedom are those who commit crimes run amuck and assassinate. It is only possible for man to realize himself by running amuck, by murder and by assassination….I would be glad if I had the strength to act like the assassins and those who run amuck. These are exceptional human achievements for me.”82

From Oswald Wiener’s cult novel, Die Verbesserung von Mitteleuropa (The Improvement of Middle Europe): “I’ll be there right away ‘on the wings of hate,’ the devil take me, I hit all of them in the mouth like a maniac and, the devil take me, it’ll be the greatest intellectual pleasure of my life.”83 And here’s more: “Someone who looks like a Jew will be constantly hurled in a corner head-first.”84

Oswald Wiener: “We thought about killing people as a work of art, or that sort of thing – if that is radical. But it did not happen. Bayer, Achleitner, Rühm and I met for intensive discussions on an almost daily basis for two or three years.”85

Hermann Nitsch: “I could well envision that murder could be a component of a work of art; the artist’s accountability would be have another status.…Thus, art can consist of a crime.”86 Killing was and is beyond all moral judgments.”87

“The intoxication created by the blood and the ripping apart of raw flesh should be satisfying and enjoyable since it relieves man of his suppressed desires....Killing was, and is, beyond all moral judgments.88 If possible I would prefer to work with human beings, with dead human beings, with corpses to be specific.”89I could well envision that murder could be a component of a work of art; the artist’s accountability would have another status…Thus, art can consist of a crime.”90 Killing was and is beyond all moral judgments.”91 - Hermann Nitsch

More from Wiener: “It was not easy to drink my urine and eat my feces....Long before Actionism, (Gerhard) Rühm and (Konrad) Bayer wrote: ‘Defecation and urination are art.’”92

“Blood and Soil” was the basis Nazi art. This has given way to “Blood and Feces.”

Blood and Fecal Art is an excrescence of the Third Reich.

82 Peter Weibel concerning his Für Menschen verboten; Hilde Schmölzer, Das böse Wien, Nymphenberger Verlag, Munich, 1973, p. 191-192. 83 Oswald Wiener: Die Verbesserung von Mitteleuropa, Roman, Rowohlt, Reinbek, 1969, p. CV. 84 Ibd., p. CXI 85 Oswald Wiener: „Über Kunst und Automatentheorie: Ein Gespräch mit Stan Lafleur“; Textauszug aus: Eckhard Hammel, Hrsg., Synthetische Welten. Kunst, Künstlichkeit und Kommunikationsmedien, Essen, Verlag der Blaue Eule, 1996, p. 199-213. 86 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 87 Paula Devarney: “Nitsch - Art of Killing,” Caellian, 9. Oct. 1970; Hermann Nitsch: Das rote Tuch - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater - Im Spiegel der Presse 1960-1988, Freibord, Vienna, 1988, p. 106. 88 Gerhard Jaschke: Das rote Tuch, from Paula Devarney: “Nitsch: Art of Killing,” Caellian, Oct. 9, 1970. 89 Mojca Kumerdej: “Hermann Nitsch o smrti in Zivljenu,” Delo, Ljubljana, Oct. 3, 1992; “Im Blutrausch,” News,, No. 30/95, p. 190; “Sechs Tage blutiges Welttheater,” News, No. 40/96, p. 190, “The Devil In a Grey Beard,” interview with Adrian Searle, The Guardian, Manchester, Nov. 15, 1997, p. 17; News, No. 27, July, 2001, p. 7. 90 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 91 Paula Devarney: “Nitsch - Art of Killing,” Caellian, 9. Oct. 1970; Hermann Nitsch: Das rote Tuch - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater - Im Spiegel der Presse 1960-1988, Freibord, Vienna, 1988, p. 106. 92 Oswald Wiener interviewed by Friedrich Geyerhofer, Wiener Sonderdruck, Wiener Aktionismus, 1981, p. 58. 25

Otto Mühl’s Credo

The Friedrichshof Lord’s Prayer Long live the whole! I must resist temptation to sin against the whole in sex as well as with my belongings and in thought and deed. Everything must be for the good of the whole. I will terminate the program that has been impressed on me by strange ethical persons and transform it into a social program for the good of the whole. I think, work, act and feel exclusively for the whole. Without the whole I am nothing.93

Here’s more Mühl: “I consider the adults as nothing but a food for children. My plan would be, 5,000 children with the adults renouncing happiness and doing nothing but earning money for construction purposes. The only purpose is the transformation of self. A relationship between two people is a thing of the past, no more personal feelings. You dismantle everything and abrogate the fixation on money. You serve only one end and that is the third generation. The children of the third generation will be superior to everyone else; they will be humans the like of which the world has never seen.”94

Does this echo Lebensborn? Lebensborn was the Third Reich mating college which was established in order to achieve the Master Race.

Otto Mühl on his favorite subject: “I am probably the most vain man under God’s Heaven....Caesar, Napoleon, Stalin, Lenin and Hitler accomplished great things that are still spoken about in either a negative or a positive sense; the most important aim in life should be to be talked about. Life would have no meaning without that.…Being world-famous is marvelous. Otherwise life would be asinine. I wouldn’t be able to bear not being renowned. I am famous and I will become more famous. Even if I hadn’t become famous through Actionism, I’d have achieved fame through the Commune.”95

Certainly it cannot be denied that Otto Mühl achieved his aims.

And in comparison Hermann Nitsch: “I have been everything. I was Napoleon, I was Christ, I was Nietzsche, I was Schopenhauer, and I will be everything that is to come.”96

Mühl about his colleague: “Nitsch is a sadist with a mania for approbation, an autistic alcoholic who’s completely narcissistic and a mother’s boy who didn’t get enough attention. Rainer is genuinely violent and a sadist. Nitsch torments the participants in his actions;

93 Andreas Schlothauer, Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p. 9. 94 Andreas Schlothauer: AGPF AKTUELL III/89 of Nov. 17,1989, p. 8 95 Andreas Schlothauer, Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität p. 121-122. 96 Seitenblicke. ORF, June 6, 1995; Zitate, Kronen Zeitung, June 11, 1995. 26

they’re constantly freezing. He arranges that intentionally. I’d like to know how many became ill, how many caught pneumonia, how many died.”97

Nitsch about his colleague: “Mühl’s specialty is minors and sex and my specialty is the agonizing torture of animals.”98

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna: “Let us look back to 1968! Sexual permissiveness, the movement for sexual freedom pervaded all of society. Needless to say, the Mühl Commune serves as the best negative example. There was a time when that 99 institution was very fashionable in intellectual circles.” But pray, who promoted Otto Mühl?

In the early Nineteen-Fifties Monsignor Otto Mauer, was instrumental in introducing modern art to post-war Austria. He founded the “Galerie St. Stephan” in Vienna and promoted such avant-garde artists as Wolfgang Hollegha, Josef Mikl und Markus Prachensky.

However, when artists came on the scene, whose work transcended theirs in sensationalism. Rather than using such materials as canvass, paper, wood and stone, they used the human body, its fluids and secretions. These “pioneers” worked individually and as a group under the name of the Vienna Actionists, and Mauer concentrated his efforts on promoting them.

Luminaries of the movement are Otto Mühl, Hermann Nitsch, Günter Brus, Peter Weibel, Valie Export and Rudolf Schwarzkogler.

Otto Mühl exhibited and engaged in actions in the Josef Dvorak Gallery in Ungargasse, before moving to Mauer in St. Stephan’s Gallery.

Josef Dvorak, a Catholic theologian, concerning Otto Mauer: “He thought that Otto Mühl and Hermann Nitsch were much better suited to his gallery than mine. That is why his intrigue against me was unlimited.”100

Otto Mauer, the official “Catholic Caretaker of Souls” was the pater familias of the Actionists. With Cardinal Franz König’s benediction, he promoted the poète maudit element of the Austrian cultural scene and helped mint their spirit.

Èpater le bourgeois actualized to emmerder le monde. Public sado-masochism and brutality were the means. Actionism did not develop anti-humanistic tendencies; they were immediately apparent and are an integral part of it.

Mauer was instrumental in making Actionism socially acceptable and officially acceptable in Austria. As a fledgling Actionist Otto Mühl had found the ideal venue for his activities.

Actionism did not “develop” anti-humanistic tendencies; they were immediately apparent. Mauer was instrumental in making Actionism officially acceptable in Austria. What’s more, Actionism never would have caught on the way it did, had its pivotal promoter not been a man of the cloth.

97 Andreas Schlothauer, Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität p. 122. 98 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 99 Kurier, March 6, 2010. 100 Josef Dvorak: “Aus den Anfangen des Wiener Aktionismus,“ Wiener, Special Edition, Wiener Aktionismus, 1981, p.8. 27

The Actionists were the performers of the fecal orgy in the aula of the University of Vienna in 1968 and other sado-masochistic extravaganzas. By these actions they propelled themselves to success, state prizes and university professorships in Austria and Germany and set about conquering the International Art World, and indeed the trend spread like wildfire.

Otto Mühl’s espousal of violence had long been confirmed in word and deed, and his attitude and behavior toward children had been adequately manifested.

The political support and permission to establish the Mühl Commune as “a private boarding school” enabled the insulation of the children and young people. If the children had attended a public schools, Mühl would not have been able to insulate them and they would have been spared the suffering he and his cohorts inflicted on them.

Otto Mühl established the Commune in Prater Strasse in 1970 while he was being promoted by Msgr. Otto Mauer. During this time Mühl went to the Allgemeinen-Krankenhaus-Hospital in Vienna with a group of children that were infected with venereal disease. The head nurse at the time was Greta Scherhak.101

On April 17, 1967, Mühl along with Oswald Wiener and Peter Weibel presented an Actionist performance in Mauer’s St. Stephan’s Gallery.102 (This was followed by the sado-masochistic extravaganza at the University of Vienna on June 7th.) Mühl had made a name for himself by engaging in public fecal orgies. These were to serve as the basis for the “failed experiment.” In Weibel/Export’s Wien book, he is depicted with Hanel Koeck, art critic Peter Gorsen’s wife, copulating in feces.103 Ms. Koeck is an Actionism groupie and has also participated in similar performances with Hermann Nitsch.104)

Here is Otto Mühl during the time he was being promoted by Otto Mauer. Kerstin Braun: “Mühl appropriately propagates MURDER AS ART: ‘In the past, animals and humans were tortured and killed ritualistically….today animals are slaughtered on masse….and art should stand idly by! NO! DIRECT ART ALSO DEMANDS THE BLOOD TOLL TO WHICH IT IS ENTITLED!’ 105….Mühl also demands the freedom to slaughter human beings in public. No one should be slaughtered against his will’….In accord with the senselessness of people being killed on a daily basis Mühl considers this action ‘a means of expression justified in our society.” 106

Mauer to artist Günther Kraus: “A good Catholic cannot be a good artist.”107

Mauer labeled the object-artist Padhi Friebeger as a heretic. Then he offered to promote Frieberger if he joined the Catholic Church.108

101 Sources: Greta Scherhak; Walter Jaromin, Detective. 102 Peter Weibel, Valie Export, Eds.: Wien: Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970, p. 143. 103 Weibel/Export, Wien, p. 75-78; Peter Gorsen: Das Nachleben des Wiener Aktionismus. Interpretationen und Einlassungen seit 1969, Ritter Verlag, Klagenfurt, 2009. 104 Peter Weibel: “Ein deutscher Krimi,” Der Standard, April, 19, 1989, Vienna, p. 23. 105 Otto Mühl: mama & papa. materialaktion p. 63-69, Frankfurt am Main, 1969. 106 Kerstin Braun: Der Wiener Aktionismus: Positionen und Prinzipien, Böhlau, Vienna, 1999. p. 150-151. Otto Mühl, Aktionismus, 1973, Typscript, Koll, F. 107 Source: Günther Kraus, Maler. 108 Source: Padhi Frieberger. 28

Otto Mauer, during the Third Reich: “The artist is in league with the devil, either as one possessed or as an exorcist.”109

Bishop Egon Kapellari, Austria's Bishop for Art: “Monsignor Otto Mauer, the unforgotten sponsor of contemporary art of his time, wrote in his renowned text, ”A Discourse on Art,” that he was aware that society, yes even the state, had to defend itself against anti- humanistic, racial discriminatory, anti-Semitic, etc. art. “110

Otto Mauer in 1948, three years after the Holocaust: “The Jews have immense influence on communism and capitalism. They pass themselves off as defenders of humanity…but they are nothing but a depraved people with a perverted spirit….They have been condemned to eternal damnation….They invariably choose the evil path.” 111

During the event Encomium of the Personage Otto Mauer Wednesday, October 27, 1999, Archbishop’s Palace, Vienna, statement by Otto Mauer read by Herbert Kuhner, filmed by Fritz Kleibel, Title: Unterwegs mit Herbert Kuhner, 2014.

At that event a sermon was quoted in which Mauer spoke against Nazi persecution from the pulpit of St Stephen’s Cathedral was arrested having expressed these sentiments. I for one am skeptical. I find it hard to believe that a man who mouthed a concatenation anti-Semitic clichés in 1948 would have championed Jewish victims a few years earlier. When I requested this wartime material from Bishop Kapellari’s office, no reply was forthcoming.

Bishop Egon Kapellari, Austria’s Bishop for Art: “Monsignor Otto Mauer, the unforgotten sponsor of contemporary art of his time, wrote in his renowned text, “A Discourse on Art,” that he was aware that society, yes even the state, had to defend itself against anti-humanistic, racial discriminatory, anti-Semitic, etc. art. “

Otto Mauer continues to expound on Jews: “The choice of Barrabas at the time of Jesus is analogous to the man with the submachine gun and the man who plants bombs in Palestine today...it is impossible to believe in the realization of the Jewish state…and the Jews are to blame that the Kingdom of God has not been established. This promise will not be fulfilled until all heathens and then the Jews recognize the Church…But first it will be the turn of the heathens and then the Jews.”112

A year later Mauer was more “conciliatory.” In 1949 he wrote: “There is a solution to the Jewish problem, but just one: the Jews must recognize Christ as the Messiah, the heathens must become Christians…”113

109 Günther Nenning : “Was Not tat,“ Die Presse, Sept. 11, 1999, Spectrum, p. V, Vienna; original source, Otto Mauer, These zur Kunst, 1941. 110 Salzburger Nachrichten, “Spiritual Resistance” Bishop Egon Kapellari interviewed by Martin Behr, p. 14, Nov. 19, 2005. 111 Hugo Löwy: “Warum Haß?“ Renaissance, No. 10, May, 1948, p. 10: quoted from a lecture by Otto Mauer on April 10, 1948 at the Volkshochschule Alsergrund for the “Circle for Christian and Jewish Problems”; also referred to in No. 18, Jan. 1949; researched by Dr. Evelyn Adunka. 112 Hugo Löwy: “Warum Haß?“ Renaissance, No. 10, May, 1948, p. 10: quoted from a lecture by Otto Mauer on April 10, 1948 at the Volkshochschule Alsergrund for the “Circle for Christian and Jewish Problems”; also referred to in No. 18, Jan. 1949; researched by Dr. Evelyn Adunka. 113 Renaissance, No. 18, January, 1949. 29

Otto Mauer, during the Third Reich: “The artist is in league with the devil, either as one possessed or as an exorcist.”

