Vienna’s Oldest Jewish Cemetery Re-dedicated

The oldest Jewish cemetery in Vienna, dating back more than 400 years, has been completely renovated and rededicated at a ceremony attended by the president of the Viennese Jewish community and the Mayor of the city, the World Jewish Congress reported today.

According to the Jewish Welcome Service of Vienna, an associated institution of the WJC, the cemetery, which had been completely destroyed during the Hitler regime, was restored with funding by the city of Vienna in cooperation with the local Jewish community. About one-third of the total number of original tombs and headstones destroyed during the Nazi era were restored and replaced on the original sites.

Dr. Leon Zelman, director of the Jewish Welcome Service, pointed out that “the history of this cemetery is the history of Jews in Vienna.” The oldest tombstone is dated 1582 with the last funeral taking place there in 1783, following which the cemetery became a historical monument. Among those interred there were Samuel Oppenheimer along with other famous 18th century Jewish financiers, as well as S. Michael Pressburg, grandfather of Heinrich Heine.

In 1943, before the Nazis had destroyed the entire cemetery, members of the Jewish community secretly removed all existing headstones in one night and brought them to the central cemetery in Vienna. There, hidden in the ground, some 250 stones were saved.

Zelman noted that “it was thanks to the determined efforts of the two past presidents of the Jewish community of Vienna, Dr. Anton Pick and Karl Lazar, along with the Lord Mayor of Vienna, Leopold Gratz, and the Minister of Culture, Dr. Helmut Zilk, that the restoration of this remarkable, historical monument was possible.”

Dr. Ivan Hacker, the current president of the central representative body of Austrian Jewry, and Gratz headed the delegation of prominent Jewish and civic personalities who attended the re-dedication ceremonies.