So long, farewell, auf wiedersen goodbye? I guess so. I luckily extended my stay in Vienna by one day, cutting into my post-program travels in Germany, so that I could feel less stressed about cramming in all the activities I wanted to accomplish in Vienna. But alas, today was bittersweet with goodbyes to people and a city that I had grown so close to in so little time. We fought against our imminent sadness by drinking seemingly-bottomless white wine at the Heurigen we visited at the beginning of the trip (and we racked up quite the bill in the meantime!). Ah, bookends.
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| Die Madels and our idol, K-Stu. |
Upon doing some research for my paper, I found an article interviewing Ruth Kluger (as my paper will be on the topic of the holocaust) where she states that Vienna is innately an anti-semitic city. (Here's a link to the article where she makes this claim: http://www.spiegel.de/international/holocaust-survivor-ruth-klueger-vienna-reeks-of-anti-semitism-a-435879.html) She explains how anti-semitism runs rampant throughout the city, and how she hates Vienna for it. This, of course, is where Kluger was born and lived until she was sent off with her mother to the concentration camps. Her experiences as a child in Vienna were difficult, as she was discriminated against greatly as a young Jewish girl. She describes how she had to go to many different schools, learning nothing in the meantime since she could never fully settle a school or receive a decent education. Her only escape at the time was through reading. In the interview, she tells of returning to Vienna later on and hating it all the same, even down to the people she encountered.
Of course, I won’t end my blog on such a negative reflection on Vienna, as I don’t agree with Kluger. While it wasn’t particularly saturated with Jewish culture and religion, I didn’t encounter any kinds of signs of anti-semitism. I know that Kluger’s experience was entirely different from mine, and that her experience definitely gets more credit: hers, a depressing, decrepit, and traumatizing childhood, and mine, a fulfilling and enlightening short-term summer abroad experience. However, this issue of history and memory (something that I will reflect on further in my paper) and how the two work together to define one another is demonstrated in Kluger’s tarnished connection with Vienna. Her own personal memory of the city is colored by oppression and hatred, and thus, her concept of Vienna remains stagnant and somewhat biased. I do think it is unfair of her to deem the entire city as being anti-semitic, but of course, she is entitled to this strong opinion. This writes off centuries of history and culture, the Babenburgs, the Habsburgs, Reformations and counter-reformations, wars, etc by making such a harsh claim. I understand that Kluger is unable to visit Vienna, carelessly walking along the Danube, visiting the Kunsthistoriches Museum, snacking guiltlessly on the second Sacher Torte of the day without recalling her uniquely traumatic past. But with this emotional bias she places on her opinion of the city as a whole, she dilutes the complete truth of how it really is to be in Vienna.
Long story short, Vienna was an amazing, beautiful city to have such a wonderful summer abroad experience in. Shoutout to my girl Kathy Stuart for pulling together such a great group of badasses.
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