"Uprooting"

Nazi street: residents do not want a new name

Sylvia Krögner, Ruth Krahmer and Gerald Jarosch (from left) have lived in the street for decades.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

It is to be the first Nazi street to be renamed. But not every resident of Heinrich-Damisch-Straße is happy about the change of address. Some feel offended, some even uprooted.

The small Heinrich-Damisch-Straße in Salzburg-Parsch is to become Helene-Thimig-Straße in 2025. Mayor Bernhard Auinger (SPÖ) will sign the official report today. Damisch was an early NSDAP member and anti-Semite. While the renaming of streets in the city with a Nazi past has been taboo until now, there is now finally to be some movement on the issue - as reported by the "Krone" newspaper. The street with only eight addresses is to become a pilot project.

Not everyone likes a new name for their home address. "I feel massively blindsided," explains local resident Gerald Jarosch. He only found out about the name change from the "Krone" newspaper. "Why didn't the city inform us personally in advance? That annoys me."

In 2021, the city decided against renaming streets that were under pressure - and installed additional signs.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Jarosch has lived here for more than 40 years. His company is also affected. He has to have everything changed, from stamps to car lettering. The local council will cover the residents' expenses due to the renaming. "But who will compensate me for the time I have to spend making phone calls?"

"That gives me a headache"
"For me, the change is like being uprooted," laments Jarosch's mother-in-law Sylvia Krögner. Her neighbor, 97-year-old Ruth Krahmer, feels the same way. Both women have lived here in Parsch since the early 1960s. The resolute Krahmer, who does not show her age, rejects the renaming of her street.

"I've already had to put up with and endure a lot in my life. Now this too," complains the pensioner, who is dependent on help in her everyday life. Who will do the official paperwork for her, change her address? "That gives me a headache."