“People have no idea about the crimes that have occurred in the name of the Church. People are mostly idiots.”114 - Günter Brus, Actionist

Protocol by Hans Anthofer, December 28, 1999, Vienna:

“In the mid-eighties I went to a charity event presided over by Prelate Dr. Leopold Ungar President of Caritas, in his office in the Trautmansdorffgasse, 1130 Vienna. We discussed the role of the Church towards the Jews. Dr. Ungar said that there had been a dreadful anti- Semitic attitude. During the nineteen-thirties and he told me this: were as in the thirties (Schuschniggzeit) once in the St Stephen’s Cathedral in the sacristy four Jewish coverts were ordained as priests. After the ordination Cardinal Innitzer told me in the sacristy: they were and they remain Jews. Later the priest Otto Mauer expressed the same assertion”

The Rat Line

After World War II, the Vatican opened its doors to Nazi and Ustascha mass murderers. The Ustascha engaged in creative arts and crafts such as making necklaces out of eyeballs.

The Vatican “Rat Line” helped these “good Catholics” to escape to Spain and South America.

After the war, Otto Mauer along with Bishop Alois Hudal, who was located at the Vatican, was a member of the Rat Line that aided escaping Nazis, as well as those who remained in Austria.

Monsignor Otto Mauer in 115 Vienna and Bishop Alois Hudal, who was located at the Vatican, were the Austrian members of the Rat Line. They aided escaping Nazis, as well as those who remained in Austria.

Among Mauer’s protégés was former Third Reich publicist Otto Schulmeister, who in turn supported Mauer. Mauer and Schulmeister collaborated as editors on the Catholic cultural monthly Wort und Wahrheit together, which they founded in the Fifties.

Otto Schulmeister, 1989: “There were many swine at the time, not only brown ones.” 116 Asked whether he regretted what he had written during the Third Reich in National Socialist organs, he replied: “Not in the least!”117

Otto Schulmeister became a member of the Nazi Party in 1942. His doctorial thesis, “Die werdende Großraumwirtschaft“ was published that same year in the Nazi publishing house

114 www.wienerzeitung.at Feb.2,2013. 115 Albert Massiczek: Ich habe meine Pflicht erfüllt. Von der SS in den Widerstand. Ein Lebensbericht; Vol. 2, Junius Verlag, Vienna, 1989, p.147; Albert Massiczek: Elefantenhäutig oder die Unschuld von Österreich, Falter, No. 8, 1988, Vienna, p. 5. 116 Inlandsreport, ORF, July 20, 1989; Medien und Zeit, No. 3, 1989, Vienna, p. 2, 117 Ibid. 30

“Berlin.” In this thesis he justified the German expansion in the East as restoration of the German Lebensraum.118

The Vatican preferred the Third Reich to the Soviet Union. That makes sense: Christian monsters are preferable to atheistic ones.

Bishop Hudal helped Ustascha mass-murderer Ante Pavelic, SS-Colonel Walter Rauff, the inventor of the mobile gas van, to escape capture. Gustav Wagner, deputy commander of Sobibor, who killed a quarter of a million Jews. Josef Mengele, the murderous doctor of Auschwitz. Klaus Barbie, the butcher of Lyon. Adolf Eichmann, chief architect of the Final Solution – to name a few.

Bishop Hudal, Christmas, 1945: “I am delighted to greet 110 wanted war criminals. They can be hunted far and wide. Here they are safe.”119

Bishop Hudal describes his good deeds: “After 1945 all my charitable work was primarily devoted to the former members of National Socialism and Fascism, particularly the so-called ‘war criminals,’ who were being persecuted and were frequently personally completely without guilt.”120

“The bishop (Hudal) entered the room and welcomed me with outstretched arms and said, ‘You must be Franz Stangl. I’ve been waiting for you.’”121 (Franz Stangel was Commandant of Treblinka Concentration Camp. The number of His victims is nine-hundred-thousand) Stangl ended up in Brazil where Volkswagen gave him a sinecure in Sao Paulo. He made pocket money by advising the military dictatorship, as well helping Volkswagon to weed out and interrogate activists on their premises.

His Excellency Hudal also helped Ustascha mass-murderer Ante Pavelic, SS-Colonel Walter Rauff, the inventor of the mobile gas van, to escape capture. Gustav Wagner, deputy commander of Sobibor, who killed a quarter of a million Jews. Josef Mengele, the murderous doctor of Auschwitz. Adolf Eichmann, chief architect of the Final Solution – to name a few.

Eichmann: “I recall with deep gratitude the aid given to me by Catholic priests in my flight across Europe and I decided to honor the Catholic faith by becoming an honorary member.”122 (Eichmann had been a Protestant)

A key phrase by Otto Mühl: “Democracy is a load of shit!”123

The writer Anton Fuchs told me that one of the Viennese Group affiliates, who recently died, had told him that he and some colleagues had been invited to the home of a Parisian industrialist. There they went on a rampage, which included the rape of the host’s wife. The same individual said that during nighttime brawl at the Danube Canal, he had hit a man in the

118 Christa Zöchling: “Ex-‚Presse‘-Chef im Dienste der CIA: Otto Schulmeister agierte für den Geheimdienst.” Profil No. 17 April 20, 2009. 119 Bishop Alois Hudal’s secretary, Hans Mayer, tape recording, 1979, Die Waffen SS, ZDF, 2002. 120 Alois C. Hudal, Römische Tagebücher, Lebensbeichte eines alten Bischofs, Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz, 1976, p. 21 121 Gerald Steinacker: Nazis auf der Flucht, Studien Verlag, Innsbruck, 2008. 122 Ernst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe: wie die Kirchen den Nazis halfen., Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1991, p. 25 123 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p. 139. 31

eye with a ringed finger and told of how the blow had given him a marvelous emotional boost. An exhibit of his “work” is running as I write this.

Peter Hurmer: “Initially I considered the Mühl Commune as an extremely thrilling experiment. It probably was too….In the nineteen-eighties I visited Friedrichshof two or three times and I did not like it at all – a rather unpleasant atmosphere and a grotesquely ridiculous cult around Mühl. Thus I declined additional invitations. I had no idea about the abuse of children, but it did not really surprise me when I read about it.”124

Among those who countered criticism of the Commune was Peter Sichrovsky, who was employed by Mühl as a PR-advisor. Sichrovsky acted as Mühl’s champion with articles such as Das Sonnenenreich des Aktionisten (The Sunny Realm of the Actionist).125

Bruno Kreisky extols and sanctions Otto Mühl: “...my friend the great painter, perhaps the best we have in Austria.126 He went through a great and intense development as a human being, and he as a matter of fact, brought new humane qualities to the life of the community.”127 “From a liberal point of view, we have no choice but to let these young people go their way.128 We must offer this experiment protection against being attacked by the press, above all by German papers.”129

Other politicians who vociferously supported the Commune are Theodor Kery, Hilde Hawlicek, Karl Blecha and Helmut Zilk.130

In the winter of 1989, Mühl and his fellow Actionists were honored at their exhibit their exhibition in Kassel, Germany, by Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky who traveled there to open it.

Dramatist Peter Turrini visits the Commune and comments: “The first time I was able to generate the sympathy of the group was by a matricide. I performed a ritualistic matricide and I screamed, shouted, cried, pissed and shat, disintegrating completely and yet at the same time, acting and experiencing murder, which was always combined, the end and I lay there, naked and sweating and sobbing, they approached me and caressed me and said. ‘That was insanely pleasant,’ and it really was. After all, who has murdered his mother? My introduction to the group was matricide.”131

Ex-Commune member Andreas Schlothauer: “Most of the former members of the commune know that Otto Mühl abused girls whose ages ranged 12 to 16. He practiced what was known in the Middle Ages as ‘jus primae noctis,’ however Mühl extended this right for weeks or months.”132

124 Peter Huemer, Brief an Herbert Kuhner. 125 Ibid., p. 141-142. 126 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität: AAO, Mühl-Kommune, Friedrichshof, Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik; Vienna, 1992, p. 139. 127 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität p. 141. 128 Im Brennpunkt: “Die Tage der Kommune,“ Dokumentation von Elisabeth Scharang, ORF (Austrian TV) Feb. 11, 1998, quotation by Robert Sedlacek, Bruno Kreisky's secretary from 1980-1983. 129 Ibid., quotation by Karl Iro. 130 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p. 139-141. 131 Im Brennpunkt, “Die Tage der Kommune,” Dokumentation by Elisabeth Scharang, ORF (Austrian TV) Feb. 11, 1998. 132 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualitä,t p. 145. 32

When members of the commune rebelled, the yellow press helped bring Mühl down. “Progressive” elements either defended him or stayed on the sidelines.

As far as the revisionists are concerned, those who attempt to downplay the murder of one- and-a-half million children in the death factories of the Third Reich are not opposed to the abuse of children.)

Concerning proceedings during the trial of Mühl on January 23, 1990: “After the moving descriptions of seven girls who were sexually abused by Mühl, a compilation of videos was shown after the courtroom had been cleared of spectators. In addition to violent actions by Mühl, his wife Claudia was shown forcing minors to engage in oral sex with her in front of an enthusiastic audience. ‘I have seen the films, and they cannot be compared to anything I’ve ever viewed,’ said Frau Jelinek, the judge, ‘The boys did not want to do it; they were in tears. They received a permanent shock. One was her son, the son and his stepmother!’ (One of the boys was the son of Otto Mühl and Claudia’s sister).”133

“District attorney Rabonog, still under the impression of the testimony of witnesses and the videos, stated in his summation: ‘I have taken part in many major trials, but the fate of the victims has never moved me so much as in this one. Mühl engages in the practice of terror. History has shown us what a concentration camp is. What the girls in the Friedrichshof had to go through was just as horrible. Otto Mühl experimented with people; he manipulated them. He was so sensitive as an artist that he thought that when a girl said “no” she meant “yes.” The children weren't voluntarily there; he had taken their parents from them, and thus the ability of leaving the commune. They didn't have a chance.’”134

Otto Mühl's trial in Eisenstadt ended with a conviction and a seven-year sentence for “the sexual abuse of minors, rape and forced abortion.”135

MAK: (Museum of Applied Arts): “Otto Mühl: Life as a Work of Art”

The great crimes of this earth are murder, rape and torture. A murderer takes the life of a human being. A rapist violates a human being. A torturer inflicts unbearable pain on his victim.

The suffering of a murdered victim ceases after he has been killed. A victim of rape is spiritually killed but continues to live.

Pedophilia is rape of an infant, a child or a minor. Pedophilia can be effected by violent means, intimidation or seduction. Committing the crime of pedophilia is tantamount to the murder of an infant, a child or a minor.

Those who committed such crimes must be brought to justice, as well as those who shielded them, no matter what their rank.

A crime is a crime, even when it is committed by those who are on the left of the spectrum.

133 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p 174 :Schlothauer concerning proceedings during the trial of Otto Mühl on January 23, 1990 134 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p 174. 135 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, cover blurb. 33

Stalin, Mao and the Kymer Rouge furnished the proof.

Almuth Spiegler: „Otto Mühl:Artist, Criminal, Demagogue. Mühl was also at the very least a criminal. He did what is not done in the arts. He had called for “direct art” in his anarchistic manifestos of the 1960s. The social utopian commune was realized as a totalitarian spying and abuse system.”136

Profil magazine:“Merry-go-round – the former Minister of Education, Rudolf Scholten comments on the agitation concerning the grand Otto Mühl Exibit in Vienna. Step right up, folks, lots of fun for adults and the kiddies alike! The ‘moral-attackers’ look a bit ridiculous as they bang the same heads against the same wall decade after decade …. A crime us not less of a crime because it has been committed by an artist, and it follows that art is not less valid due to the fact that the artist is an offender… It is imperative that in a civilized legal system that the judges must be impartial and independent and that the victims should not take it upon themselves to judge the perpetrator.” 137 - Dr. Rudolf Scholten, former Minister of Art, concerning Otto Mühl. Scholten is member of the Board of Directors of the Austrian Kontroll-Bank, the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Executive Committee of the Bilderberg-Conference

Otto Mühl Exhibit in the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, March 3 – May 31, 2004: “Otto Mühl: Life/Art/Work Action Utopia Painting 1960 –2004” (Original title: Life as a Work of Art)

The validity of an artwork is a matter of opinion, but crime is concrete matter.

Otto Mühl’s life, with all of its aspects is being touted as a work of art in this exhibit and by his advocates. An integral part of that life was the abuse of children.

Otto Mühl is a “hit,” not in spite of his deeds but because of them.

Those who promote Otto Mühl’s work are disseminating his spirit. Otto Mühl’s art and life are presented as one and are sold as an entity. His deeds are part of the sales pitch.

And speaking of walls, there are indeed protective walls.

“After the moving descriptions of seven girls who were sexually abused by Mühl, a compilation of videos was shown after the courtroom had been cleared of spectators. In addition to violent actions by Mühl, his wife Claudia was shown forcing minors to engage in oral sex with her in front of an enthusiastic audience. ‘I have seen the films, and they cannot be compared to anything I’ve ever viewed,’ said Frau Jelinek, the judge, ‘The boys did not want to do it; they were in tears. They received a permanent shock. One was her son, the son and his stepmother!’ (One of the boys was the son of Otto Mühl and Claudia’s sister).”138 - Andreas Schlothauer concerning proceedings during the trial of Mühl on January 23, 1990

From Der Spiegel: “One of the women, who is now 29 years old, describes how Mühl forced her to engage in sexual actions with him in front of the leadership of the commune at the age

136 Almuth Spiegler „Otto Mühl: Künstler, Verbrecher, Demagoge,“ Die Presse, May 27, 2013. 137 Rudolf Scholten, Profil, No. 11, 8, March 8, 2004, p. 147. 138 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p 174. 34

of five. Both women state that at the time of Mühl’s trial, they were forced to remain silent about these occurrences by members of the Commune.”139

After his incarceration, Mühl was honored by two highly-subsidized exhibits under the auspices of Ursula Pasterk, Municipal Cultural Coordinator of the City of Vienna.

Among those colleagues who spoke for him are Christian Ludwig Attersee, Kurt Kalb, Oswald Oberhuber, Arnulf Rainer and Hermann Nitsch who compared him with Egon Schiele.140 And many other notables signed a petition to set him free.

This comparison was also used by Green politician Peter Pilz: “And what about Egon Schiele who served nine sentences in prison?”141

(According to the Museo d’Arte Moderno di Lugano:“Schiele was arrested and imprisoned for 24 days. The accusation of abduction was shown to be unfounded but the artist was, however, convicted for having allowed minors to enter his studio where erotic drawings were hanging everywhere.”142 According to Museum Online Austria, one of Schiele’s drawings was burned in the court by the presiding judge, who was himself a collector or erotica.143)

Peter Noever has compared Otto Mühl to Cellini and Caravaggio, using them as examples of artists who committed violent acts.144

Cellini killed the man who had killed his brother in duel. Caravaggio killed a man over a disputed score in a game of tennis. These acts were not “expressions of their art,” but rather violent acts committed by artists who were hot-tempered brawlers.

Mühl’s advocates and apologists refer to the Commune as a “failed experiment.”

Heinz Sichrovsky of News comments: “Mühl was the only artist who attempted in his Commune to realize political utopias of freedom for sex and from possessions. He failed grotesquely and went to prison for seven years.”145

However, it should be stated that Otto Mühl tripped up. Usually rolling in feces ultimately means rolling in dough with no problems.

Indeed, Otto Mühl was rewarded after his release from prison by having a “dramolette” performed at Claus Peymann's Burgtheater on February 12, 1998 with support from Peter Turrini, Christian Ludwig Attersee and Einar Schleef. An exhibit of Mühl's prison paintings opened on February 18, 1998 at the Austrian Museum of Applied Art in Vienna.

