Jewish Military Cemetery Reopens

ORF (Austrian Public Broadcasting), August 22, 2024

German original: https://wien.orf.at/stories/3270092/

The Jewish military cemetery of the First World War at Vienna's Central Cemetery was reopened today after a two-year renovation. The ceremony, which included a wreath-laying, was framed by guards of honor from the police and the army, as well as Jewish prayers.

Together with the Jewish Community, the Ministry of the Interior has spent around 250,000 euros over the past two years on the restoration of around 450 graves of Jewish soldiers from the First World War and the local monument.

Opening with a guard of honor and prayers

On Thursday, Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) reopened the Jewish military cemetery in the presence of Minister of Defense Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) and Oskar Deutsch, President of the Jewish Community in Vienna. The ceremony, which included the laying of wreaths, was framed by guards of honor from the police and the army, as well as Jewish prayers.

“It is part of our responsibility to remember all those who lost their lives in the two world wars. Today, we remember the Austro-Hungarian soldiers of Jewish faith in the First World War as an expression of a modern and contemporary culture of remembrance,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) in a statement. The contribution of Jewish soldiers was not only forgotten after the First World War, but their families were then expelled or murdered in the Holocaust. The Ministry of the Interior is legally responsible for the preservation and maintenance of war graves from the First and Second World Wars.