Exhibition and Film Screening about Austrian Ski Champions and Refugees as U.S. Mountain Soldiers during World War II and on the Philosophy of Civilian Mountain Rescue in Seattle and Tyrol.

Alpinism Meets Antifascism: Austrians in the 10^th US Mountain Division in World War II

In a pop-up photo exhibition titled So it was that we trained in this valley shrouded with smoke, historians Florian Traussnig and Robert Lackner present their research about Austrians in the famed 10^th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army during World War II: Mostly refugees from National Socialism—about one hundred Austrians, among them skiers and mountaineers—served with the only unit in the Army specialized in mountain and winter warfare. Their experiences, from training in a high valley in the Rockies of Colorado, to combat duty against the German Wehrmacht in Italy, are shown mainly through the interpretative lens of a (Jewish) refugee soldier and are documented in a biographical online portal.

The Volunteers: Mountain Rescue Brings Us Home (Die Freiwilligen: Beheimatet mit der Bergrettung)

A historian and law professor considers how mountain rescue offers a model for building a better society. Two mountain rescue organizations—one near Seattle, Washington, the other in Tyrol, Austria—are linked by a surprising connection. Take a journey with scholar Mark S. Weiner from North America to Austria and back again as he considers the origins and meaning of their work and how it can heal contemporary political divisions. Both groups have grown from a strong sense of place … because before you can save a stranger, you first must love your home.

Program:
6 p.m. “Soft Opening” of the poster exhibition.
7 p.m. Presentation of the online portal & Filmscreening “The Volunteers”.

Afterwards, Get-Together with drinks and snacks.