Hans Moller

Vienna

In German: Wien. Capital of Austria

Early History

Documentary evidence points to the first settlement of Jews in the 12th century. A charter of privileges was granted by Emperor Frederick II in 1238, giving the Jewish community extensive autonomy. At the close of the 13th and during the 14th centuries, the community of Vienna was recognized as the leading community of German Jewry. In the second half of the 13th century there were about 1,000 Jews in the community.
The influence of the "Sages of Vienna" spread far beyond the limits of the city itself and continued for many generations. Of primary importance were Isaac B. Moses "Or Zaru'a", his son Chayyim "Or Zaru'a", Avigdor B. Elijah Ha- Kohen, and Meir B. Baruch Ha- Levi. At the time of the Black Death persecutions of 1348-49, the community of Vienna was spared and even served as a refuge for Jews from other places.

Toward the end of the 14th century there was a growing anti-Jewish feeling among the burghers; in 1406, during the course of a fire that broke out in the synagogue, in which it was destroyed, the burghers seized the opportunity to attack Jewish homes. Many of the community's members died as martyrs in the persecutions of 1421, others were expelled, and the children forcibly converted. After the persecutions nevertheless some Jews remained there illegally. In 1512, there were 12 Jewish families in Vienna, and a small number of Jews continued to live there during the 16th century, often faced with threats of expulsion. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), Jews suffered as a result of the occupation of the city by Imperial soldiers. In 1624, Emperor Ferdinand II confined the Jews to a ghetto. Some Jews at this time engaged in international trade; others were petty traders. Among the prominent rabbis of the renewed community was Yom Tov Lipman Heller, and Shabbetai Sheftel Horowitz,
one of the many refugees from Poland who fled the Chmielnicki who led anti-Jewish massacres of 1648.

Hatred of the Jews by the townsmen increased during the mid 17th century. The poorer Jews were expelled in 1669; the rest were exiled during the Hebrew month of Av (summer) of the year 1670, and their properties taken from them. The Great Synagogue was converted into a Catholic church. Some of the Jews took advantage of the offer to convert to Christianity so as not to be exiled.

By 1693, the financial losses to the city were sufficient to generate support for a proposal to readmit the Jews. Only the wealthy were authorized to reside in Vienna, as "tolerated subjects", in exchange for very high taxes. Prayer services were permitted to be held only in a private house.

The founders of the community and its leaders in those years, as well as during the 18th century, were prominent Court Jews, such as Samuel Oppenheimer, Samson Wertheimer, and Baron Diego Aguilar. As a result of their activities, Vienna became a center for Jewish diplomatic efforts on behalf of Jews throughout the Habsburg Empire as well as an important center for Jewish philanthropy. A Sephardi community in Vienna traces its origins to 1737, and grew as a result of commerce with the Balkans.

The Jews suffered under the restrictive legislation of Empress Maria Theresia (1740- 80). In 1781, her son, Joseph II, issued his "Toleranzpatent", which, though attacked in Jewish circles, paved the way in some respects for later Emancipation.

By 1793, there was a Hebrew printing press in Vienna that soon became the center for Hebrew printing in Central Europe. During this period, the first signs of assimilation in social and family life of the Jews of Vienna made their appearance. At the time of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Viennese salon culture was promoted by Jewish wealthy women, whose salons served as entertainment and meeting places for the rulers of Europe.

The Jewish Community and the Haskalah Movement

From the close of the 18th century, and especially during the first decades of the 19th century, Vienna became a center of the Haskalah movement.

Despite restrictions, the number of Jews in the city rapidly increased. At a later period the call for religious reform was heard in Vienna. Various maskilim, including Peter Peretz Ber and Naphtali Hertz Homberg, tried to convince the government to impose Haskalah recommendations and religious reform on the Jews. This aroused strong controversy among the Viennese Community.

Jewish Immigration

During the second half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, the Jewish population of Vienna increased as a result of immigration there by Jews from other regions of the Empire, particularly Hungary, Galicia, and Bukovina. The influence and scope of the community's activities increased particularly after the annexation of Galicia by Austria. By 1923, Vienna had become the third largest Jewish community in Europe. Many Jews entered the liberal professions.

