Obj. ID: 49858
Memorials Holocaust Memorial in Wertheimer Synagogue in Eisenstadt, Austria, 2000
To the main object: Wertheimer Schul in Eisenstadt, Austria
Name of Monument
Jahrzeit Project in Wertheimer Synagogue
What/Who is commemorated?
Deceased members of the Eisenstadt Jewish community, former Jewish residents of the town, and the destruction of the community
Description
The memorial is located in the Samson Wertheimer private synagogue, now part of the Österreichisches Jüdisches Museum. To the left of the Ark (Aron ha-Kodesh), the steel wire mesh is attached from the floor to the ceiling of the wall. 755 small metal memorial (Yahrzeit) plaques with Hebrew inscriptions are attached to the steel mesh. The plaques are mostly black metal about 10.5 x 15 cm in size. They date from before the Holocaust, but their assemblage and display are intended to both memorialize those named on the plaques and also to commemorate all Jews from the town, including those who escaped, and those who died between 1938 and 1945.
Inscriptions
The memorial plaques are inscribed in Hebrew with names and dates. A looseleaf binder with transcriptions and translations of all the inscriptions is displayed in front of the mesh with plaques.
Commissioned by
Österreichisches Jüdisches Museum
11 image(s)
sub-set tree:
In 1994, 755 Yahrzeit plaques dating from the 18th century until 1938, were found packed in CARE boxes in the attic of the Österreichisches Jüdisches Museum (Austrian Jewish Museum), which has been founded in 1972 in the former Wertheimer family mansion (Wertheimerhaus). Study of the plaques indicates they are mostly from Eisenstadt and the Jewish communities that belonged to Eisenstadt until 1938. These small metal plaques would have been hung in the synagogue on the Yahzeit (anniversary of death) of the deceased.
The plaques had presumably been put there years before, probably removed, and possibly intentionally hidden, when the private Samson Wertheimer synagogue was closed when the Jews of Eisenstadt were expelled immediately after the Anschluss in 1938. The main synagogue of the town was destroyed on Kristallnacht, November 10, 1938. The museum installed these unique items on the wall of the former Wertheimer synagogue, to the left of the ark. While the plaques do not relate directly to the victims of the Holocaust, their installation is meant to remember the former Jewish residents of the town, and the destruction of the community.
The plaques were exhibited in the permanent collection of the museum in 1994, and then moved to the synagogue in 2000.
Reiss, Johannes, …Because Our love for Our Home Town Has Been Drained From Us….: A Walk Through the Jewish History of Eisenstadt (Eisenstadt: Österreichisches Jüdisches Museum, 2001)