Save the grave of Walter Nowotny

[Rommel8]

Vienna council shifts Luftwaffe hero from plot of honour to pauper's grave.

"It is a sad state of affairs when any war hero of any nation is dishonored by current political posturing. The left wing element in Vienna, Austria is ashamed of it's past and decided to rectify the situation by digging up the graves of dead soldiers and putting them in pauper's graves."

The ashes of a Luftwaffe pilot who shot down more than 250 Allied planes in the Second World War are to be exhumed from a grave of honour in Vienna after the council stripped him of his status as a war hero.

The campaign to remove Major Walter Nowotny's remains from the city's
Central Cemetery and move them to a pauper's plot has been led by the grandson of a British RAF pilot who was shot down over Belgium in 1940 and died of his injuries.

David Ellensohn, a Vienna city councillor whose maternal grandfather was RAF acting pilot officer James Gillespie, successfully argued that Major Nowotny - the first fighter pilot in history to bring down 250 enemy aircraft - had been serving the Third Reich and did not deserve his heroic status.

"He was not fighting for this country, for Austria, he was fighting for the Third Reich," said Mr Ellensohn, a Green Party councillor. "If they had won the war, there would be no Austria as such. Therefore, we should not be forced to give special credit to this man."

Major Nowotny, who had shot down 258 enemy aircraft by the time of his death,aged 24, had been awarded the Third Reich's highest military honour, the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, by Hitler himself.

When the major died in 1944 when his fighter crashed in flames, his ashes were buried with his medals in his home town, Vienna, alongside Austrian resistance fighters and Beethoven, Schubert, Johann Strauss and Brahms.

Mr Ellensohn asked: "What did he do that earned him a place alongside those who really earned their places in the cemetery, such as resistance fighters Rosa Jochmann and Paul Speiser?

"He was placed in that section of the graveyard by the Nazis, not by the city of Vienna, and although it has taken 59 years for the city to recognise that he does not deserve to be there, we are pleased that action is finally being taken."

The council's decision has been denounced as "cultural barbarianism" by Johann Herzog, a councillor for the opposition Freedom Party (FP), which has launched an appeal.

Opposition councillors argue that relocating the major's ashes would
contravene the war graves welfare law, from 1948, that says war graves - regardless of the nationality of their occupant - must remain undisturbed.

Mr Herzog said: "The necessity to dishonour Nowotny's grave, and therefore his person, almost 60 years after his death, is evidence of a distorted understanding of history and moreover a lack of deference for a fallen soldier. And that's all he was - a soldier.

"He was not a member of the National Socialist Party and he certainly was not a war criminal. If he were, I could understand the removal of his status. In fact, he was respected not just by his own side but by RAF pilots as well."

Sascha Gasthuber, of the far-Right Germania group, said protesters carrying flaming torches to show their contempt for the vote would march against the council's decision. "Nowotny gave his life to make sure the future was worth living in for us and our children. We cannot sit back and let them dishonour his memory like this."

Mr Ellensohn, however, insisted that the plan to move the grave away from the cemetery's section for heroes was perfectly justified. "As far as I am aware, there is no rule in Catholicism that says a grave cannot be moved, not like in
Judaism," he said.

Major Nowotny, who joined up when he was 19 following the invasion of
Poland, was renowned even among Allied pilots and during the summer of 1943 became a virtual one-man air force in the skies over the Eastern Front. In June 1943 he shot down 41 aircraft, 10 in one day. He crashed on November 8 1944 and was buried with his medals a few days later.

If you feel like registering your disgust/protest, the ringleader
Ellensohn's email address is:

[email protected]

[Rommel8]

here is a copy of my email:

Hello,

I recently stumbled upon your protest, of removing the famous Luftwaffe pilot Walter Nowotny's grave. Why would you want this? He fought for his country, for his family, and for his life, that alone is worth dying for, in my mind as well as many others, that makes him a hero. This could go so wrong in so many ways for you. Similar protests could come about of having USAAF memorials in Germany, when they killed so many, or even the RAF, why should Germany have memorials of those pilots who died when you wont respect Germany's? If you think he was bad, wasnt the RAF who bombed Caen into submission, Dresden, Hamburg? Causing unprecedented amounts of civilian casualties?