Claus Peymann emphatically stated that he was justified to place the Burgtheater at Mühl’s disposal since “Mühl had served his sentence.”146 Mühl’s play Muchl is, among other things, a travesty of the legal system that had found Mühl guilty of the abuse and rape of minors.

139 Jürgen Kremb: „Opfer der Kommine“ Der Spiegel, No. 10, March 1, 2004, p. 156. 140 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p 122 & 175. 141 “Ihr seid’s alle auf Sex fixiert,” News, No. 10, Oct. 3, 1996, Vienna. p. 55. 142 Museo d'Arte Moderna di Lugano - Egon Schiele, Internet. 143 www.museumonline.at 144 Peter Noever, ORF, Treffpunkt Kultur, March 8, 2004. 145 Heinz Sichrovsky, D. Kaindl, A Stroh, A. Pasher: 1968: “Aufstand der Kunst”, News, No. 16, April 16, 1998 p. 155. 35

Mühl’s remorse for his actions: “I have no feelings of guilt for what I have done.”147

And three years later: “I made mistakes in the commune, but definitely not concerning sexuality.”148

Otto Mühl’s assessment: “I have no enemies. Anyone who doesn’t love me is a psychopath.”149

Excerpt from a letter from Otto Mühl, June l8, 2010 to Daniele Roussel, at the request of Rudolf Leopold: “the comments of adolescent in courtroom stunned me. i wanted to liberate them but instead perplexed and offended them with sexual excesses. it was certainly not my intention and i hope that they forgive me.“

Claus and Klaus: Klaus Bachler invited Hermann Nitsch to perform “the Temple of language”150 on November 19, 2005.

Otto Mühl Exhibit in the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, March 3 – May 31, 2000: “Otto Mühl: Life/Art/Work Action Utopia Painting 1960 –2004” (Original MAK title: Life as a Work of Art)

MAK Board of Trustees: Andreas Treichl, Chairman (Erste Bank, Director) Rudolf Scholten Vice-Chairman (Kontroll-Bank, Director,)

“Otto Mühl is one of the most important artists of the post-war period.”151 We are dealing with the artistic work of Otto Mühl ... The exhibit is necessary in order to determine who Otto Mühl is.152 On the other hand, these elements cannot be separated from each other.”153 - Peter Noever, MAK Director

The validity in art is a matter of opinion, but crime is concrete matter.

Here we have a man, who along with his ilk, not only used Third Rich phraseology but also engaged in “appropriate” behavior. And his despicable life has been designated as a work of art.

As someone who experienced the Third Reich personally, I say he, his ilk and their advocates are not foes of the Revisionists, but rather their competitors in inhumanity.

Here we have present-day artists who are continuing the tradition.

146 ORF, Claus Peymann interview, Feb. 1998. 147Quoted in the ORF-Discussion, Zur Sache, February 15,1998, “Otto Mühl an der Burg - Kunst oder Provokation.” 148 Arte Metropolis, Dec. 8, 2001. 149 Otto Mühl Interview, Die Zeit, Feb. 26, 2004, Nr. 10, Hamburg. 150 Herner Feuilleton, Aug. 24, 2005. 151 Peter Noever, Kronen Zeitung, Feb. 4, 2004. 152 Peter Noever, ORF, Treffpunkt Kultur, March 8, 2004. 153 Peter Noever, ORF, Zeit im Bild 3, March 8, 2004. 36

“A bird is tied to a pedestal with a thin cord. I kneel in front of the bird on the pedestal and then I pour scalding wax over it. When I knock the pot of wax over with my head the bird’s head is inundated and my right hand is doused.” 155 - Valie Export, Actionist & designer of the anti-fascistic monument in Allentsteig, Lower Austria

These “artists” were apparently inspired by what would have been the greatest artist of all time, according to the staggering amount of his bestiality.

At the time of his “creations” he attempted to be secretive about them since he was not aware that they belonged in the realm of art.

As someone who experienced the Third Reich personally, I say Mühl, his cohorts and their advocates are not foes of the Revisionists, but rather their competitors in inhumanity.

Those who promote Otto Mühl’s work are disseminating his spirit. Otto Mühl’s art and life are presented as one and are sold as an entity. His deeds are part of the sales pitch.

Otto Mühl is a “hit,” not in spite of his deeds but because of them.

The elements of blood and cruelty are the key factors of this commodity. They constitute its appeal and enable the hucksters to jack the prices up sky-high – just as the use of blood by Nitsch is a commercial plus point.

Heinz Fischer, President of Austriat: “I’ve known director Peter Novner for many years as someone who certainly would not trivialize the misdeeds of Otto Mühl in his work in MAK (Museum of Applied Arts), but who would rather initiate a reappraisal of this tragic sphere…. I maintain that we should not interfere in matters that should be decided without political interference.”156

Comparisons are made. “In Austria hatred against art is systematically generated in the mob ….Tehranian conditions are where we permit them to be.””157 - Heinz Sichrovsky, critic

Rudolf Scholten to Gerhard Praschak before his suicide: “We are not living in London or New York where performance is decisive. We are in Austria where politics is the determining factor.”158

(Praschak had to vacate his bank post to Scholten.)

154 Peter Weibel, Valie Export: Wien, Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970; Speech at the University of Vienna, June, 7, 1968. 155 performance-art-research.de/AndereTexte.htm; Beschreibung von VALIE EXPORT in: http://www.urban- infill.com/asemie2.htm, 20.02.2004. 156 Heinz Fischer, 2nd Parliamentary President, June 11, 2003, letter to Hans Schroeder-Rozelle. 157 Heinz Sichrovsky, News, No. 6, Feb. 9, 2006. 158 Rudolf Scholten, News magazine, No. 18, April 1997, p. 15, quoted from Gerhard Praschak’s suicide note. 37

And after Praschak’s suicide: “I cannot engage in a controversy with someone who is no longer alive.”159

“Mühl never had sexing in the commune with small children. If Otto Mühl slept with 13- to 14-year old girls, as has been alleged, this resulted from adhering to an idea, and not a perverted idea. We thought that one is very ripe at thirteen.”160 - Danielle Rousselle, Otto Mühl Archive, Paris

Mühl in Die Zeit, February 26, 20004: “I’m not a child molester. That’s idiotic. They were all fully-developed girls.”

Die Zeit: “They were 13 and 14 years old.”

Mühl: “So what! I allegedly raped one of them. That certainly was not the case. I’m sorry that they are all so devastated. They are victims of the disbanding of the commune, rather than of free sexuality.”161

Here is a segment of an article from Der Spiegel of March 1, 2004: “Prior the opening of Mühl-Show in MAK, which they consider to be an attempt to rehabilitate the artist, two young women have come forward to present new accusations. They claim that Mühl not only abused teenagers, as has already been confirmed, but small children as well. In sworn statements, the two victims describe how Mühl forced them to participate in sexual acts when they were small children. One of the women, who is now 29 years old, describes how Mühl forced her to engage in sexual actions with him in front of the leadership of the commune at the age of five. Both women state that at the time of Mühl’s trial, they were forced to remain silent about these occurrences by members of the Commune.”162

Press Conference, Café Landtmann, Vienna, March 1, 2004 by former members of the Commune: “According to the latest information, Otto Mühl began to abuse small children from the ages of four to five in the 1970s. He did this regularly over the years. Such abuse took place at times in front of the Commune Leadership and was not brought up at Mühl’s trial in 1991….In a conversation that took place five months Frau (Claudia) Mühl told us that she was now practicing ’intergenerational exchange of tenderness.’”163

On March 5, 2004, at the presentation of Otmar Bauer’s book, 1968, Bauer stated that the children in Otto Mühl’s new commune in Algarve, Portugal were being sexually abused. 164 Bauer was co-founder of the AAO Commune.

159 Ibid. 160 Danielle Rousselle, MAK, March 2, 2004. 161 Otto Mühl Interview, Die Zeit, Feb. 26, 2004, Nr. 10, Hamburg. 162 Jürgen Kremb: „Opfer der Kommine“ Der Spiegel, No. 10, March 1, 2004, p. 156. 163Press Conference “Concerning Otto Mühl und Crime as a Work of Art,” Indictment by Former Members of the Commune at Friedrichshof , Union of Foreign Correspondents , Vienna, Café Landtmann, March 1,2004; WWW Re-Port Kritische Berichte über Otto Mühl. 164 Book presentation of Otmar Bauer’s 1968, Antiquariat “Buch und Wien”, Schäfergasse 13a, March 5, 2004. Vienna. 38

According to Florence Burnier, former Mühl Commune member the abuse of children begins after birth. Not only are small children beaten, but they are called upon to beat each other.

Burnier relates, “Concerning the abuse of children in Europe….After his release from prison, Herr Mühl “hid” in Portugal with loyal followers. He lives there, undisturbed, with about 30 children, and the ‘program’ of the Mühl sect is carried out there, just as it was previously … Children of sect members, who now live in Austria, are regularly sent to Herr Mühl for ‘further education.’”165

Segments of an interview with Nena Baumann and Silke Vogt (names changed) about their lives from the age of four to sixteen years old in the Mühl Commune, from Interviews by Jürgen Kremb (Der Spiegel) and Kathrin Pitterling (ARD, Culture Report) on January 17, 2004. One of the women, who is now 29 years old , tells that when she was five years old, she was abused by Otto Mühl surrounded by the whole commune leadership. The two women say that at the time of the Mühl trial, they were prevented from testifying about these events by commune members.

Nena: “I hope that I can help the children who are now in Portugal in some way….It must be clear to the people to those who support Otto Mühl that he is a man who has sexually abused at least 100 children. He beat children bloody, tied them up etc., during a period of years. That is something that Otto’s fans should know, Nitsch, Attersee or Noever, etc. know. I would like to ask Nitsch: ‘Nitsch, how you can in all good conscience, support a man who has abused so many children?’”

“At the trial 1991 the testimonies were incomplete. I was only four to five years old; it could be that I was younger. I knew at the time that what Otto did to me was something that was forbidden … and that I was not supposed to tell anyone about it. Later Otto told me that we children were not allowed to discuss it amongst ourselves. And I also knew that he concealed it from most of the other people. He used every opportunity regularly to abuse me – at night but also during the day. I have very vivid memories of being abused by Otto. At that time I was only 4-5 years old, maybe I was even younger. I knew at the time that what Otto did to me was forbidden. He regularly took every opportunity to abuse me. At night but also during the day. Otto Mühl considers small children to be sex objects. That’s the way it is, and that’s what makes me angry.

“An individual gets seven-year prison sentence. How can anyone think that he has become a better person! You cannot send a pedophile to prison for a few of years and then place him back with children – according to the motto: Now that he has served his sentence, we can forget about him. He now has the same power over numerous children in Portugal again. How can that be possible? How can he be with children again?

“Otto Mühl didn’t only maltreat us girls in the commune; the boys were also abused, beaten and humiliated. And it is impossible to assess what consequences this had had for us. All of us were abused in both body and spirit. No child left the commune without having been injured. Otto cannot be good to any child – no matter whether they are younger or older girls, or younger or older boys. Can such actions go unquestioned? Have they become socially acceptable?”

165 Florence Burnier, letter to Franco Frattini, EU Commissar for Freedom, Justice and Security, June 27, 2006, Vienna. 39

Silke: “Previously there had been list of children of the same age, including brothers and sisters that we had to sleep with. The list was made a woman who saw to it that we were all paired off. She decided about who had to sleep with whom.”

Nena: “We were not permitted to fall in love with anyone our age. How could I ever fall in love as thirteen-year-old with a monster who was 64 years old? That is completely impossible. It was horrific!”

Silke:“Or a child was doused with a bucket of cold water before everyone.”

Nena: “A three-year-old boy was afraid of stink bugs, When Otto found out, he forced the boy to open his mouth and pushed stink bug in - tormented him acurely. And he administered valium to an eight-year old child – an eight-year-old was bound and forced to take valium. Otto may be sick but he is very shrewd....During our childhood he joked about his pedophilia to the grownups, but he engaged in it on a daily basis, and people laughed at his jokes and thought that they were only jokes. He was very clever. Otto killed two flies with one blow. Otto increased the tolerance of the adults and let us children know: ‘No one will help you here.’

“Otto is a pedophile, through and through, and the fact that there are children still around him is anything but okay. He is released from prison, gets his work exhibited and can carry on with the children again...!”

Children are sacrificed on the altar of art. And so be it!

Georg Hoffmann-Ostenhof, Profil: “Some gentlemen in high places – we have heard – visited Mühl in order to have themselves served by wild women.”166

Was it only women that the host served up! And some want what they want accompanied by theatrical trimmings.

Hush Money

According to an article by Manfred Seeh in Die Presse, 17.8 million Austrian Shillings hush money was paid to the parents of underage girls and other members of the commune prior to Otto Mühl's trial in 1988-9. That is approximately one and a half million dollars.167

Peccadilloes

Abbot Joachim Angerer, former Abbot of Geras Monastery, Lower Austria, concerning a priest who sexually abused children: “You have compassion for a fellow brother, and you forgive....I did not know then what I now know….If I had that knowledge in 1978 – namely, what pedophilia is – how much a victim suffers, I would have had him removed immediately. I did not have that knowledge at the time.” 168

166 Georg Hoffmann-Ostenhof: “Ein Echter Österreicher,“ Profil, No. 8, Feb. 16, 1998, p. 102. 167 Manfred Seeh: Mühl-Kommune: “Rund 18 Millionen Schilling 'Schweigegeld' an Zeugen,“ Die Presse, Vienna, Feb. 10, 1998, p. 10. 168 Schauplatz Gericht, ORF, Dec. 23, 2011. 40

The Case of Victor Kronberger

Victor Kronberger is the son of Julia and Helmut Kronberger. He now resides at Lebensraum Heidlmair in Biberbach, Lower Austria. He was brought there against his and his mother’s will. Victor is approaching his tenth birthday at this writing. His father served as camera man for Otto Mühl, a state-promoted artist and convicted abuser of minors.

Victor at the age of six told his mother that he was repeatedly abused by his father for years. This has been corroborated by a witness as well as by Austrian specialists. Victor attempted to go to the court where he intended to reveal the facts concerning his father. His wish was to be with his mother.

Julia Kronberger reported the abuse to the Youth Welfare Office.

The Youth Welfare Office refused to help Victor. The case was prevented from being heard. On September 22, 2009, Ulrike Vesely, a social worker, came to the school Victor was attending without informing his mother, and took Victor to a state home for children. Victor is forced to remain in Lebensraum Heidlmair in Biberbach, Lower Austria. His mother is only allowed to visit him for four hours on weekends.

Victor has been given psychotropic drugs for years. These drugs have damaged him both physically and spiritually. Victor is in a state of depression. The ordeal has made the boy want to take his life.

February 9, 2013, at last Julia and Victor have been united.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEx3i3gjPTI http://freiheit-fuer-victor.npage.at Lebensraum Heidlmair GmbH viennanet. info

Dagmar Koller, Honorary Patron of Power4me Concerning the AAO Commune

“Then my husband (Helmut Zilk), who was the mayor, informed me and I went out there to take a look.

And I know Otto Mühl very well, because he lives in Portugal, and I visited him often. And I brought his small children dolls and Barbie dolls, because they didn’t have anything. They had absolutely nothing in Portugal.

Yes, he was a hero but for all the unstable people who went there. He was a god for them. I saw that the women were happy ... And that's what’s so terrible. I am the patron of an organization against sexual abuse (Power4me). I am opposed to sexual abuse and fight against it.