Community Life

In 1826, a magnificent synagogue, in which the Hebrew language and the traditional text of the prayers were retained, was inaugurated. It was the first legal synagogue to be opened since 1671. Before the Holocaust, there were about 59 synagogues of various religious trends in Vienna. There was also a Jewish educational network. The rabbinical Seminary, founded in 1893, was a European center for research into Jewish literature and history. The most prominent scholars were M.Guedeman, A. Jellinek, Adolph Schwarz, Adolf Buechler, David Mueller, Victor Aptowitzer, Z.H. Chajes, and Samuel Krauss. There was also a "Hebrew Pedagogium" for the training of Hebrew teachers.

Vienna also became a Jewish sports center; the football team Hakoach and the Maccabi organization of Vienna were well known. Many Jews were actors, producers, musicians and writers, scientists, researchers and thinkers.

Some Prominent Viennese Jews: Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951), musician, composer; Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911), musician, composer; Franz Werfel (1890 - 1945), author; Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942), author; Karl Kraus (1874 - 1936), satirist, poet; Otto Bauer (1881 - 1938), socialist leader; Alfred Adler (1870 - 1937), psychiatrist; Arthur Schnitzler (1862 - 1931), playwright, author; Isaac Noach Mannheimer (1793 - 1865), Reform preacher; Joseph Popper (1838 -1921), social philosopher, engineer; Max Adler (1873 - 1937), socialist theoretician; Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939), psychiatrist, creator of Psychoanalysis; Adolf Fischhoff (1816 - 1893), politician.

The Zionist Movement

Though in the social life and the administration of the community, there was mostly strong opposition to Jewish National action, Vienna was also a center of the national awakening. Peretz Smolenskin published Ha-Shachar between 1868 and 1885 in Vienna, while Nathan Birnbaum founded the first Jewish Nationalist Student Association, Kadimah, there in 1882, and preached "Pre-Herzl Zionism" from 1884. The leading newspaper, Neue Freie Presse, to which Theodor Herzl contributed, was owned in part by Jews.
It was due to Herzl that Vienna was at first the center of Zionist activities. He published the Zionist Movement's Organ, Die Welt, and established the headquarters of the Zionist Executive there.

The Zionist Movement in Vienna gained in strength after World War I. In 1919, the Zionist Robert Stricker was elected to the Austrian Parliament. The Zionists did not obtain a majority in the community until the elections of 1932.

The Holocaust Period

Nazi Germany occupied Vienna in March 1938. In less than one year the Nazis introduced all the discriminatory laws, backed by ruthless terror and by mass arrests (usually of economic leaders and Intellectuals, who were detained in special camps or sent to Dachau). These measures were accompanied by unspeakable atrocities. Vienna's Chief Rabbi, Dr. Israel Taglicht, who was more than 75 years old, was among those who were forced to clean with their bare hands the pavements of main streets. During Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938), 42 synagogues were destroyed, hundreds of flats were plundered by the S.A. and the Hitler Youth.

The first transports of deported Jews were sent to the notorious Nisko concentration camp, in the Lublin District (October 1939). The last mass transport left in September 1942; it included many prominent people and Jewish dignitaries, who were sent to Theresienstadt, from where later they were mostly deported to Auschwitz. In November 1942, the Jewish community of Vienna was officially dissolved. About 800 Viennese Jews survived by remaining underground.

Last 50 Years

In the last 50 years, Vienna has become the main transient stopping-place and the first refuge for hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees and emigrants from Eastern Europe after World War II.

The only synagogue to survive the Shoah is the Stadttempel (built 1826), where the community offices and the Chief Rabbinate are located. A number of synagogues and prayer rooms catering to various chassidic groups and other congregations are functioning on a regular basis in Vienna. One kosher supermarket, as well as a kosher butcher shop and bakery serve the community

The only Jewish school run by the community is the Zwi Perez Chajes School, which reopened in 1980 after a hiatus of 50 years, and includes a kindergarden, elementary and high school. About 400 additional pupils receive Jewish religious instruction in general schools and two additional Talmud Torah schools. The ultra-orthodox stream of the community, which has been growing significantly since the 1980's, maintain their separate school system.
Though the Zionists constitute a minority, there are intensive and diversified Zionist activities. A number of journals and papers are published by the community, such as Die Gemeinde, the official organ of the Community, and the Illustrierte Neue Welt. The Austrian Jewish Students Union publishes the Noodnik.