Even if you don't consider him a hero, Germany may. I'm not talking Neo-Nazis or anything. Someone would honor him. Old survivng Luftwaffe pilots, etc. He may have put over 250 other men in their graves, but so did American and British and Russian military members. We honor our war heroes, we honor the soilders that fought in Vietnam, because their country told them to. We honor the soilders that fought in Desert Storm, and now, in Iraq. We honor the British soilders and the Commonwealth soilders, who fought in Europe and the Pacific, who fought in Vietnam, and in Korea, and who are fighting now, in a sandpit. We may not honor the government or group that employed them, be it the 1950-1960's American government, or the Third Reich. But we sure as heck honor them, and if some Austrians want to take him from his HOME TOWN and bury him somewhere else, they should have the same thing done to them. Let him rest quietly. After a major war, where he killed 250 other humans, he should be allowed to rest in peace.

For the sake of him, for the sake of his family, let him rest in peace.

Respectfully,
Kyle Frese

[Sturmmann]

That just makes me upset. The Luftwaffe and its pilots never did anything to merit disrespect from anyone. Its kind of hard to commit atrocities from the air... oops, forgot about USA and Britain.

[Odessa2]

god this is such Bull%$#@


many brave and honorable people happened to serve under the Third Reich.

it does not make them any less of a warrior...

So should we americans go remove Robert E Lee's Grave and put his body in a garbage dump?

Didn't every allied commander highly respect and even admire Erwin Rommel? and many other third reich military personnels?

[Odessa2]

well written, Romme8


we should seriously get an international petition going,

what can we do start one?


I also remember reading about a school in american named after Von Braun who got us to the moon when he helped us make the Saturn 5 after v-2 rockets brought back from germany.
anyways, some closed minded tree-huggers or something found out and protested and they freaking changed the name.

that is complete bullcrap too, because Von Braun always wanted space travel and he was truly happy that america was able to get to moon first. he truly loved america.

man screw these closed minded bastards.

[fdewaele]

this is an utter disgrace...

If they do this, the whole of Austria would be defiled by this act...

[Rommel8]

for a petition, im not sure, but what you can do is send the guy an email telling him your feelings and stuff...ill see what else I can find

[Phoenix]

How about an electronic petition like http://www.onlinepetition.com? Just email the link to the people involved (and don't forget the media).

[CHRISCHA]

That just makes me upset. The Luftwaffe and its pilots never did anything to merit disrespect from anyone. Its kind of hard to commit atrocities from the air... oops, forgot about USA and Britain.

Don't ruin a good thread with this nonsense.

[CHRISCHA]

The campaign to remove Major Walter Nowotny's remains from the city's
Central Cemetery and move them to a pauper's plot has been led by the grandson of a British RAF pilot who was shot down over Belgium in 1940 and died of his injuries.

Is an RAF pilot's grandson in favour of putting the Major's remains into a pauper's grave?

[Rommel8]

paupers grave?

[Reme]

I sent an email, hopefully we can all do the same to let David realize that there are people who would be highly offended by the <consimation//descimation>.

Sorry, but i forget the word for people who deface graves....

[Matt Gibbs]

Its desecration.
I think there must be something in the International War Graves Commision who might be able to find out something about this..?
It seems a asad and sorry shame.
Regards
Matt Gibbs

[Matt Gibbs]

Don't know if its worth contacting them..?
I am not good at reading german so maybe another member can have a read of their page..?

http://www.volksbund.de/

regards
MG

[Geheime Feldpolizei]

I am in agreement with most, if not all, of the posters here regarding the "BS content" of this action. There is probably little that can be done to prevent the move. However, perhaps "proper persons" (you decide who they are Austria) should perhaps erect another memorial to Nowotny in his new resting place.

As an aside, just watch the future "career" of the troublemaker in this episode. He's angling for higher political office to be sure. He's in search of a "claim to fame."