But when I heard about what happened there, I thought that I should never mention the word Mühl ever again. But you have to realize that there’s another side to it… the women who were part of it, had given everything – their complete finances and all that – they were happy 41

there and you can see the joyful faces of the small children. Anyone who dares to abuse a small child should really be excluded from society. Well if that's really happening, those who went to him, were really worthless. I am very radical about that. Why didn’t the politicians realize what was going on there? (That’s a question one can no longer pose to Helmut Zilk. He left us on October of 2008.) Why didn’t any public person put a stop to it? What about the politics of the time? – But I still believe that the women who participated were happy. But if you observe him now, you see that those members of the group who remained with him, they are having fun. I would like to be a part of that…something’s happening there.”169

It stood to reason that a man who had publicly copulated while wallowing in excrement,170 and who had whipped a man bloody in the aula of the university171 was suited to be the guardian of children in a commune. There he reigned for almost two decades under the aegis of the highest state dignitaries while official funding flowed.

(Indeed something was happening there.)

Miss Koller certainly hit the nail on the head about the politicians! Among the politicians who supported the Commune are Theodor Kery, Hilde Hawlicek, Karl Blecha and Helmut Zilk.172

The Man with “a Big Heart”

Bishop Kurt Krenn and Bishop Andreas Laun are convinced that Groer was innocent, as was the late Helmut Zilk, a former Mayor of Vienna.

Zilk and Dagmar Koller had a Catholic wedding presided over by Groer on June 23, 1990. The couple had previously married in a civil ceremony in 1978.

Zilk and Koller visited the Cardinal annually on Christmas and on their wedding anniversary. Zilk: “I consider the Cardinal to have been the victim of a calumnious smear campaign. I am not a ‘mackerel-snatcher,’ but the Church means a great deal to me. I have a high opinion of the Cardinal. He has a big heart.” 173

Statement by the Austrian Bishops Council of October 13. 2004174 “We have come to the conclusion that the accusations against Bishop Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer are basically justified.”

The Polanski Credo

Roman Polanski presents The Pedophile’s Credo: “Judges want to fuck young girls. Juries want to fuck young girls. Everyone wants to fuck young girls!”175

169 Barbara Stöckl, ORF (Austrian TV, April 11,2013, 11 p.m.. 170 Peter Weibel, Valie Export, eds.: Wien: Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970. p. 75-78. 171 Transparent Spezial, ORF, May 8, 1996, description by Peter Weibel. 172 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p. 139-141. 173 Thomas Hofer Profil, Dec. 11, 2,000, Vienna, p. 50. 174 cardinalrating.com/cardinal 42

(Right you are but wrong you are, Mr. Polanski. Not every pedophile has his sights on young girls.)

In these days when superficial apologies by celebrities for “indiscretions” abound, Otto Mühl and Pope Benedict XVI apologized concurrently on June 11, 2010. And as a gesture of good will two pedophile priests were reinstated in the Austrian Province of Styria by Bishop Egon Kapellari on the preceding day.176

Shortly before his death in December of 2003, museum director Otto Breicha confirmed that pedophilia is practiced in artistic circles. He added that these groups had international connections.

He told a colleague who had information not to divulge it. “They could ostracize you.”

When asked: “Would my life be in danger?”

Breicha replied: “That could be the case.”

Four decades ago I published Da-Da Ga-Ga Ca-Ca, a satire on Actionism. I wrote: “He smeared foodstuffs on nude models. But recently he had changed his act. Symbolic defecation had made way for the real thing. And then there was his friend, another happening man. Slaughtering lambs was his act….This was the dance around the golden calf. No it was the dance around the golden ass. I heard a snorting and sang a giant horned head. It was the Minotaur. Its shaggy beast's body was galloping through the crowd….It was a night on which I had expected murder, suicide and rape. Now all of these things were taking place. I could no longer differentiate one body from another. That thing was one body. It was a body that was committing murder, suicide and rape.”177

Allegedly this text caused me to be ostracized, or “Austro-cized,” up to the present. There are writer-colleagues who still refuse to speak to me on account of it, and some more favorably inclined, claim that I aimed at the wrong target. Recent events have not brought about a change in attitude.

If the powers-that-be had taken heed of the warning contained in Da-Da, instead of doing their best to cancel me out as a writer, many members of the Commune, especially those abused as children, would not have suffered permanent damage.

In Menschenrecht (Human Rights) of September of 1992, I wrote: “But there’s no reason for concern. Incarceration does not necessarily mean the end of an artist’s career. Having been on the wrong side of the law can serve as carte blanche for the future.”178

Early in 1998 Martin Humer, the “porno hunter,” splashed red paint on a painting by Otto Mühl, which was part of an exhibit in the Vienna Secession titled “The Century of Artistic

175 Martin Amis in Tatler and “Visiting Mrs Nabokov,” 1979. 176 SteiermakORF.at 177 Herbert Kuhner. Der Ausschluss, (Memoirs of a 39er: a novel of sorts), Edition 39/Verlag Der Apfel, Vienna, 1988, p. 40-46. 178 Das Menschenrecht, No. 3, Sept. 1992, Vienna, p.10. 43

Freedom.” In the painting, Mühl, Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, Mother Teresa and Bishop Kurt Krenn, Humer’s friend and a defender of Groer, are depicted in pornographic poses in comic strip manner. The only thing missing are the dialogue bubbles. It should be added that Groer is alleged to have sexually abused boys under his care. Humer goes about comparing the Third Reich favorably with the present. After the Humer “action,” the value of the Mühl painting increased. Thus, two “defacers” served each other’s purposes.

And Mühl: “I am the apocalypse. I take the route of Michelangelo.”179

Right he was! I quote the headline from Der Standard of December 5th, 2001: “The Body, Actionism and Fascism. A French and Austrian exchange of ideas took place in the Louvre on the occasion of the show ‘Painting as a Crime’ concerning everyday fascism and to the resistance potential of art. Otto Mühl appeared as a guest star to reap programmed praise.”180

Mühl is a diligent worker and a good assembly-line artist. He and his ilk are the darlings of museum directors. Today the financial aspect in the arts outweighs all others.

Peter Weibel is the cardinal ideologue of the Austrian art scene and a brilliant strategist. During a conversation I had with him in 1968, he stated, “Art can no longer be produced.” He naming Andy Warhol as the guru of the Austrian movement and categorizing Warhol’s work as non-art, which was the path he and his colleagues embarked on, adding the ingredient of violence.

Weibel and his colleagues of the Viennese Action Group and shared the same approach. They were united in adding then element of violence to what they considered to be non-art. They are the original innovators and their influence had reverberations on the international art scene, and gained dominant over the years. Humanistic values have been purged and replaced by a commitment to evil.

Weibel has dedicated his life to purging aestheticism and humanism from art, in other words, destroying the very essence of it. His thesis is presented in an essay titled “Concerning the Possibility of Non-Affirmative Art.” 181

But there’s money to be made. In the present setup, the most bankrupt artists have the biggest bank accounts.

One could say that “minimalism” is prevalent. The aim is to make the most perfect zero, and indeed there are many that defy comparison.

(On the other hand, it’s an art to write so much about nothing.)

The “truth” is twisted to fit the occasion.

Here is a quote from Profil: “Nitsch, who never slaughtered an animal in his life is constantly referred to as a slaughterer.”182

179 News, No. 25, June 18, 1998. p. 50. 180 Der Standard, Dec. 5, 2001, Vienna, p. 26. 181 Josef Dvorak, Die Faschisten von heute, Neues Forum, June, 1974, p. 45 182 Gerhard Jaschke, Ed.: Reizwort Nitsch, Sonderzahl, Vienna, 1995, S. 20, “Einen Spaß,” from Profil, Sept. 1988. 44

Nitsch: “I wouldn’t do anything that would harm a hair on an animal’s head.”183 “I wouldn't kill an animal as a work of art, but I wouldn't say that it isn't art.”184 And “Mühl’s specialty is minors and sex and my specialty is the agonizing torture of animals.”185

And a quote from the Arbeiter-Zeitung: “During a Black Mass the Viennese Actionist Günter Brus, 36, his wife Anni, 31, Hermann Nitsch, 36, add Karl Heinz Cibulka slaughtered an Easter lamb in Naples, crucified the animal and smeared themselves with its blood.”187

Rudolf Schwarzkogler committed suicide in 1969 as the final “action.” It is alleged that he cut his penis off before defenestrating himself.188

Actionist advocates consider his death as the last act of his Actionist art and a fitting conclusion thereof.

After Schwarzkogkler’s suicide, a commemorative exhibit for him was presented at St. Stephan’s Gallery under the aegis of Otto Mauer. The exhibit poster showed the artist, naked from the waist up with his eyes covered by a bloodstained white blindfold. Thus, Schwarz’s death was presented as a “Showbiz” event.

Hermann Nitsch: “What a wonderful cock Rudi (Schwarzkogler) had! Why didn't he bequeath his body to me? It was wasted when Brother Rudi was buried by Monsignor Mauer.”189

Nitsch’s crony Christian Ludwig Attersee concerning his slaughterhouse spectacles in Prinzersdorf: “A combination of Gypsy Baron and Auschwitz.”190

An analysis by Kerstin Braun: “Nitsch describes the dissolution of the self as early as 1959 in his ‘rutting game,’ in which he uses the elementary substances like blood, raw meat, tearing dead animals and entrails apart in literary manner, which is consistent as a continuation taschistic intentions as a central theme191…. Disregarding of all norms of behavior and every rational control, he constantly wants to chop up the cadavers of slaughtered animals and cut them up and roll himself in blood, slime and innards, and cover himself in secretions, urine, and excrement.”192

183 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 184 News, No. 18, May 4, 2005, p. 155. 185 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 186 Danielle Spera: Hermann Nitsch. Leben und Arbeit, Brandstätter, Vienna 2002. p. 9. 187 Gerhard Jaschke, Ed.: Das Rote Tuch: Der Mensch das unappetitliche Vieh, Edition Freibord, Vienna, 1988, „Wiener Aktionisten kreuzigten in Neapel Lamm – ausgewiesen“, from the Arbeiter-Zeitung, April 13, 1974. 188 Kate Connoly, Adrian Searle: “The Devil in a Grey Beard,” The Guardian, Manchester, Nov. 15, 1997. 189 Josef Dvorak: “Amoklauf der Aktionisten,” Neues Forum, Sept./Oct. 1974, Vol. 249/250, Vienna, p. 2. 190 Horst Christoph: “Schlachten und Schütten,” Profil, Vienna, No. 31. July 28, 1997, p. 80-82 191Kerstin Braun: Der Wiener Aktionismus: Positionen und Prinzipien, Böhlau, Wien, 1999. p. 181; Quoted from Armin Zweite: „Eigentlich habe ich alles nur von oben bis unten beschüttet und besudelt,“ in: Hermann Nitsch. Das bildnerische Werk, Salzburg und Vienna, 1988, p. 11. 45

In the ”Partitur” to his 6-Day Feast and The Conquest of Jerusalem, Nitsch describes the laceration and desecration of women's and children's bodies.193

Nitsch to Peter Huemer: “I wanted to write a drama that could indeed be performed.... I do not regret a single word that I wrote in this drama....There is an ideal partitur and I would like to come close to the ideal partitur, and this will be my first attempt to come close the ideal partitur for the ‘6-Day Feast.’”194

Here is a quotation from the Partitur: “A 7-year old boy is nailed to the wall as if crucified. His head is beaten and shattered with rectangular stones, his bloody brains come out. The bloody brain is rinsed and washed with lukewarm sugar-water.”195

More from the Partitur: „Cadavers of two-year old-children, one-year old children and newborn children are brought into the room. Hair is torn from the heads of the cadavers. The lips and the sexual organs are torn apart. The chests of the small corpses are opened. The moist-bloody innards are torn out. pieces of flesh are torn from the dead children. Hands and feet are ripped out of their sockets. Body parts of the dead children are hurled around the room.”196

Headlines in “Heute“ and “NÖN“ in April of 2015: 197 “Nitsch Considering Blood Orgy with Human Corpses” Artist Drank Blood: Hermann Nitsch: “I have no money” “The Emphasis of My Actions is not on Animals”

“I could well imagine using human copses in my Actions.” the artist told “NÖN.”

According to Josef Dvorak, Nitsch stated his intention of peeling the skin from children's corpses as an “action.” Art-critic Peter Gorsen told him to be careful of what he said.

(This makes lampshades come to mind.)

An exculpation: “Nitsch remarked that his intent was not to kill the children. He only wants work with material that is already dead.”198

Authenticity

Dieter Schrage, former museum director: “The statements by artists quoted by Frau Wladyka are by no means authentic and can only stem from a deranged brain.”199

192 Kerstin Braun: Der Wiener Aktionismus: Positionen und Prinzipien, Böhlau, Wien, 1999. p. 181;Hermann Nitsch: zur theorie des o.m.theaters, in: OMT,1983, p. 118. 193 Hermann Nitsch: Orgien Mysterien Theater/Orgies Mystery Theater, März Verlag, Darmtadt, 1969; Das Orgien-Mysterien-Theaters in Schloß Prinzendorf, Vols.1-9, Edition Freibord, Vienna, Die Eroberung von Jerusalem, Die Drossel, Berlin, 1977. 194 Berliner Begegnungen, Hermann Nitsch interviewed by Peter Huemer, 3 SAT-ZDF July, 30,1998. 195 Herman Nitsch: Orgien Mysterien Theater/Orgies Mystery Theater, März Verlag, Darmstadt, 1969, p. 297. 196 www.politik-forum.at Political Discussion Platform for Austria. 197 noen.at; www.heute.at, April, 2015. 198 www.politik-forum.at Political Discussion Platform for Austria. 199 Der Standard, Sept. 16, 2007. 46

Gabriele Wladyka: “The quotation by Nitsch is from Falter 24-30, 7 No. 30, 1998, p. 18. The quotation by Mühl is from Andreas Schlothauer: “Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität,“ p. 122.200

Bishop Egon Kapellari: “I had a public discussion with Herr Nitsch at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna last year. At that occasion I pointed out to him that his representation of Jesus Christ in the libretto of The Conquest of Jerusalem was totally unacceptable “201

However, Dr. Kapellari’s objections did not dissuade three priests from blessing the new Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach, Lower Austria.202

Bishop Kapellari: “Monsignor Otto Mauer, the unforgotten sponsor of contemporary art of his time…“203

It is illogical to venerate Dr. Frankenstein while condemning the Frankenstein monster(s).

(The museum, it should be added, was a Conservative Party project.)

Here are excerpts from The Conquest of Jerusalem: “after christ has slaughtered a cow, he lies down on the back of the skinned animal which is still twitching, licks the sexual organ of the cow and sticks his tongue deep into it….after christ slaughtered a bull, he lies down on the back of the skinned animal which is still twitching, sucks urine out of the sexual organ of the bull….and bites the bull’s sexual organ….christ lies down on the warm belly of the freshly slaughtered bull and sucks blood from the wound where the testicles have been severed. …christ slips and falls and no. 38 jumps on him and sticks his tumescent penis in christ’s anus and copulates with him.”

