October 23, 2025, 2:36 p.mOctober 23, 2025, 2:36 p.m
The founder of the global aid organization SOS Children’s Villages, Hermann Gmeiner, is suspected of abuse. There are credible allegations of sexual and physical assault against the Austrian, who died in 1986said a spokeswoman for SOS Children’s Villages Austria to the German Press Agency.
The allegations against the educator concern eight male former children and young people at four children’s village locations in Austria. The attacks are said to have been carried out between the 1950s and the 1980s, according to a statement from the organization in Innsbruck. Be it “It cannot be ruled out” that further cases will emerge in the course of the investigationsaid the speaker.
Allegations have been known internally for years
The allegations against Gmeiner had been known within the organization for years, but were only now made public as part of an ongoing investigation into possible attacks by SOS Children’s Villages employees. “No one is above the principle of responsibility, not even the founding figures.”said Annemarie Schlack, managing director of SOS Children’s Villages Austria, in a statement.
According to the organization, Gmeiner’s alleged victims came forward between 2013 and 2023 and also went through victim protection procedures during this time. Those affected received compensation payments and therapyit said. The alleged incidents are not proven by court rulings, but by credible and plausible accounts, said the spokeswoman.
Reform Commission: Chairwoman sees “super disaster”
Based on a report in the Viennese weekly newspaper “Falter”, a number of alleged attacks by children’s village employees in the recent past have become public in the past few weeks. Since the organization has announced a “restart”.. Furthermore, an external commission was set up to deal with grievances and structural problems.
The allegations against employees are a “catastrophe,” said commission chairwoman Irmgard Griss to the dpa. The additional allegations against Gmeiner would not make the committee’s work any easier. “It shows the urgency of looking at this.”said the former President of the Supreme Court in Austria. The aim is to restore trust in the organization and prevent further incidentssays Griss.
Children’s village founded after the World War
Gmeiner was born in 1919 into a family of mountain farmers. After the Second World War, the then medical student became involved in helping children in need. In 1951, the first SOS Children’s Village for orphaned and abandoned children was opened in Imst in Tyrol, Austria. The organization now looks after children and young people around the world whose parents cannot look after them for various reasons. (rbu/sda/dpa)