Vienna fears protests over war exhibition

Protesters say the show contains numerous falsehoods

By the BBC's Paul Legg

Hundreds of police are to be deployed in the Austrian capital, Vienna, later on Saturday ahead of a planned demonstration by extreme right-wing groups against an exhibition that blames the German army, the Wehrmacht, for World War II atrocities.

The exhibition provides evidence to support the view that between 1941 and 1944 the Nazi German army systematically starved, tortured and murdered civilians on the Eastern front.

The exhibition challenges the widely-held belief, particularly among Germans, that the Nazi SS and Gestapo were exclusively responsible for such atrocities.

The right-wing groups claim the exhibition's photographs and documentary evidence contain numerous falsehoods.

When it opened in Berlin, police used water cannon, tear gas and batons to keep apart extremist groups.

Controversial show

The exhibition at the heart of the controversy provides documentary and photographic evidence to support the view that between 1941 and 1944 the Nazi German army systematically starved, tortured and murdered civilians on the Eastern front.

When it was first staged in Germany and Austria in 1995, it was engulfed in disputes over its accuracy, and was withdrawn two years later when some of its photographs were shown to be fakes.

The new show was put together by 11 historians whose decisions were vetted by a panel of experts.

It places less emphasis on photographic evidence and includes sections showing that in some - albeit rare cases - army officers did refuse to carry out their orders.

These changes were not enough to prevent demonstrations by right-wing extremists in Berlin and other German cities when the new exhibition opened late last year.

And the organisers of Saturday's protest in Vienna say they expect a thousand people to take part.

Left-wingers are planning a counter-demonstration, but Vienna's Jewish community has distanced itself from this because it says the left's anti-Israeli rhetoric has fuelled anti-semitism in Austria.