“The naked body of a nine-year-old girl is placed on a church bench; the sexual organ of the girl is opened and a silver tube is forced in several times. The sexual organ is torn to pieces; sugared water is poured on the bloody wound; no. 0 sucks out and licks up the sugared blood that pours out of the sexual organ.”204

Concerning criticism of Hermann Nitsch “Only those with no knowledge of the significance of ritual and corporeality in art and who have no desire for even a partial understanding can construe the use of religious objects as desecration and the willful violation of religious feelings.205 What is now happening is a linguistic Rostock, which is paving the way for a pogrom atmosphere.” 206 - Dr. Rudolf Scholten, former Austrian Minister of Art, member of the Board of Directors of the Austrian Kontroll-Bank, the Executive Committee of the Bilderberg-Conference and the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna.

200 Der Standard, Sept. 18,2007. 201 KATH.NET Catholic News Service. 202 Der Standard, June 1, 2007. 203 Salzburger Nachrichten, “Spiritual Resistance” Bishop Egon Kapellari interviewed by Martin Behr, p. 14, Nov. 19, 2005. 204 Die Eroberung Jerusalems, Die Drossel, Berlin, 1977. 205 Dr. Rudolf Scholten: Opening Speech, Styrian Autumn, Graz, Oct. 2, 1992. 206 Dr. Rudolf Scholton, Minister für Culture, Die Presse, Sept. 14, 1992. 47

(In Rostock in 1992, after the reunification of Germany, neo-Nazis set fire to a building filled with refugees to the applause of bystanders).

Peter Weibel in Der Standard: “Nitsch appeared wearing the vestments that that a priest uses for the Mass. (Hanel) Koeck, among other things, was bound to a cross and a dildo was placed in her vagina. Then Koeck placed it in Nitsch's mouth. A lacerated sheep, the blood- soaked innards of a hare and an ox were brought into analogy with the woman's body. Then Nitsch copulated symbolically with Koeck with the aid of the dildo.”207

A key quotes by Nitsch: “I no longer intend to place a humane corset on my work.”208 “Art is a form of confession, whereas in art you can omit the ethical element.”209

(Goya and I beg to differ.)

Helmut Butterweck to Herbert Kuhner concerning Nitsch & Co.: “I would never do what you are doing. Modern art is part and parcel of the anti-fascistic movement.”210

Anti-fascism” that advocates cruelty towards man and beast – and worse – is worthless and more in tune with the spirit of its adversaries.

Fascism is anti-humanism. True anti-fascism must entail a humanistic spirit. It cannot be laced with anti-humanism.

Anti-humanism cannot be a component of anti-fascism. Violence for its own sake is the antithesis of anti-fascism.

Cruelty is an earmark of fascism and those who engage in it cannot be anti-fascsists.

The essence of Nitsch: “The intoxication created by the blood and the ripping apart of raw flesh should be satisfying and enjoyable since it relieves man of his suppressed desires....Killing was, and is, beyond all moral judgments.211 If possible I would prefer to work with human beings, with dead human beings, with corpses to be specific.”212I could well envision that murder could be a component of a work of art; the artist’s accountability would have another status.…Thus, art can consist of a crime.”213

But not everyone favors delving.

The Unterweger Trial

207 Peter Weibel: “Ein deutscher Krimi,” Der Standard, April, 19, 1989, Vienna, p. 23. 208 Fritz Billeter, Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich, July 12, 1974, Letter to the editor in Neues Forum, Vienna, Sept./Oct. 1974, p. 4. 209 Heute, June, 24, 2014, p. 21. 210 Helmut Butterweck of Die Furche, a Catholic weekly in Vienna, to Herbert Kuhner in 2000. 211 Gerhard Jaschke: Das rote Tuch, from Paula Devarney: “Nitsch: Art of Killing,” Caellian, Oct. 9, 1970. 212 Mojca Kumerdej: “Hermann Nitsch o smrti in Zivljenu,” Delo, Ljubljana, Oct. 3, 1992; “Im Blutrausch,” News,, No. 30/95, p. 190; “Sechs Tage blutiges Welttheater,” News, No. 40/96, p. 190, “The Devil In a Grey Beard,” interview with Adrian Searle, The Guardian, Manchester, Nov. 15, 1997, p. 17; News, No. 27, July, 2001, p. 7. 213 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 48

Jack Unterweger, who was who was serving time of the vicious slaying of a eighteen-year-old woman, began to write in prison and enjoyed promotion by Peter Huemer and the Austrian cultural establishment.

In 1990 an assemblage of Austrian notables signed a petition, co-sponsored by Huemer, for the release of Jack Unterweger. After his subsequent parole, he apparently went back to his old ways and he was convicted of the serial murder of women.

If I had signed, I would feel that I was guilty of complicity for the additional murders after the parole.

(When Otto Mühl was arraigned for abuse of minors, there was a petition was circulated which demanded his immediate release. Austrian notables always come to the aid of artists who engage in questionable practices.

During the Unterweger trail the prosecution counsel stated in his summation: “The premature pardon of Jack Unterweger would have been an irresponsible act brought about by some individuals. Ernest Bornemann, Peter Huemer, Alfred Kolleritsch, Elfriede Jelinek, Gerhard Ruis, Georg Zanger, etc.“214

“His lawyer, Georg Zanger, immediately asked for the case to be dismissed because of what he termed the ‘hate campaign against his client in the Austrian media that precluded the possibility of a fair hearing.”215

Zanger: “This is not about Jack Unterweger, but rather about the media. This is a matter of money and business.” 216

On June 29, 1994 Unterweger was found guilty of the serial murders of women and sentenced to life imprisonment.

“His (Zanger’s) office is decorated with paintings by Otto Mühl, who Zanger also represented.”217

Concerning sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. “Lawyers representing clerical abuse victims in Austria say the Roman Catholic Church must open up its archives, agree to pay victims compensation and cover their therapy costs, apologize and put in place a system to prevent future abuse and cover-up. Werner Schostal and Georg Zanger said Thursday they will sue if Church officials fail to comply.”218

On July 30, 1998 a TV interview with Hermann Nitsch was broadcast. On August 4th the following letter to the editor was published in the Kronen Zeitung, Austria’s largest-selling tabloid. The author is Lore Jarosch, biographer of Hans Dichand, the paper’s publisher:

214 blogs.taz.de. 215 The Independent April 21, 1994. 216 Der Spiegel, 25. April,1994 217 Der Standard, May 20, 2008. 218 AP, April 23, 2010 49

“Dear Herr Chancellor, if your daughter were to be placed on a stage with shaven head and have her sex organ penetrated under the direction of Herr Nitsch, I would like to know whether you would still speak about ’the freedom of art.’”219

Furthermore, it was stated in the interview that the girl was to be penetrated by a wooden dildo at a private Action. This was to occur with the consent of her parents and that she had previously taken part in such events.

Reaction by Doron Rabinovici: “Pass any newsstand and you’ll see where misanthropy is at home. Open the “Kronen Zeitung” and you can see what really happens as far as women are concerned. Ask Lore Jarosch how she feels when her letter to the editor appears along with her daughters in the nude and ads for prostitutes on a daily basis!”220

The Kronen Zeitung simply serves as a source here. What is essential is the announcement of the barbaric abuse of a child for public entertainment. The Kronen Zeitung simply serves as a source here. The carrier of the abuse information is not my subject matter here. I should add that I have published numerous polemics critical of the editorial policies of this tabloid. (Click Harry’s Blog = viennanet.info.)

I would like to note that although Frau Jarosch’s letter was published, the paper did not pursue the matter.

Günter Brus: “Hermann Nitsch stated in an interview on a German channel that we were all guilty of having committed transgressions, but they caught Mühl at it, and now he has to atone for all of us.”221

There are many indications that pedophilia and child abuse are continuing to be systematically practiced in artistic conclaves, but so far no Austrian journalist has been willing to research the matter.

Günter Brus: “I'm not opposed to pornography as long as children or violence is not involved222…you certainly cannot find any trace of child pornography in my work.”223

Brus was awarded the Grand Austrian State for Art in 1997; his graphic specialties include a women pierced by wires224 and a smiling child being penetrated by a horse. The latter is included in a Dorotheum Auction House catalogue.225

In 1993 the prize-winner-to-be stated in an interview in the Kurier with Karin Kathrein: “I never ate excrement!”226

In Wie, Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, a scurrilous compendium by Peter Weibel and Valie Export documenting and glorifying Actionist violence and degragation.

219 Letter to the editor by Lore Jarosch, Neue Kronen Zeitung, August 4, 1998, p. 20. 220 Doron Rabinovici, letter to Herbert Kuhner, December 19, 2005. 221 Günter Brus, Profil, Sept. 28 1998, Nr. 40, p. 120. 222 News, No. 18, May 4, 2005, p.155. 223 Günter Brus: „Da wird richtig die Sau rausgelassen!“ Profil, 08.03.2013.March 8, 2013. 224 Peter Weibel, Valie Export, eds.: Wien: Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970, p. 247. 225 Dorotheum Catalogue, May 8, 1991, Günter Brus, graphic no. 183. 226 Karin Kathrein: “Ein ‘Irwisch’ in Paris,” Die Presse, Oct. 14, 1993, Vienna, p. 30. 50

there are photographs of Brus doing just that.227 (Yes, the Austrian Cultural-Cult-Stars occasionally do a bit of fibbing.) This book is a veritable treasure trove. The Austrian cultural elite can be admired therein in flagranti amid blood, urine and feces.

Featured in this volume is the depiction of an event in Cologne organized by Weibel and Export in which bullwhips, coils of barbed wire, beer bottles and ether were used to injure Actionists and members of the audience.228

Actionist public and private sado-masochistic events are geared for public participation. In the “private” events, there are no holds barred.

One of the most revolting aspects of the book is the juxtaposing of documentary photos of murdered children with photos of Hermann Nitsch actions with innards.229 Thus, infanticide too is part of Show Biz. Nitsch: “Killing was and is beyond all moral judgments.”230

Thus we have the ideological basis for “snuffing” as a component of art.

In an exhibit of work by the Viennese Group in 1998, photo collages mocking infants born with gross physical defects were displayed. In one of the collages, a photo of an infant girl with spread legs is shown with a graphic of an erect penis next to it.231

“Whether it be Nitsch’s 6-Day Feast, whether it be the work of the Viennese Group in the Biannual Catalogue that been defamed as child pornography. “232 (See figure 3) - Dr. Peter Wittmann, Austrian State Secretary for Culture.

“This award is “a signal the city supports what you do.”

227 Peter Weibel, Valie Export, eds.: Wien: Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970, p. 72-73. 228 Peter Weibel, Valie Export, eds.: Wien: Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970, p.233 & 237. 229 Ibid., p. 97-114. 230 Paula Devarney: “Nitsch - Art of Killing,” Caellian, 9. Oktober 1970; Hermann Nitsch: Das rote Tuch - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater - Im Spiegel der Presse 1960-1988, Freibord, Vienna, 1988, p. 106. 231 Die Wiener Gruppe, Museumsquartier, Nov. 13, 1998 – Feb. 21, 1999, Vienna 232 “Kultur-Alarm,” News, No. 16, 1999, p. 140. 51

- Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Municipal Cultural Coordinator.”233

“Nitsch, a central figure of Austrian contemporary art, whose work deals with the basic questions of mankind.” 234 - Franz Morak, State Secretary for Culture, October 5th at the ceremony for the award of the Grand Austrian State Prize of 2005.

“Nitsch is an interesting, a fascinating human being. I could converse with him for hours. I admire his spirit and acuteness.”235 - Bishop Kurt Krenn of St. Pölten.

“Nitsch is the artistic equivalent of Bishop Krenn. They are a figure-skating tandem.”236 - Kuno Knöbl, former ORF-TV Head of Entertainment

More Knöbl : “The Catholic Church , before and after Dollfuss, was the factor that enabled a Nitsch and a Mühl to occur.” 237

“Nitsch has gone through process a development and has returned to a normal pattern of behavior. I was irritated by his anti-religious effects and his Actionism. I think his artistic productions are great.” 238 - Dr. Jörg Haider, former chief of the right-wing Freedom Party (Haider and consorts by attacking the Actionists have made them sacrosanct. Was this comment an about-face?)

Bishop Krenn chimes in on Haider: “I greatly admire Jörg Haider for his capabilities. He gives many people hope and if hope inspires people in a Christian manner, I certainly approve of that.” 239

“I admired Nitsch before it was incontestable for a politician. Now that he has directed for the (State) Opera, implacable condemnation has turned into reverence. Apparently everything changes when one works for a reputed house.”240 - Dr. Franz Vranitzky, former Austrian Chancellor

“We have learned from Hermann Nitsch. We have begun to understand him.... Now we think more profoundly. Only the adherents of National Socialism do not understand him.” 241 - Alfred Worm, investigative journalist

“We had assumed that Hermann Nitsch’s view of human existence had reached a point ‘beyond good and evil.’ This is so self-evident that it cannot be disputed ... Nitsch the animal lover, of all things, has been accused of cruelty to animals at the performance of “Orgies Mysteries Theater" at the Leipziger Bühne Theater.”242

233 Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Municipal Cultural Coordinator, presenting the Golden Honorary Medal of the City of Vienna to Hermann Nitsch, City Hall Correspondence, February 2, 2005. 234Austrian Federal Chancellery Internet, October, 10, 2005. 235 Spektrum, ORF, March 2,1989; Neue Kronen Zeitung, March 5, 1989. 236 Kuno Knöbl. March 3, 2004, Düsenberg; En Route Herbert Kuhner, Film by Fritz Kleibel, 2014. 237 Kuno Knöbl, letter to Herbert Kuhner, June 20, 2005. 238 Dr. Jörg Haider: “Ich finde Nitsch großartig”, News, 18/95, Vienna, p. 24. 239 News magazine, No. 530, January 30, 2014, p. 15. 240 “Salut für den Meister,” News, 32/95, Vienna. 241 Club 2, ORF, Feb. 7, 1995. 52

- Wieland Schmied, art critic

“The Nitsch debate has been truncated long…The Valie Export debate…Viennese Actionism can no longer be the basis for dispute in a civilized state; it has been canonized for quite some time and has found its place in museums. Today anyone who opposes Actionism simply disqualifies himself.” 243 - Sigrid Löffler, literary critic.

(I revel in stating that I am delighted to have disqualified! - H.K.)

What’s more, Actionism, with its multiple aberrations has been sanctioned by the State. Opposing Actionism is tantamount to opposing the State.)

Yes, the ideology and practice of violence have indeed been “canonized” in the location of its origin.

Thus violence has been “legitimized.”

“The intoxication created by the blood and the ripping apart of raw flesh should be satisfying and enjoyable since it relieves man of his suppressed desires.... If possible I would prefer to work with human beings, with dead human beings, with corpses to be specific.”244I could well envision that murder could be a component of a work of art; the artist’s accountability would have another status…Thus, art can consist of a crime.”245 Killing was and is beyond all moral judgments.”246 - Hermann Nitsch

“The new fascism will not declare itself as fascism, but rather as anti-fascism.” - Ignazio Silone

In a totalitarian society art stands beyond criticism. Conformity in the arts means that the game is up.