The Documentation Center, established and directed by Simon Wiesenthal and supported by the community, developed into the important Institute for the documentation of the Holocaust and the tracing of Nazi Criminals.

In 1993, the Jewish Museum in Vienna opened its doors and became a central cultural institution of the community, offering a varied program of cultural and educational activities and attracting a large public of Jewish and non-Jewish visitors. The museum chronicles the rich history of Viennese Jewry and the outstanding roles Jews played in the development of the city. The Jewish Welcome Service aids Jewish visitors including newcomers who plan to remain in the city for longer periods.

Jewish Population in Vienna:

1846 - 3,379

1923 - 201,513

1945/46 - 4,000

1950 - 12,450

2000 - 9,000

Ostrava Moravska

German: Ostrau

A city in the northeast Czech Republic. The capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region

Ostrava is located near the Polish border, where the Odra, Opava, Ostravice, and Lucina Rivers meet. It is the third-largest city in the Czech Republic. Until 1918 Ostrava was part of the Austrian Empire. During the interwar period, and from the end of World War II until 1993, it was part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia.

One of the Torah scrolls sent from Ostrava to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague during World War II is currently located in the Kingston Synagogue in the United Kingdom.

HISTORY

A few protected Jews (those who were shielded by the local nobles in exchange for taxes and other services) were living in Ostrava by 1508, but the general Jewish population was not permitted to settle in the city until after the emancipation of Jews throughout the Austrian Empire in 1848, and the subsequent removal of residence restrictions. Until then there were a small number of Jews living in the town, both legally and illegally. In 1792, after Emperor Joseph II issued the Tolerance Edict in 1782, a Jewish man named Mordehai Schoenhoff settled in the town and rented a wine store. Later a few Jews arrived from Hotzenplotz, Leipnik, and Ungarisch-Brod. During the first half of the 19th century Jews from Silesia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Galicia began to settle in Ostrava. Those who came to Ostrava from the east tended to be more religious, and the community that they established was more traditional; it was these Galician arrivals who established a mikvah (ritual bath) and an Orthodox synagogue.

Once Jews were allowed to freely settle in the city, communal life began to flourish. A synagogue was built in the Polish part of the town in 1857. A Tarbut society was established in 1860 and led by Shimeon Fraenkel. That year also saw an influx of Jews after Ostrava was ordered by the emperor to remove any remaining residence and economic restrictions on the Jews. A Jewish cemetery was consecrated in 1872, following a cholera epidemic. From 1860 until 1875 the Jewish community was made up of Jews from Moravska Ostrava and the neighboring Polska Ostrava (German: Plnisch-Ostrau). Beginning in 1875, however, the Jewish community of Moravska Ostrava became independent. A community committee was subsequently established, led by Berthold Schwartz, and replaced Tarbut. Marcus Strassman was appointed as the community's leader, with Dr. Joseph Wachsberg acting as his deputy. A new synagogue was consecrated in September 1879, with thousands of people in attendance.

In 1881 the community numbered 700 members. During this period at the end of the 19th century, Ostrava became known as the "Moravian Manchester," due to its increasing importance as an industrial center. The Rothschild and Gutmann families, in particular, owned important coal mines and ironworks in the area. This brought Jews to the city from all over Moravia and Galicia; by 1890 the Jewish population had reached 1,356 and in 1900 the Jewish population was 3,272.

A number of synagogues were built in Ostrava's suburbs in order to accommodate the influx of Jews; an Orthodox synagogue would later be added to the rest in 1926 and the city would ultimately be home to six synagogues. Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Zimmels, the community's first rabbi, was appointed in 1890. Rabbi Zimmels passed away in 1893 and was succeeded by Dr. Yaakov Schapira in 1903. Marcus Strassman, the first leader of the community, was succeeded by Dr. Alois Hilf after his death.

