Erstellt am: 11. 11. 2010 - 13:38 Uhr
The Kaprun story is definitely not over
- news.ORF.at: Katastrophe ohne Schuldige?
A ski-town without skiers, like a beach-town without bathers, is a sad place. Ten years ago Kaprun was not only without skiers but in some desperate state beyond sadness. I arrived in the early evening of the 11th and could not quite understand what was going on. I knew a disaster had occurred but where were the flashing lights, sirens and ambulances? In the town the only clues were the small groups of people in hotel lobbies comforting each other. A car would arrive, passengers would alight and be embraced. I drove to the Gletscherbahn station hoping to find some visual evidence that would help confirm what I knew, but could barely grasp.
APA/Pictures Unlimited/J.Fesl/HPK
At the car park I was turned back by police. Then I realised the car park contained far more cars than it should. These were cars whose owners would never drive them home. The visual signs of tragedy were to be found but in Kaprun they were not the usual ones. Eventually I joined the other journalists beginning to gather at the Sporthalle – the building which would become our office for the next week – and we began to feed on the drips of information from police, Red Cross, politicians and others.
It would be nice to write, on the 11.11.2010, that the Kaprun story is over and that apart from those who suffered terrible loss, the world has returned to normal. I can’t write that because it hasn’t happened. I had carried with me the faint hope that I could write it but over the past 48 hours my hopes faded and at the remembrance ceremony they completely disappeared. I can’t grasp the loss Ursula Geiger experienced. Her son would now be 24 years old. Or how Johannes Stieldorf is getting on with his life. His son would now be 28. I can though, grasp her anger and his resignation. Ursula Geiger stood in front of the memorial, addressed the Chancellor, the Governor, the army, the police and told them justice had not been done. She said not finding fault with the humans involved in the tragic events left her and many others without an essential element in the understanding of their loss. God, she said, did not turn out the light in the tunnel.
APA/Barbara Gindl
It was a brave speech. Johannes Stieldorf had told me earlier in the week he would not come to the Kaprun ceremony because he did not want to be "part of an audience" for the "politicians and likewise". But in the end he did turn up, embraced Ursula and then disappeared inside the memorial. In so doing he managed to avoid being part of the "audience" but part of the community of grief.
They’ve formed a strong community, these bereaved. A community built not only on their shared experience of loss, but also on their shared sense of justice denied. It’s true, not all of those who lost loved ones at Kaprun are continuing the legal fight – in fact not even a majority. But those left in the battle seem tenacious, eloquent and angry. The Kaprun story is definitely not over.