The National Socialists degraded, humiliated, tortured and murdered humans. The Actionists degrade, humiliate and abuse themselves and others. They kill animals as an ersatz. Hermann Nitsch has repeatedly expressed his wish to substitute human cadavers for animals in his Actionist performances. (See footnote no. 247)

242 Wieland Schmied: „Hermann Nitsch: Alte Querelen, aufs Neue ausgebrochen“ Kunstzeitung, August 2013, No. 204, Regensburg, Germany 243 Sigrid Löffler: “Banausie am Balhausplatz,” Profil, No. 39, Sept. 21, 1992, Vienna, p. 11. 244 Mojca Kumerdej: “Hermann Nitsch o smrti in Zivljenu,” Delo, Ljubljana, Oct. 3, 1992; “Im Blutrausch,” News,, No. 30/95, p. 190; “Sechs Tage blutiges Welttheater,” News, No. 40/96, p. 190, “The Devil In a Grey Beard,” interview with Adrian Searle, The Guardian, Manchester, Nov. 15, 1997, p. 17; News, No. 27, July, 2001, p. 7. 245 Falter 24-30, 7, No. 30, 1998, p. 18. 246 Paula Devarney: “Nitsch - Art of Killing,” Caellian, 9. Oct. 1970; Hermann Nitsch: Das rote Tuch - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater - Im Spiegel der Presse 1960-1988, Freibord, Vienna, 1988, p. 106. 247 Mojca Kumerdej: “Hermann Nitsch o smrti in Zivljenu,” Delo, Ljubljana, Oct. 3, 1992; “Im Blutrausch,” News,, No. 30/95, p. 190; “Sechs Tage blutiges Welttheater,” News, No. 40/96, p. 190, “The Devil In a Grey Beard,” interview with Adrian Searle, The Guardian, Manchester, Nov. 15, 1997, p. 17; News, No. 27, July,

2001, p. 7. 53

That means we are coming full swing.

“Vienna in 1968: The Socialist Student League SÖS sponsored ‘Art and Revolution’ in Lecture Hall I at the University of Vienna. They intended to cancel out bigotry and the authoritarian malodor of the postwar years. Texts and tirades were read. The young Actionist Günter Brus sprang on the lecturer’s desk, slit his chest with a razor blade, defecated, urinated and puked on the Austrian flag, all the while singing the National Anthem.”248

The Left was agog at this courageous display and it latched onto Actionism with alacrity. The Reactionary Right was quick to condemn and bigotry was cancelled out at one fell swoop.

After weeks of malodor in Lecture Hall no. 1, the stale air of the post-war years gave way to enlightened fragrance. And it didn’t take long for the powers-that-be to come around.

In the days of “malodor,” the revisionist party had 5% of the vote. At this writing it is the “leading” party.

A man who was to become one of Austria’s foremost cultural luminaries showed his disdain for humanity during the war in Vietnam. He and his cohorts publicly masturbated at an exhibition of photos of injured Vietnamese children. These events are always interpreted, but they do not need an interpretation as far as I am concerned.

This is a description by Peter Weibel, who participated in the “Action” at the University of Vienna on June 7, 1968: “Brus began taking his clothes off, then he climbed onto the podium naked and sang the National Anthem while defecating and masturbating....Then a genuine masochist, whose identity was known to us but not the public, appeared wearing a mask and a bathrobe. He was subsequently whipped (bloody) by Mühl.”249 The “masochist” of this event is reputed to be the journalist Malte Olschewski.”250

The political and cultural powers-that-be were agog and latched onto this. The fact that the flag was sullied by physical fluids and waste was the clincher.

An analysis by Peter Weibel: “We wanted to present life in a concentration camp as kind of comic-strip.”

The fact that the Austrian flag was sullied by blood and excreta entranced the powers-that-be, and they latched onto the Actionist Cult of Violence. And they have devoted themselves to promoting it ever since. Some of the excesses, such as child-abuse, are difficult to defend, but now they are stuck with it and must drastically cancel out any critic.

(After this event, Msgr. Mauer passed the hat around in St. Stephan’s Gallery in order to help cover the legal expenses for his artists.)251

248 Stefan Weiss: Günter Brus interviewed: „Zum Teil ist das Volk ein Trottel“ Wiener Zeitung, Nov. 5, 2013. 249 Transparent Spezial, ORF, May 8, 1996, description by Peter Weibel. 250 Profil, No. 23, June, 2008, p. 30. 251 Source: Günther Kraus, Maler 54

Bruno Kreisky extols and sanctions Otto Mühl: “...my friend the great painter, perhaps the best we have in Austria.252 He went through a great and intense development as a human being, and he as a matter of fact, brought new humane qualities to the life of the community.”253 “From a liberal point of view, we have no choice but to let these young people go their way.254 We must offer this experiment protection against being attacked by the press, above all by German papers.”255

“It is imperative that in a civilized legal system that the judges must be impartial and independent and that the victims should not take it upon themselves to judge the perpetrator…The ‘moral-attackers’ look a bit ridiculous as they bang the same heads against the same wall decade after decade.” 256 - Dr. Rudolf Scholten, former Austrian Minister of Art

"Herr Kuhner, if you do not withdraw your case, we will send the public health officer” - Anonymous caller, April 15, 1980

Violence performed as a performance is not a protest against days gone by but a supplement to those days.

What had previously taken place backstage is now presented onstage.

Concerning this spectacle: “We were anti-art. The return to the painting later by actionists, and thus to the art was a contradiction as far as I am concerned. This shows in retrospect that Oswald Wiener and I were the most adamant anti-art agents of the movement. I gave a speech assailing the Minister of Finance (Stephan Koren), the attack against art, the educational system, the financial policy, is certainly relevant today.” 257 This spake Peter Weibel, “Commissar for Culture”

“Blasphemy, obscenity, charlatanism, sadistic excesses, orgies, the aesthetics of the cesspool are our moral means.258 That includes rape and murder.259 Murder is an integral part of sex. 260It will soon become an ethical necessity to rob banks and to shoot a random cripple down.” 261 - Otto Mühl

“You have taken this all out of context.“ (to H.K.).262

252 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität: AAO, Mühl-Kommune, Friedrichshof, Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik; Vienna, 1992, p. 139. 253 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität p. 141. 254 Im Brennpunkt: “Die Tage der Kommune,“ Dokumentation von Elisabeth Scharang, ORF (Austrian TV) Feb. 11, 1998, quotation by Robert Sedlacek, Bruno Kreisky's secretary from 1980-1983. 255 Ibid., quotation by Karl Iro. 256 Rudolf Scholten, Profil, No. 11, 8, March 8, 2004, p. 147. 257Oliver Bentz: „Jeder kann seine Kreativität im Netz zeigen,“ Wiener Zeiting Extra, p. 6, August 22, 2009. 258 Transparent Spezial, ORF (Austrian Radio), May 8, 1996. 259 Josef Dvorak: “Die Faschisten von heute: Antwort an Hermann Nitsch,“ Neues Forum, No. 246, June 1974, Vienna, p. 44; Otto Mühl, ZOCK, Aspekte einer Totalrevolution 66/71 Munich, 1971; Supervisuel 6, „Otto Mühl will Menschen schlachten,“ Zurich, 1970. 260 Fritz Rumler:” Ein Problem der Umweltverschmutzung?,“ Der Spiegel, 1968 (exact date illegible), Frankfurt, p. 254 261 Josef Dvorak: “Amoklauf der Aktionisten,“ Neues Forum, Sept./Oct. 1974, Nos. 249/250, p. 2. 262„Geschichte der Menschenrechte, Soll und Haben, Eine Brisante Bilanz“, ÖBV-Atrium, Grillparzerstraße 14, 1010 Vienna, January 31, 2002. 55

- Ferdinand Lacina, former Minister of Finance and President of the Austrian League for Human Rights

Weibel: …there was Günter Brus who defecated and masturbated in the university. Valie Export and I initiated the “Tapp and Tast” movie theater (strapped to her chest in which the “viewer” could reach in with his hands). These were shocking. We were really pioneers…. We felt that each of us was a patient.

Samir H. Köck: “How is evil manifested today?” Weibel: “In the low level of entertainment….TV has become a medium for simple entertainment – far below the level in the Nazi-era. All you can see are people being degraded.”263

As told by a top degrader.

Peter Weibel on Stephan Koren, who happened to have been a man of integrity:

PETER WEIBEL „from the Lecture on Art and Revolution, June 7, 1968 concerning Minister of Finance Dr. Koren“:

“I knew a university professor named Stephan Koren. He was cripple and wanted to convince me that he was a man like me. In order to prove this he pressed on in politics to the rank of minister with just one arm...when Koran the cripple raises his left arm during his speeches, it becomes a ghastly monument of his dissipated and mutilated humanity. This scum of the nation fills every healthy Austrian with such dread that the pupils of his eyes would burst at the sight.”264

Is the present-day disregard for human values, as illustrated here again and again, consistent with the spirit of “bygone” days? Are bygone days truly bygone? Or is this more of the same?

Konstantin Kaiser: “I find it remarkable that in all statements of the Vienna Group that have been made (in the narrow sense) there is almost complete anesthesia and insensibility concerning what had recently occurred under Nazi rule. Aryanization, ostracism and mass murder, the expulsion and deportation of more than ten percent of the population of Vienna. The humiliated, persecuted and exiled Jews are completely thematically ignored in the texts of the Vienna Group. It is as if they have disappeared from the face of the earth, not to speak of the “gypsies” and the euthanasia program. This conclusion is not an attempt to interpret the literary texts; it simply indicates what they do not contain. National Socialism was not merely an episodic event, but rather a historical catastrophe that caused a deep cultural breakdown which was accompanied by unfathomable crimes. However, all of this is completely ignored in the texts of the Vienna Group, an absence which I find omnipresent.”265

In my view, they simply latched onto it – spiritually.

263 Spectrum :Die Presse, April 21 ,2013, Samir H. Köck, Interview with Peter Weibel, , p. 42. 264 Peter Weibel, Valie Export: Wien, Bildkompendium Wiener Aktionismus und Film, Kohlkunst Verlag, Frankfurt, 1970; Speech at the University of Vienna, June, 7, 1968. 265 Konstantin Kaiser „Die Distanzierung der Macht, Elias Canetti und die Wiener Gruppe,“ Zwischenwelt, No.2, September 2003, Vienna,. p. 2 56

– H.K.

The following criminal event took place concurrent to the Actionist performance at the University of Vienna.

A “Costume Ball” at the Reform School for Girls, St. Martin, Schwarz, Tirol Concurrent to the Event at the Universality of Vienna in 1968

After more than 40 years, a woman breaks her silence. Hanni P. tells of what occurred at the Home Costume Ball of 1968: "Child-Care-Worker M. called four or five girls by name, including me. I was placed in a room. Five men came in. I was sixteen years old and a virgin at the time. The first man raped me, as did the second. The others defecated on me. They were in Austrian Army uniforms and all older men.” said Hanni P. “The same thing happened at the Costume Ball of 1969.”266

An analysis by Weibel: “We wanted to make a sort of comic strip on the life in the concentration camps.”267

I would like to interject some comparisons.

“There was an incredible witch hunt (After the University Action of 1968). Imagine, in a democracy! Think of what it must have been like for Jews in the past under the fascist system, when in a democracy, people refuse to associate with you and to shake your hand.” 268 - Peter Weibel, Culture Commissar.

“I’m a Jew, spiritually.”269 - Otto Mühl.

“We, the Freedom Party, are treated the way Jews were previously treated. We are the Palestinians of Austria.” 270 - Dr. Jörg Haider, then Freedom Party chief.

“We are the new Jews. This was like the Night of Broken Glass.”271 - Heinz-Christian Strache, Freedom Party Chief, at the Corporation Ball of 2011

In the Nineteen-Eighties, author-journalist Nino LoBello informed me that Karla Kraft in Vienna and Sigrid Walter, a photographer located in Brussels, had information (names changed). I met with Kraft, who told me that Walter had material, but when I called Kraft again, she told me not to contact her or her friend any more, stating that they had both received threats.

Günter and Anni Brus do not share Nitsch’s view: “Art is free or should be free. The artist, however, has the same ethical and social obligations as any member of society and should be held responsible for his actions in the same way.”272

266 Georg Königsberger, Kurier, Aug. 19, 2012, p. 11. 267“Rebellion Against Nazi Fathers,”Interview, Christa Zöchling, Profil, No. 44, Oct. 30, 2006, p. 44. 268 Ibid. 269 Otto Mühl Interview, Die Zeit, Feb. 26, 2004, Nr. 10, Hamburg. 270 Austria Presse Agentur, June 18, 1991. 271 Der Standard,. January 29, 2011. 272 Andreas Schlothauer: Die Diktatur der freien Sexualität, p.176 ; Profil 91/46, p.86. 57

Murder for a Good Cause

Claus Peymann: “Ordinary murderers kill after they have raped a woman or they kill to acquire money. These terrorists (Red Army Faction) thought that by murdering they had to take action against the murder of hundreds of thousands of children in Vietnam and they thought that they had to take action against the poverty in the Third World. To quote Brecht’s Joan of the Slaughterhouses: “Where violence reigns, the only means to counter violence is violence.”273

(Sure! And that is why they took training in Palestinian terror camps and allied themselves with skyjackers, who looked for Jews to execute among the passengers.)

Christian Klar: 9 murders and 11 attempted murders.

Klar shows no remorse: “I leave sentiments to others and respect their sentiments, but they are not mine.” 274

Ulrike Meinhof: “Auschwitz meant that six million Jews were murdered and dumped on the rubbish dumps of Europe for being what they were – money-Jews….Anti-Semitism is really a hatred of capitalism.”275

Conversions

Horst Mahler, who is considered to be the father of The Red Army Faction and was their lawyer, is the most prominent Neo-Nazi in Germany today. He went full swing from Left to Right and changed his color from Red to Brown. Roman Freisler underwent a similar development. He started out as a Communist and became Hitler’s Hanging Judge.

Solutions

A “solution” for a political problems is provided by writer Gerhard Roth: “When democracy is endangered, it is legitimate to consider assassination.” 276 Roth to Peter Huemer: “Hitler grew out of a democratic state and was elected....Must we wait until there is such a development, until there is a totalitarian situation, before we shoot?”277

(A Dutch advocate of this “solution” applied it to right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn in 2002. In 2004, a young Islamist applied the same “solution” to filmmaker Theo van Gogh for “religious” reasons.)

“The true heroes of freedom are those who commit crimes run amuck and assassinate. It is only possible for man to realize himself by running amuck, by murder and by assassination….I would be glad if I had the strength to act like the assassins and those who run amuck. These are exceptional human achievements

273 Der Spiegel Online, March 13, 2007. 274 Interview by Günter Gaus with Christian Klar, Der Spiegel, No.5, 2007, February 1, 2007. 275 Die Welt, Oct. 8, 2004. 276 Klaus Tieber: Die letzten von Gestern: Die Rechten in der Kunst, Picus Verlag, Vienna, 1996, p. 25; Der Standard, May 3, 1995, p. 13. 277 Gerhard Roth interviewed by Peter Huemer, Im Gespräch, ORF, June 19, 1997. 58

for me.”278 - Peter Weibel, Cultural Commissar

Weibel exposed: “Take your cock out! Exhibitionists to the fore! ...We will beat citizens until they become human beings.”279

A key statement by Weibel: “If we don’t prosper, the world will be blown up.”280

In the spring of 1995, an official Austrian exhibit commemorating prominent Austrians who were forced to emigrate was shown at 565 Fifth Avenue in New York. The organizer of the exhibit and co-editor of the accompanying book, The Cultural Exodus from Vienna 281 is Peter Weibel, who is also co-editor of the previously-mentioned Wien book. Among the highlights of the latter scholarly work are photos of co-editor Export engaging in fellatio with Weibel. Here’s a quote from the horse’s mouth: “When Valie Export sucks my cock, you can see it.”282

It is self-evident that an article by Richard Nimmerrichter, alias “Staberl” (Pointer), star- columnist of the Kronen Zeitung, an Austrian tabloid not known to favor liberal causes, appeared on the subject of the exhibit. Weibel’s participation was a great windfall for Staberl and he used it to serve his purposes.283

Staberl and his ilk are the other side of the coin.