Communal institutions included an old age home, a Bikkur Holim, a women's society, a home for children, and a Bnei Brith lodge. A Hebrew school was established in 1863; it was officially recognized by the authorities as an elementary school in 1884, the same year that the language of instruction was changed to German (the school's language of instruction would eventually be changed to Czech, after the establishment of the Republic of Czechoslovakia); Hebrew was taught for 2 hours each day. By the end of the 19th century the school enrolled 303 students, and had 7 classes. There was also a vocational boarding school affiliated with the metal industries of the Austrian branch of the Rothschild family, which attracted students from all over the Republic of Czechoslovakia. A summer camp for Jewish children was established in 1912.

In 1918 Dr. Reuben Faerber established a publication and sales company; most of the published books dealt with Jewish and Zionist subjects. During the interwar period Julius Kittels Nachfolger published a German translation of the Talmud.

The Republic of Czechoslovakia recognized the Jews as a national minority with concurrent rights, prompting Jews throughout the country to become active Zionists, as well as to take an active role in local politics. The Jews of Ostrava obtained 60 seats in the town council in 1921, including representatives from the Jewish Democrats, the Zionist Party, Jewish Laborers, and Jewish Czechs. In 1931 the first Jewish Party conference was held in Ostrava, and in 1935 Ernst Fisher was elected as the party's representative in the Senate. Dr. Alois Hilf was the president of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Moravia in the National Jewish Council. Dr. Zigmund Witt was a member of the Senate while Dr. Victor Haas was a member of the Parliament.

Many members of the community were active Zionists; in fact, beginning in 1921 the executive committee of the Zionist organizations of Silesia and Moravia was located in Ostrava. Many Jews in the city contributed generously to Keren HaYessod. Jewish students worked to spread Zionist ideology, particularly among the youth. Zionist organizations held their conventions in the city and a branch of the Palestine Office was opened. Zionist groups that were active included Poalei Zion, Achdut HaAvodah, Mizrachi, Revisionist Zionists, HeHalutz, HaShomer HaTzair, HeHalutz HaKlal Zioni, Blau Weiss, Maccabi, as well as a number of others. Kedmah, a group to prepare young Jews to emigrate to Mandate Palestine, was established in 1924. Community members bought membership and voting rights before the 15th Zionist Congress, as well as in subsequent years; 518 Jews from Ostrava participated in the elections to the 20th Zionist Congress.

In 1931 there were 6,865 Jews (5.4% of the total population) living in Ostrava.

Among the notable figures from Ostrava were the playwright and poet Marcel Meir Faerber, who later became a journalist and wrote for the Tribuna in Bratislava and Yediot Khadashot in Israel. Joseph Wechsberg, a writer and literary critic, as well as the editor of the Jewish weekly Selbswehr (published in Prague), was born in Ostrava in 1907.

THE HOLOCAUST

Following the Munich Agreement of September, 1938, which dissolved the Republic of Czechoslovakia and annexed the Sudeten Region to Nazi Germany, Ostrava absorbed waves of Jews fleeing from the region. In March, 1939 however, the region of Bohemia and Moravia became a protectorate of Nazi Germany, ushering in a period of discrimination and violence against the area's Jews. Ostrava was the first city to be occupied by the Nazis, who burned the city's six synagogues. The city's Jews began to be deported soon after; the first transports took Ostrava's Jews to Poland, while later transports sent them to the Terezin (Theresienstadt) Ghetto. From these locations they were sent to concentration and death camps, where most perished.

Before the deportations began, 348 ritual objects, 680 books, and 246 documents from Ostrava's Jewish community were sent to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague.

POSTWAR

Approximately 250 survivors returned to Ostrava after the war and reestablished a Jewish community. Eventually the communities of Bohumin, Karvina, Krnov, Opava, Prlava, and Olomouc became affiliated with Ostrava's Jewish communit; the entire community consisted of 500 Jews. Ostrava had a cantor, while the regional rabbi, Rabbi Dr. Richard Feder, lived in Brno. 649 Jews lived in Ostrava, 548 of whom were officially registered in the community.

A new cemetery was established in 1965. The old Jewish cemetery was destroyed during the 1980s and the remaining tombstones were transferred to the cemetery in Silesian Ostrava.

In 1997 the Jewish community of Ostrava had 80 members.