Carinthia and National Socialism

The exibition ‘Hinschauen! Poglejmo.’ is an invitation to take an open and critical look at the National Socialist rule in Carinthia – and to engage with both suppressed and familiar aspects of regional history, 80 years after the end of the Second World War. Structured around seven themes, the exhibition sheds light on war and destruction, deportation, forced labour, repression, mass murder, resistance, and science – along with post-war continuities, the role of institutions, and the treatment of those responsible for the crimes to this day. From Carinthia, the traces lead to sites of crimes in Norway, Poland, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Carinthia – including places like Narvik, Zamość, Lublin, Sobibor, Oradour, Trieste, Lipa, Begunje, Spittal an der Drau, Dellach im Drautal, Himmelberg, Klagenfurt, Zell/Sele and the Loibl Pass/Ljubelj. The exhibition highlights the significant involvement of Carinthian National Socialists in war, occupation, and the Holocaust; as well as in the violent ‘Germanisation’ of the region, in the deportations, and their consequences that persist to this day. It also reflects on the role of the museum itself – as a place where history has been written, silenced, and reinterpreted. Like a lifeline, the theme of resistance runs throughout the exhibition. Because the sites of crimes were also places of refusal, disobedience, escape, and social, political, and armed resistance. A particular focus is placed on the long-marginalised memory of Carinthian Slovenes – on the voices of survivors, descendants, and those who carry forward the work of remembrance today. We ask: Who held political responsibility – then and afterward? What were the paths of former perpetrators in the Second Republic? What role did the judiciary play, and how effective was the so-called denazification? What are the narratives that shaped public memory for decades? And how have these narratives shifted since the 1990s? Who were and are the driving forces behind this shift? What debates were sparked around memorial sites, monuments, and museums? And where do we stand with all of this today? Each chapter moves through time, connecting places, biographies, documents, objects and artistic interventions with questions of responsibility and agency. This creates a multifaceted picture: of perpetrators and bystanders, of the persecuted, of survivors, of those who resisted – and of the institutions that, after 1945, shaped, obscured, or reinterpreted history. Hinschaun! Poglejmo. invites you to actively engage with history. Much is shown for the first time while other things are presented in a new light. You are invited to find your own path – with open eyes and questions that might still have to be answered.