Ավստրիայի «ազգային հերոս» և SOS մանկական գյուղերի հիմնադիր Հերման Գմայների հետմահու անկումը.

LETTER FROM VIENNA

Hermann Gmeiner (1919-1986), the founder of the NGO SOS Children's Villages, was regarded as a national hero in Austria until the end of October. He has now fallen from grace in his native country. On October 23 this educator, famous for founding the first of such "villages" in Tyrol in 1949 – part of an organization that is now active in 137 countries – was revealed to have been the subject of "eight reports" for "sexual abuse and physical violence committed in Austria between the 1950s and 1980s." Since then, his name has become toxic, recalling the downfall of Abbé Pierre in France.

Streets renamed, statues taken down, schools rechristened: Hardly a day goes by without a municipality announcing the decision to erase Gmeiner's name. SOS Children's Villages describes itself on its website as "the world's largest organization focused on ensuring that children and young people without parental care or at risk of losing it grow up with the care, relationships and support they need to become their strongest selves." Already shaken between 2021 and 2023 by scandals involving abuse – including sexual abuse – at various international sites, the NGO known for its "villages" with highly traditional structures is now facing intense criticism in the country where it was born.

You have 76.1% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.