Book presentation with Axel Schock
25 November, 6.30 pm

In the 1980s and 1990s, the AIDS crisis confronted the gay community in particular with an almost insurmountable challenge. Partners and friends fell ill and died, and the fear of a positive HIV test result drove many to despair. Thanks to medical progress, HIV infection is now a treatable condition, provided that treatment is accessible.

For many young queers today, AIDS has lost its terror. At the same time, the memory of those traumatic years is fading fast. The extensive AIDS chronicle by German journalist and author Axel Schock pushes back against this forgetting.

Across more than 600 pages, he offers a global overview of the pandemic. Concise individual stories shed light on AIDS from very different perspectives. The stories of people who fell ill and of those affected stand alongside those of activists, doctors and nurses. Far-reaching political decisions, and in the case of AIDS often non-decisions, are placed in a broader context through artistic activism, important literary testimonies or magazine articles.

Drawing on a wealth of material, Axel Schock distils the chronicle of a generation that experienced HIV and AIDS first-hand. He rescues their stories from oblivion. This raises the question: what can we learn from these experiences? What can a younger generation discover about solidarity, shared struggle and the sacrifices of the generation on whose shoulders it stands?

The book presentation is held in cooperation with Aids Hilfe Wien.

Introduction
Andrea Brunner, Executive Director of Aids Hilfe Wien