The Jewish military section of Vienna’s vast Central Cemetery has been reopened after two years of restoration work. The president of the Vienna Jewish Community and Austria’s Defense and Interior ministers took part in the public rededication ceremony August 22.
The Jewish military section contains 450 tombstones honoring Jewish soldiers who perished fighting in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the World War One.
The €250,000 renovation started two years ago and was financed by the local Jewish community and the Ministry of the Interior, which is legally responsible for preserving and maintaining the war graves of the First and Second World Wars in Austria. Work also included the renovation of the memorial monument in memory of the Jewish soldiers who perished in World War One.
At the rededication ceremony civil and religious authorities were accompanied by honor guards from the police and the army, and the ceremony featured Jewish prayers and a wreath-laying.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner contrasted the valor of the Jewish soldiers who died fighting for Austro-Hungary with the persecution and murder of Jews during the Holocaust less than three decades later.
“Today we commemorate the Austro-Hungarian soldiers of Jewish faith from the First World War as an expression of a modern and contemporary culture of remembrance,” Karner said. “That was not always the case. The deployment of Jewish soldiers was not only forgotten after the First World War, their families were expelled or murdered in the Holocaust – our memorials, especially the Mauthausen concentration camp and its subcamps, are stone witnesses to this.”
Tanner recalled that “450 Jewish soldiers gave their lives for their homeland, Austria, during the [First World ] War. However, the dark era of National Socialism also claimed millions of victims, and even today, the Jewish community finds no peace when we look towards Israel. Therefore, it is our responsibility to continue to preserve this historic cemetery and never forget who these brave Jewish soldiers were who fought for Austria. The restoration work at the Jewish military cemetery and the preservation of our Austrian history are essential—so that we do not forget who we were and who we are today.”
Jewish Community President Oskar Deutsch added: “Here we can commemorate our ancestors and remember that Austrian Jews stood by their country even in difficult times. We take our life in Austria today for granted just as much. In times when anti-Semitism is not only emerging in various corners but is already thriving again, this memory is particularly important.”
The Vienna Central Cemetery, established in 1874, contains two Jewish sections.
The World War I military cemetery is part of the Old Jewish Section, located near Gate 1 and founded in 1879. It comprises around 52,200 gravesites, where approximately 100,000 people are buried. The City of Vienna owns this section. In 2019, extensive clearing was carried out to prevent further deterioration of the graves.
The New Jewish Section, near Gate IV, was established in 1917 and has around 60,000 gravesites. This area, which also includes a newly renovated Tahara House, continues to serve as a burial place for the Jewish Community of Vienna. The Jewish Community of Vienna owns this section, and like the Old Jewish Section, it remains unlocked and is open to the public.
Both sections have been the focus of various types of work over the years as part of the federally-financed Fund for the Restoration of Jewish Cemeteries in Austria, established in 2010 to preserve the more than 60 Jewish cemeteries throughout the country.
Click here to read the news release from the Austrian Ministry of Interior (in German)
Click here to read a report in English about the reopening of the section from Jewish News Austria