Austrian Folk 59from 1897 to 1910, was virulently anti-Semitic and caused
approximately 120,000 Jews to flee even before the Anschluss
in 1938. Over 65,000 died during the Holocaust. More left
after World War II. In 1954, they numbered 11,224, but by
2002, their numbers had dwindled to around 7,000. Unlike
in other countries, the Austrian Jewish community appears
to be shrinking.
Today, feelings toward the Jews have changed dramatically.
Catholics have spoken in defense of Jews and groups
of Austrian Catholics have made pilgrimages to Israel.
Parliament has disbanded organisations and limited events
believed to have pro-Nazi overtones. A Sigmund Freud park
was opened and the city has contributed generously to the
maintenance of various Jewish institutions. Simon Wiesenthal
set up a documentation centre in the former Jewish textile
quarter. The Jewish Welcome Center keeps in contact with
emigrants all over the world. There is a new Jewish school,
Lauder Chabad Campus, with 400 students.
Recently, the Judenplatz (Jewish Plaza) was totally
redesigned and is now a place of remembrance. The
Judenplatz Museum, located
in the Misrachi House, is run
by the Jewish Museum of the
City of Vienna. It houses three
exhibition rooms on medieval
Jewish life in addition to the
excavations of the Or Sarua
Synagogue. Built in the mid-13th
century, this synagogue was later
destroyed during the pogroms of
1420–1421 that forced the Jews
out of Vienna.
The sheer size of the historical Jewish population is
better understood after a visit to the Jewish section of
the Zentralfriedhof. However, the oldest surviving Jewish
cemetery, with gravestones dating back to 1540, is found
in the 9th district on Seegasse 9–11. To visit it, one must
go through the foyer of an old folks’ home to the back of
the building.
The Holocaust memorial in
Judenplatz was designed
by British sculptor, Rachel
Whitehead. It is a large concrete
library that depicts books with
their bindings facing inward.
The locked doors and the fact
that you cannot read the book
titles represent the loss of those
who died. Engraved around the
base are the names of the places
where Austrian Jews were killed
by the Nazis.