Austria
AUSTRIA - THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
In March 2009, a renewed attempt by the Austrian Green Party to find a solution to the preservation of the country's Jewish cemeteries resulted in the Parliament once again delaying its decision. In the 2001, in Washington Agreement with the United States, the country committed to the preservation and protection of its Jewish cemeteries, but the federal government and regional authorities have yet to agree on the financial details of maintaining these sites. [March 2009]
153,623 records of Jewish Graves in Austria of people deceased prior to May 5, 1945. [April 2004]
Verein SCHALOM .. Jewish cemeteries in Austria was an online guide to Jewish cemeteries in Austria with maps and information and pictures. Link no longer functions. However, Lo Tishkach has excellent information. [April 2012]
Synagogue Without Jews [February 2009]
"Institut für Geschichte der Juden in Österreich" (Institute for the History of Jews in Austria) has literature on Jewish Communities. [October 2001]
Jüdisches Museum Wien
Büro: A-1010 Wien, Trattnerhof 2/106
Museum: A-1010 Wien, Dorotheergasse 11
Bibliothek: A-1010 Wien, Seitenstettengasse 4
Judenplatz: A-1010 Wien, Judenplatz 8
Tel.: +43 (1) 535 04 31 ext. 313
Fax: +43 (1) 535 04 24
Website: http://www.jmw.at/
E-Mail:
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General Information for Vienna and North Burgenland about the Shalom Association:
Austrian Federal President Thomas Klestil praised the work of the Shalom Association, which for the past five years restored Jewish graves in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. Shalom was founded in November 1991 by Walter Pagler and his wife Carla, together with historian Erika Weinzierl and architect Friedrich Rollwagen. In the course of 150,000 hours of voluntary service so far, a 26-hectare Jewish cemetery, that for five decades was completely abandoned and overgrown, was made accessible. During this process, 19 kms. of paths and roads were either repaired or newly built, which entailed cutting out 2,000 tons of wood. This cemetery is one of four Jewish cemeteries in Vienna in which no burials have taken place for years. Since the 1938-1945 period, in which 62,000 Viennese Jews were murdered and 102,000 exiled, these cemeteries have been completely abandoned and become overgrown.
Walter Pagler succeeded in finding several mass graves of Jews in Burgenland, and particularly Hungarian prisoners of forced labour camps, who were murdered by the Nazis. Shalom Association is currently preparing a 'Guide' to the Jewish cemeteries, in order to make it easier for visitors - mainly descendants of the second and third generation - to find the graves of their exiled or murdered relatives.
The invisible core of the restoration of the Jewish cemeteries proved surprisingly to be the electronic database. This was made possible by a donation made by the former Federal Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Science, Erhard Busek. The database is linked up with 24 computers at the Vienna Business School in which the Jewish Community Centre's death register and registrar records are stored. They comprise all the Viennese cemeteries with a total of 155,000 Jewish citizens who have died since 1750 and the cemeteries in northern Burgenland and Lower Austria. Contact the Austrian Federal Press Service: Tel. ++43/1/531 15-2287. fax. ++43/1/531 15-2880. http://www.austria.gv.at
For more on Viennese cemeteries see the excellent Beginners Guide to Austrian-Jewish Genealogy by E. R. Schoenberg on the BOHMOR website .
Cemetery database of the Vienna Kultusgemeinde
covering the Zentralfriedhof Wien first and fourth gate is now accessible via the internet. Source: bohmor digest [August 2003]
Deutsche Version: http://friedhof.ikg-wien.at/suche_de.asp
English Version: http://friedhof.ikg-wien.at/suche_en.asp
The "Religion" page of the Jewish community of Vienna has a list of all Jewish cemeteries in Austria with some pictures and information for each one:[June 2003]
Jewish community information: [October 2000]
[UPDATE] Tracing Jewish Heritage Along the Danube [March 2015]