In my view, the good work of the scholars who contributed to the book and exhibit has been deprecated and the exiled notables have been compromised rather than commemorated by the participation of “Culture Commissar” Weibel. My inclusion occurred without my knowledge.

Those who have been victims of barbarism can only be honored by the foes of barbarism. Moral force is the requisite for fighting inhumanity.

From July to October of 1997, an exhibit called Masks: Approaching the Shoah was shown at the Jewish Museum of Vienna. The death masks exhibited and matching skulls were used by the Nazis us to show that the facial features and head form of murdered concentration camp inmates “illustrated” inferiority. The masks and skulls were discovered by Patricia Steines in 1991 in cartons located in the attic of the Museum of Natural History in Vienna. The skulls were subsequently buried by the Jewish Community Center.

In order to add a bit of color to the exhibit, Valie Export, née Waltraud Lehner, and Elfriede Jelinek were invited to participate and comment on the exhibition. Cameras were hidden behind some of the masks and every visitor can see himself viewing the masks on a TV monitor located in an adjacent room. This voyeuristic element has the earmarks of a Valie Export brainstorm.

278 Peter Weibel, Für Menschen verboten; Hilde Schmölzer, Das böse Wien, Nymphenberger Verlag, Munich, 1973, p. 191-192. 279 Fritz Rumler: “Exhibitionisten an die Front,” Der Spiegrel, No. 17, 21, 1969. p. 194. 280 Fritz Rumler: “Exhibitionisten an die Front,” Der Spiegel, No. 17, April 21, 1970, p. 194. 281 Friedrich Stadler, Peter Weibel: Vertreibung der Vernunft/The Cultural Exodus from Austria, Springer Verlag, Vienna - New York, 1995. 282 Axis, Interview Peter Weibel / Gerhard Petak, April 17, 1985, Vienna. 283 “Staberl“ (Richard Nimmerrichter): “Installationen aus dem Naziland,“ Neue Kronen Zeitung, June 4, 1995, Vienna, p. 8. 59

Concurrent to Masks: Approaching the Shoah, an exhibit opened in the Viennese Literature House titled Elfriede Jelinek: Echoes and Masks. The latter is a multimedia monomaniacal spectacle which includes a TV monitor at the bottom of a well. The Jelinek invitation was included in the Museum's mailing packet.

After Valie Export was invited to submit a design for the monument on Judenplatz some years ago, she had thoughts about the Holocaust. “Not directly or for a specific reason, as happened when I was invited to participate in the competition.”284 She didn’t win that one, but on August 28, 1999, her anti-fascistic monument in Allentsteig, Lower Austria, was unveiled. She may be able to contribute a valid analysis since violence plays a primary role in her work. And of course tormenting and killing birds are the proper requisites for commemorating the victims of National Socialism.

A Disciple Expounds

“To be a performance artist, you have to hate theatre," she replied. "Theatre is fake… The knife is not real, the blood is not real, and the emotions are not real. Performance is just the opposite: the knife is real, the blood is real, and the emotions are real."285

Tomas Zierhofer-Kin Comments: “Marina Abramovic put it this way: In the theater someone comes onstage with a fake knife, and when he stabs with it, nothing but theater blood flows. When she as a performance artist takes a knife in her hand, it is real - and real blood flows.”286

In her 40 years as a performance artist, Abramović has dealt in what she calls "true reality", often at great physical and psychological cost. She has stabbed her hand with knives and sliced her skin with razor blades. She has lain naked on a cross of ice for hours. She has allowed the public to prod, probe and abuse her prone body. Once she almost died when a performance, in which she lay inside a huge flaming star made of petrol-soaked sawdust, went horribly wrong. (The fire sucked the oxygen from around her, causing her to pass out. An audience member intervened and she was rushed to hospital with burns to her head and body.)287

Valie Export’s Genital Panic Goes Guggenheim

Marina Abramovic - Valie Export Genitalpanik (2006 ...

▶ 2:54 www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgaE0fXNYO0 26.07.2009 - Hochgeladen von mEma Smemory Marina Abramovic - Valie Export Genitalpanik (2006) ... Aktionshose Genitalpanik - hoffentlich setzt sich ...

Guggenheim Museum, New York (Are you there, Frank Lloyd Wright?) Fine show for the kids sitting on the floor. Pardon me, folks, I’ve got to go out and barf!

284 The Jewish Museum of Vienna, Newsletter, No. 14, Summer 1997, p. 1. 285 theguardian.com. Feb. 10, 2010. 286 Profil, Interview: Sven Gächter. Srefan Grissemann, no. 25. June 20. 2016, p.88 287 The Observer, Oct 3, 2010. 60

The original photo of Valie Export, titled Gentital Panic by taken Peter Hassman in 1969 which bear Export’s signature was auctioned off in the Foto Museum Westlicht was auctioned off for a “record price” of 54,000 Euro. The photo bears Export’s signature, which was placed on the back of the photo in the nineteen-eighties. (Der Standard, June 13, 2015.)

From an article in the Standard newspaper about an exhibit called: Parisian Insights Into Split-Open Bodies: “Gina Pane and Valie Export injure themselves with razor blades.”288 And a brilliant exegesis! “Export’s poetic-sharp installation of compulsive performances is among the reflexive anomalies in part two in which the fascination for bodily orifices obsessively-provocatively evolves into the focal point.”

Actionist feminism means denigration of women by women. Thus, women are liberated by being publicly degraded and humiliated. That is the aim of all pornographers.

This Occurs in Every Pornographic Work is the title of a Profil interview with Elfriede Jelinek.

Profil: “The cruelest occurrence that you have contrived in order to depict your hatred is a self-mutilation.” Jelinek: “I did not contrive that.” Profil: “The woman cuts her vagina with a razor blade.” Jelinek: “I really did that.” (And a political point of view) Profil: “Can you explain why you became a communist?” Jelinek: “I believe that man is evil; that is my gospel, and I believe that he must be controlled, otherwise he'll behave like a lowdown rat.”289 Thus women are liberated by publicly degrading and injuring themselves.

288 “Hors limites, Pariser Kunst-Einsichten in den klaffenden Leib,” Centre Pompidou, Der Standard, December 5, 1994,Vienna, p. 15. 289 André Müller: “Das Kommt in jedem Porno vor“, interview with Elfriede Jelinek, Profil, Nos. 26/25 June 1990, Vienna, p. 80-82. 61

Thus, women are liberated by being degraded and humiliated. The degradation and humiliation of women is the aim of all violent pornographers.

From a novel: “I don't mitigate anything, I give you the coup de grâce, stay on your feet for a minute so that I can kick you in the stomach, take a seat, Sandy will kick you in the balls in a minute after Judy bites your throat, you'll be even more tired, do you want to be stabbed in the kidney or the stomach?...” etc.290

An excerpt from a review by Wolfgang Reiter of Das Sportstück (The Sport Play) by Elfriede Jelinek: “Martin Brambach in the role of “the victim” was genuinely so badly beaten at the premiere that he had use crutches for the following performances.”291

In 2005, Knut Ahnlund, Nobel Prize juror, left the Swedish Academy in protest, describing Jelinek's work as “whining, unenjoyable public pornography”, as well as “a mass of text shoveled together without artistic structure.”292 “…monomaniacal and saturated with repetitive violent pornography. Denigration, debasement, self-disgust, sadism and masochism are the main themes of Elfriede Jelinek's work. All other aspects of human life are left out. Her work is single track and suffused with a foul conglomerate of abhorrence and obsession.”293 He said later that her selection for the prize “has not only done irreparable damage to all progressive forces, it has also confused the general view of literature as an art.”294

In 1973 the news media reported that Valie Export had poured boiling wax over live birds. Export had claimed that the birds were dead before she poured the wax.295

Wishful Thinking

Art critic Kristian Sotriffer refutes: “The birds were of course not ‘preserved’ in wax while they were alive .…The report in the yellow press was fictitious and was designed to cause an uproar among petit bourgeois readers.”296

In 1977 Valie Export was brought to trial for having engaged in cruelty to animals and found guilty of having tied a canary to a perch. However the scalding of the birds with boiling wax, which had been filmed, came under the statute of limitations.297 This “art object” was on view as part of the Export Exhibition, introduced by Jelinek, in the Museum of the Twentieth Century in Vienna in March of 1997.

On March 17, 1997, in Treffpunkt Kultur, a program devoted to culture on ORF, Austrian State TV, films by Export were broadcast. In one scene Export uses a bloody kitchen knife to

290 Excerpt from Elfriede Jelinek: wir sind lockvögel, baby, published in Die Pestsäule, No. 1, Sept. 1972, Vienna, p. 4-5. 291 Wolfgang Reiter, Profil, No. 6, Feb, 1998, p. 90. 292 Boston Globe, October 12, 2005. 293 Svenska Dagbladet, Oct. 11, 2005. 294Boston Globe, October 12, 2005. 295 Roswitha Mueller: Valie Export: Fragments of the Imagination, Indiana University Press, Bloomington / Indianapolis, 1994, p. 44. 296 Letter from Kristian Sotriffer to Herbert Kuhner, May 22, 1997. 297 An der Grenze des Erlaubten: Kunst und Zensur in Österreich, a project of the University Cultural Center, Unikum, Klagenfurt, 1996, p. 63. 62

slice the neck of a turtle, a mouse and a parrot, but the actual decapitations are deleted by film cutting.298

Valie Export “herself”: “A bird is tied to a pedestal with a thin cord. I kneel in front of the bird on the pedestal and then I pour scalding wax over it. When I knock the pot of wax over with my head, the bird’s head is inundated and my right hand is doused. Then I pour wax on my feet and my left hand. I free my hands by cutting the cord with a knife that I have picked up from the pedestal with my mouth. The pedestal is encircled by nails scattered around the plateau of the pedestal on which the drama of mankind is depicted.”299

Yes, there are people in this world who are “inspired” when they hear a bird’s song – that sweet music inspires them to torture and kill animals and humans.

During the Third Reich children were taught to kill birds with their own hands in a camp called Kinderland, which translates as “Children’s Land.”300 The purpose of this procedure was to purge the children of compassion, so that they would become malleable and grow up to serve the regime as torturers and assassins.

I quote from an article in News magazine of August, 30, 2007 titled “Yes, we wanted to kill!” Three Styrian youths planned to murder a woman. They wanted to hear death cries, so they set bird chicks on fire. Nineteen-year-old Karlheinz recalls that Daniel told him how “terrific” it is to kill animals. “We got right down to it.” says Daniel, “I took a cigarette lighter and tried to set the animals alight, but they didn’t burn very well. So I went to a garbage bin and took some newspaper.” The fifteen-year-old placed it under the nest and set it alight. “There was a small firework. Three chicks burned to ash, but two were still alive. “We tossed one up and kicked it with our feet. We took the other and placed it on the sidewalk.” Then Daniel and Karlheinz took sharp stones and alternated in hitting the bird until its head was severed. “After that, we took photos of the dead bird with our cell phones.” 301

The systematic sexual abuse of children has been juristically confirmed, and it is continuing to take place. The wanton laceration and slaying of defenseless animals is criminal, and when animals “serve as surrogates,” the use of surrogates is transitional. The aims have been clearly stated and I take them at face value.

On July 30, 1998, an Actionist declared in a TV interview that an 11-year old girl would be penetrated by a wooden penis at a forthcoming private Action.

Back in 1973 one Mühl-Commune member attempted to substitute the original for the “surrogate” by mailing letter bombs.

I take all statements quoted at face value. Can anyone tell me why they shouldn’t been taken that way?

This is what it is!

298 Treffpunkt Kultur, Karin Resetarits, moderator, ORF, March 17, 1998; Valie Export: Der unsichtbare Gegner (Invisible Adversaries), 1973. 299 performance-art-research.de/AndereTexte.htm; Beschreibung von VALIE EXPORT in: http://www.urban- infill.com/asemie2.htm, 20.02.2004. 300 Hitlers Kinder (Hitler’s Children), Documentation Series, No. 4, Arte TV, March 1, 2000. 301 Martina Prewein: “Am Tatort“, News, No. 35, Aug. 30, 2007, p. 62-65. 63

In the history of mankind, those who have declared pernicious aims have invariably attempted to realize them after gaining power and influence.

Words are invariably a prelude to deeds.

The crimes of the Third Reich are unparalleled. However drawing parallels between those who practice and advocate inhumanity is legitimate and unavoidable. Actionism is an outgrowth of National Socialism. Actionists and Revisionists are not really at odds, but merely in competition. That is the best way for them to serve each other's interests. They were spawned by the same antecedent.

Those who engage in inhumane actions under the guise of art enjoy artistic freedom, but anyone who opposes these practices is simply declared fair game. The cultural powers-that- be and their underlings are masters in the art of repression. Their spiritual cruelty and brutality knows no bounds.

In June of 2005, three events of the Republican Club, New Austria were held in conjunction with the Charim Gallery in Vienna, which is the control center for Otto Mühl and Actionist art in Austria.

Those who promote Otto Mühl’s work are disseminating his spirit. Otto Mühl’s art and life are sold as an entity. His deeds are part of the sales pitch.

I wrote Doron Rabinovici, Club Board Member, suggesting that I present a program, including a discussion, on the subject of Art and Violence. On Feb. 13, 2006, I received the following answer: “I will present your program suggestion to other board members, but I for one, oppose it. I don't find the topic relevant. It doesn't fit in our discussion series. There is no reason for us to do it. It doesn't fit into the dramaturgy of our events. We favor a debate on a topical and controversial subject that reflects the interests of our members.”

What I took to be a lion’s den turned out to be a mouse-hole.

Comment by filmmaker Fritz Kleibel: “Negation in a six pack! – Naturally this theme does not reflect the interests of hardly anyone in the Club. Many have, in all likelihood, invested in this type of art and they don’t want to run any risks.”

The topic of violence as an art form is so irrelevant that a discourse cannot be engaged in. Yes, it is so irrelevant that even mentioning it is taboo. It is so irrelevant that in spite of testimonies describing the sexual abuse of small children, things are left to run their course.

“Anti-fascism” that shields those who commit random acts of violence is worthless and unworthy of the name anti-fascism. The system protects officially-sanctioned “errant” artists.

Is the present-day disregard for human values, 64

as illustrated here again and again, consistent with the spirit of “bygone” days?

Are bygone days truly bygone? Or is this more of the same? And is it now being served up under the protective carapace of art?

Art has always represented the truth over the lie. Now art is becoming a medium for propagating the lie.

Art was formerly a bastion against the Dark Forces. Now Dark Forces are ensconced in art.

The cultural setup feigns a democratic approach. The earmarks are opportunism, sophism and fellow-traveling.

In a totalitarian situation art stands beyond criticism. Conformity in the arts means that the game is up.

Barbarism can never be a reaction against barbarism. It is what it is, even when it has been “canonized.”

Freedom of art on this piece of geography means unlimited freedom for some, and a drastic limitation of such for others.

No advocate of Violence Under the Guise of Art was ever prepared to discuss these matters. Ditto, for the fellow-travelers.

Cultural unity signifies the end.

Crime and art have been fused in Actionism. Crime is part and parcel of Actionist art, and this element is a primary factor in the sales pitch and an integral part of the market package.

Make no bones about it: Actionism is a bona fide ideology which is both destructive and anti-humanistic. I take them at their word.

There has never been an ideology in the history of mankind that its adherents have not tried to realize.

