90 years ago, in 1927, the Palace Of Justice, seat of the Supreme Court, was set on fire. Rightwing supporters of the Front Fighters’ Union, which counted later war criminal Adolf Eichmann among its members, clashed with members of the Schutzbund, the paramilitary organization of the social democratic party. The day before, a district court had unjustly acquitted members of the Front Fighters’ Union from shooting and killing two innocent bystanders, a 40 year old and a 8 year old, in another confrontation with the Schutzbund.
These were the days of the Civil War, which led the young Republic of Austria into its demise: Austria was swallowed by fascism, integrated into Hitler’s Third Reich and buried under ashes in the WWII.
84 people vanished in the fire. 60 millions in WWII and the holocaust.
In 2017 the Palace of Justice sparkles with gold again. Trust in law and justice seems undisturbed.
The eyes of Justitia are blind as she sits enthroned, holding on to her sword, and clutching a book.
What book is she reading, blindly?
