[VideoView]

Dipl.-Vw. Dr. Ludwig Steiner

Those who opted to leave and those who stayed behind
interviewer:
Ruth Deutschmann
photography:
Benjamin Epp
copyright location:
Wien
date of recording:
2008-04-29
English translation by:
Sylvia Manning - Baumgartner
Italian translation by:
Nicole D´Incecco
event
[1939-06-29] "Optants" and "stay there" Attitude change of the VKS (VB Kampfring South Tyrol) for resettlement: "(...) The German people of South Tyrol is leaving the old country and strikes to save and preserve his German nationality in the Greater German Reich a new home, the ancestors of justification and the youth the people's commitment. The people of South Tyrol has not lived in vain for 20 years under the beds and I know that there will be no more after the completion of resettlement in the countryside on Isarco and Adige German life. "
place of recording
$child2[$rel_i18n_id][0]
???iuimd_video_v_zeit_zuordnung_en???:
1939
transcription:
.. and naturally the people who opted for Germany feel they have to justify themselves and want to explain why they left. The others who didn't leave were called "stay-behinds". That's really confusing. In the end everybody was damaged because of these decisions and found themselves in a grave dilemma: Stay under the Italian fascist regime or go to Germany and leave home? Of course, it was a very difficult decision for everyone. Some believed the fallacy that the German economy was flourishing and they would be able to escape their current misery. They had illusions. Many really had to make a very bitter and personal choice between two evils, so to speak. It truly wasn't easy for anyone. In fact this problem has never been fully addressed in South Tyrol. It still exists below the surface. The second and third generations afterwards still know which families were "stay-behinds" and which ones had opted. One thing is very clear: When speaking about the de-nationalisation by the Italians you mustn't forget that it wasn't only the immigration of Italians but mainly the emigration due to the option which reduced the numbers of South Tyroleans. You can play with the numbers, can discuss whether the same number of Italians immigrated as South Tyroleans emigrated. But those are just number-games which don't reflect individual fates. You have to realise that there were various influences at play here. In future, that will have to be considered too.