I’ve only scratched the surface. I know there’s more to this than meets the eye – or the ear.

All the power and money in the world cannot turn the truth into a lie 65

and vice-versa.

During the Third Reich there were many perpetrators and a multitude of fellow-travelers. The fellow-travelers enabled the perpetrators to murder millions, including members of my family. I do not want to live my life as a fellow-traveler, especially on the former killing grounds.

Comment by filmmaker Fritz Kleibel concerning The refusal to discuss this topic “Negation in a six pack! – Naturally this theme does not reflect the interests of hardly anyone in this “circle.” Many have, in all likelihood, invested in this type of ‘art’ and they don’t want to run any risks.”

“Anti-fascism” that shields those who commit random acts of violence is worthless and unworthy of the name anti-fascism. The system protects officially-sanctioned “errant” artists.

Are bygone days truly bygone? Or are we being served up of the same? And is it now being served up under the protective carapace of art?

Is the present-day disregard for human values, as illustrated here again and again, consistent with the spirit of “bygone” days?

The cultural setup is a dictatorship feigning a democratic approach. The earmarks are mediocrity, opportunism, sophism and fellow-traveling.

In a totalitarian society art stands beyond criticism. Conformity in the arts means that the game is up.

Barbarism can never be a reaction against barbarism. It is what it is, even when it has been “canonized,” which is the label attributed to it by our foremost cultural critic.

Freedom of art on this piece of geography means unlimited freedom for some, and a drastic limitation of such for others.

Cultural unity signifies the end.

Crime and art have been fused in Actionism. Crime is part and parcel of Actionist art, and this element is a primary factor in the sales pitch and an integral part of the market package.

Make no bones about it: Actionism is a bona fide ideology which is both destructive and anti-humanistic.

When the Actionists express their aims, I for one, take them at their word.

There has never been an ideology in the history of mankind which its adherents have not tried to realize.

I have only scratched the surface. I know there’s more to this than meets the eye – or the ear.

All the power and money in the world cannot turn the truth into a lie and vice-versa.

During the Third Reich there were many perpetrators and a multitude of fellow-travelers. The fellow-travelers enabled the perpetrators to murder million-fold, including members of my family. I do not want to live my life as a fellow-traveler, especially on the killing grounds.

My encounter has been with assassins of the spirit. They are worthy successors to their predecessors.

Dangerous Ideas

“The Nazis attempted to destroy art from the outside. Those who practice destruction today have taken over on the inside and are destroying art from within.” - Comment by the late object-artist Padhi Frieberger:

Supplement

Open Letter by Hans Schroeder-Rozelle (Excerpts) Herrenberg, May 20, 2003 To Herrn Peter Noever Director of the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna and the Curator of the planned Otto Mühl Exhibit Frau Bettina Busse, Berlin Concerning: Otto Mühl. “My Life as a Work of Art” Planned for December of 2003 in the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (Presented March 3, 2004)

I contend that all democratic parties should agree that pedophile crimes should not be represented as works of art. This admission of the Austrian Social Democratic Party is essential since of children and juveniles, who still suffer today as a result of Mühl’s grave crimes.…The political support – particularly permission to establish a private school (in the Mühl Commune) – led to an even greater insulation of the children and young people….If the children had attended a public schools, some would presumably have confided in teachers and thus would have been spared much suffering.

I favor freedom of art, however, but I oppose the abuse of human rights, and in the case of (Otto) Mühl, specifically the egregious violation of the rights of children.

Otto Mühl established a system in the Commune centered on his person. He used his power to give vent to his violent fantasies and his pedophile proclivities and thus injuring the children and juveniles under his aegis.

Here are samples of Otto Mühl’s aberrations, transgressions and crime: Herr Mühl advocated racial theories: (Propagation of “genetically” superior individuals – primarily Mühl himself), which is reminiscent of recent history. Pregnancies of had to be “approved” by a board, over which Herr Mühl presided. “Unapproved” pregnancies had to be aborted.

The control group around Mühl and selected members consumed soft and hard drugs to a great extent. Juveniles were also given to drugs.

These key samples demonstrate that the Mühl Commune was an authoritarian system, in which we were “imprisoned.” We adult Commune members bear responsibility for our decision to live in the in the Commune, although many of us joined at a very young age.

However the children and juveniles of the Commune had no choice but to live in the Commune. Herr Mühl committed the most grievous transgressions and crimes towards them.

Herr Mühl abused many children and juveniles emotionally and sexually in a humiliating manner, both emotionally and sexually. A good number of these children and juveniles still suffer intensely as a result of these traumatic experiences.

What should these young people think, when the criminal behavior of the individual who abused and raped them is presented as “My Life as a Work of Art” in a major Austrian museum?

Herr Mühl bears responsibility for the most heinous abuse that children, juveniles and adults experienced at his hands, as well as for the spiritual suffering that resulted.”

Präsident Fischer schaltet sich ein: „Ich kenne aber Direktor Peter Noever seit vielen Jahren als jemanden, der in seiner Arbeit im MAK ganz bestimmt nicht die Delikte von Otto Muehl in irgend einer Weise bagatellisieren will, sondern dem es um eine Aufarbeitung dieses tragischen Bereiches geht (…) wobei wir immer sehr darauf Bedacht sein müssen, uns nicht in Dinge einzumischen, die ohne Einmischung der Politik entschieden werden müssen.“ - Heinz Fischer, Zweiter Präsident des Nationalrates, 11. Juni 2003, Brief an Hans Schroeder-Rozelle

***

An additional testimony by a former Commune member: Hamburger Abendblatt Magazin, July 25, 2006: “Mühl abused children sexually from the age of six on. This was not brought up at Mühl's trial…. The male children of the sect also told us of serious physical, sexual and spiritual abuse by him and his command group.”

***

On March 5, 2004, at the presentation of Otmar Bauer’s book, 1968, Bauer stated that the children in Otto Mühl’s new commune in Algarve, Portugal, had been sexually abused. Bauer was co-founder of the AAO Commune.302

Letter to Franco Fratini from Florence Burnier

TRANSLATION

Florence Burnier c/o Dr. Heidrun Pirchner Josefstädterstrasse 29/2/36 1080 Vienna florenceburnierghotmail.com

Vienna, June 27, 2006

Concerning the abuse of children in Europe:

Dear Mr Vice-President and EU Commissar for Justice and Security!

I read with great interest in various newspapers your call for solidarity for maltreated and abused children. I therefore appeal to you in a matter which is of the utmost importance to me.

In Austria, where I have been residing since 1982, the internationally renowned Austrian artist, Otto Mühl, was sentenced to a prison term by the municipal court in Eisenstadt

302 Book presentation of Otmar Bauer’s 1968, Antiquariat “Buch und Wien”, Schäfergasse 13a, March 5, 2004. Vienna. 69

(Burgenland) for the multiple sexual abuse and rape of children. Herr Mühl was a guru of a sect known as A.A.0. He reigned there over more than 120 children, in the course of time.

His imprisonment, however, did not end his abuse of power and abuse of children. After his release from prison, Herr Mühl “hid” in Portugal (Algarve), with loyal followers. He lives there now, undisturbed, with about 30 children; and the “program” of the Mühl sect is carried out there, just as it was previously.

There are many who are aware of this – how is it possible that nothing is done to stop him? Children of sect members who now live in Austria are regularly sent to Herr Mühl for “additional education.”

All my appeals and statements to both the Austrian and Portuguese authorities have remained unheeded.

Mr. Frattini, I would be very grateful if you would affirm this appeal and channel my statement to the proper authorities.

With best wishes for success, Florence Burnier

Notarized in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, on Septembert 15, 2006

Florence Burnier, page 2

TRANSLATION of STATEMENT

I, Florence Burnier, born on June 23, 1949 in Paris, residing in 1080 Vienna, Josefstädterstrasse 29/2/36, herewith make a protocol about Herr Otto Mühl, born in Grodnau, Burgenland, residing at present in Portugal. After being released from prison, with his loyal followers as accomplices, he continues to sexually abuse children in his “community,” where they are kept in complete isolation.

I have made this statement in good conscience in accord with the facts, and it will be impossible to disclaim it.

Florence Burnier

The same text will also be sent to you in letter-form.

Notarized in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, on Septembert 15, 2006

*** Letter from Public Prosecutor to Florence Burnier

Public Prosecutor Vienna Landesgerichtstrasse 11 1082 Vienna PO box 400 Tel. 01 / 401 27

25 St 590/06 y 70

Frau Florence BURNIER Josefstädter street 29/2/36 1080 VIENNA

Vienna on 1-29-2007

Concerning your charges against Otto MÜHL

Dear Frau Burnier!

Concerning your enquiry, which arrived on 26.1.2007 , I herewith inform you that your charges against Otto Mühl have been rejected due to §§ 206, paragraph 1, 207 paragraph 1 StGB due to lack of home jurisdiction in accordance with paragraph I StPO.

Yours sincerely Mag. Sonja Reiner

***

Florence Burnier Josefstädterstrasse 29/2/36 1080Wien Cell phone: 0681 10521538 [email protected]

Vice President Franco Frattini EUROPEAN COMMISSION B-1049 BRUSSELS

Dear Mr. Franco Frattini, Vice President:

I wrote the district attorney as you suggested, informing him about Otto Mühl’s activities concerning child abuse. On January 29, 2007, I received the enclosed letter. The district attorney wrote that Otto in Algarve is not under Austrian jurisdiction.

I enclose a photocopy of the letter from the district attorney, an English translation of the letter and a copy of my letter to the district attorney.

Now, there is no further course of action that can be taken in Austria. I do hope that now the European Union will act to abrogate Otto Mühl child-abuse activities.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely yours, Florence Burnier 71

***

DG JAI/D/2

EUROPÄISCHE KOMMISSION GENERALDIREKTION JUSTIZ, FREIHEIT UND SICHERHEIT

Direktion D: Interne Sicherheit und Strafjustiz Referat D2: Bekämpfung von Wirtschaftskriminalität, Zusammenarbeit zwischen Polizei- und Zollbehörden Die Referatsleiterin

Brüssel, den 27 AVR. 2007 JLS/D2/SZ /at D(2007)4809

Florence Burnier Josefstädterstrasse 29/2/36 A-1080 WIEN

Sehr geehrte Frau Burnier,

Ihr Schreiben an Franco FRATTINI, in dessen Auftrag ich Ihnen antworte, haben wir dankend erhalten.

Ich teile Ihre Besorgnis über mutmaßliche Fälle von Kindesmissbrauch und sexueller Ausbeutung Minderjähriger voll und ganz, muss Ihnen jedoch mitteilen, dass es nicht Aufgabe der Europäischen Kommission ist, in das Tagesgeschäft der Strafjustizbehörden in den Mitgliedstaaten einzugreifen. Die Europäische Kommission betreibt eine sehr aktive Politik auf dem Gebiet des Menschenhandels und des Schutzes der Rechte von Kindern. Die Gerichtsbarkeit ist jedoch allein Sache der Mitgliedstaaten und die Europäische Kommission ist nicht befugt, in individuelle Gerichtsverfahren einzugreifen.

Wie Sie wissen, ist der Schutz von Kindern ein Kerntherna im Zusammenhang mit der Aufrechterhaltung und Entwicklung des Raums der Freiheit, der Sicherheit und des Rechts in der EU. Die Kommission hat immer wieder die Fortschritte bei den Bemühungen um den Schutz der Kinder vor Missbrauch und sexueller Ausbeutung untersucht. Wie bereits von Herrn Faull in seinem Schreiben vom 18. September erwähnt, können Sie sich über die diesbezüglichen politischen Entwicklungen in Österreich auf der österreichischen Website http://www.ecpat.at informieren.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Lotte KNUDSEN

Commission européenne, B-1049 Bruxelles / Europese Commissie, B-1049 Brussel - Belgium. Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11. Office: LX46 03/130. Telephone: direct line (32-2) 295.80.66 Fax: (32-2) 296.76.33

The Best Man as Turncoat Pal

Art and Violence: Contexts for Post-War Austrian Art 72

Nazi Art was a simple and sterile depiction of mother earth and the fatherland. The true sado- masochistic, anti-humanist and murderous elements of the movement were missing in its art. Actionist art or “anti-art” has provided what was missing. Actionism does not only depict violence and cruelty, it presents it to the public. The actionists degrade and flay humans and they torment and kill animals as an ersatz (by their own admission). The editors will draw parallels between National Socialism and Actionism, and show that the latter is an outgrowth of the former.

The above served as the original concept for a symposium that took place in Vienna in May 2003. Herbert Kuhner, the initiator of the symposium, was excluded from participation by Dr. Michael Ley, one of the three organizers. Dr. Helmut Kohlenberger, the other organizer, stayed neutral and participated.

8. Mai – 10 Mai 2003

From Romanticism to Aesthetic Religion: Gnosis, Irrationalism und Anti-humanism in Modern Art

Akademie der bildenden Künste Wie Bawag Veranstaltungszentrum

Herbert Kuhner

The Takeover

A had a theme, which B had also dealt with, and he said let’s take it on together!

B came in with the suggestion that C be added to the team, A said okay (not knowing that he had assented to what would become his own excision)

Then C brought D in to be his right hand man, without asking anyone, neutralising B in the process, and taking whole thing over, giving A the heave-ho and slamming the door shut after him.

CODA

“One of the women, who is now 29 years old, describes how Mühl forced her to engage in sexual actions with him in front of the leadership of the commune at the age of five. Both 73

women state that at the time of Mühl’s trial, they were forced to remain silent about these occurrences by members of the Commune.” 303 - Der Spiegel, March 1, 2004

The hucksters and purveyors of Otto Mühl’s work are disseminating the spirit of Mühl. - H.K.

“The ‘moral-attackers’ look a bit ridiculous as they bang the same heads against the same wall decade after decade.”304 - Rudolf Scholten

“I did not bang my head. I got it banged. But I don’t feel the least bit ridiculous.” - H.K.

***

In the Third Reich there was a legion of perpetrators and a multitude of fellow travelers. The fellow travelers enabled the perpetrators to murder millions, including members of my family. I don‘t want to live my life as a fellow-traveler, especially in the former killing grounds. The past is a key to understanding the present as well as vice versa.

How the past manifests itself on the present is one of my major literary themes. This does not jell well with the powers-that-be. The Aftermath and the Aftereffects exceed being a Shadow and an Echo.

You cannot circumvent the subject of Actionism if you want to determine how the past has affected the present.

Perhaps I have succeeded in providing a piece of the puzzle. Repercussions are invariably a confirmation, and indeed they have been forthcoming.

I did my best to bring attention to public cruelty to man and beast and the abuse of children over the years, nay decades.

Abuse

303 Jürgen Kremb: „Opfer der Kommine“ Der Spiegel, No. 10, March 1, 2004, p. 156. 304 Rudolf Scholten, Profil, No. 11, 8, March 8, 2004, p. 147. 74

The great crimes of this earth are murder, rape and torture. A murderer takes the life of a human being. A rapist violates a human being. A torturer inflicts unbearable pain on his victim.

The suffering of a murdered victim ceases after he has been killed. A victim of rape is spiritually killed but continues to live.

Those who committed such crimes must be brought to justice, as well as those who shielded them, no matter what their rank and attire.

The Song Has Ended

Otto Mühl died on May 26, 2013.

“The song has ended, but the melody lingers on,” can be varied to “The Reich has ended, but the spirit lingers on.” And it lingers at more than one or two specific locations.

Fig. 1

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Fig. 3