INS SPOTLIGHT
Robert Misik in conversation with Heinz Fischer, Hilde Hawlicek and Wolfgang Greif
INS SPOTLIGHT
Personalities of the SPÖ at the beginning of the Second Republic
„This book is not about Karl Marx, nor about Victor Adler, Karl Renner, Otto Bauer, Adolf Schärf, Bruno Kreisky or a number of other shining lights of Austrian social democracy whose lives and achievements lie closed before us.
Rather, it is about another group of social democratic pioneers from Austria, namely men and women whose work and commitment are considered „groundbreaking“ for social democracy, for the trade union movement, for human rights, for equality and also for peace. However, they were and are not in the public spotlight to the same extent as the personalities mentioned above.“ HBP a.D. Dr Heinz Fischer in the foreword to the book
The biographies of the 25 women and men of the SPÖ, which have been compiled in the recently published book, all reach far back into the First Republic. During the bitter years of dictatorship, fascism and war between 1934 and 1945, they all underwent dramatic and sacrificial experiences, both personally and politically. In most cases, their social impact extended far into the Second Republic.
However, it is not just a matter of preserving the lives and work of these „recognised minds behind the scenes“ and their achievements in the reconstruction of the SPÖ and the Republic after 1945 from being forgotten.
The synopsis of these portraits also reveals a period in the history of the Austrian labour movement in a phase of fundamental change after the end of the Second World War: characterised by organisational and personal continuities in the social democratic movement as well as by far-reaching ideological and strategic ruptures within the SPÖ.
Those portrayed include Rosa Jochmann, Karl Czernetz, Maria Emhart, Josef Hindels, Peter Strasser and Marianne and Oskar Pollak. Portrayed by the editors and numerous co-authors such as Helmut Konrad, Brigitte Kepplinger and Florian Wenninger.
Former Federal President Dr Heinz Fischer and former Minister of Education and Culture Dr Hilde Hawlicek knew some of the personalities described in the book themselves and share their memories and common experiences.
Greeting:
Sabine Kroissenbrunner, Secretary General Bruno Kreisky Forum
Martin Birkner, Mandelbaum Publishing House
About the book:
Peter Autengruber and Alexander Neunherz, Co-Editor
In dialogue:
Heinz Fischer, lawyer, Federal President of the Republic of Austria from 2004-2016
Hilde Hawlicek, AHS teacher, Federal Minister for Education, the Arts and Sport from 1987-1990, SPÖ Head of Delegation in the European Parliament from 1995-1999
Wolfgang Greif, historian, former head of the Education and EU/International Affairs departments at the GPA trade union, co-editor
Moderation Robert Misik, Author and journalist
Peter Autengruber, Wolfgang Greif, Alexander Neunherz (eds.)
Into the spotlight
Personalities of the SPÖ at the beginning of the Second Republic.
With a foreword by Heinz Fischer
Mandelbaum Verlag, September 2025, 22,- €