Austrian appeal for names of Shoah victims

THE DOCUMENTATION Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW) is calling on family members to send them the names of Austrian Holocaust victims so they can be recorded on a new memorial in Vienna.

Work on the “Memorial to the Jewish Children, Women and Men of Austria Who Were Murdered in the Shoah” began on June 22 at an event attended by the president of the Austrian parliament, Wolfgang Sobotka and Jewish community president Oskar Deutsch.

To be built in Ostarrichi Park, bordered by the Austrian National Bank and the University of Vienna, the memorial — also known as the Wall of Names — will be composed of several granite walls, 7ft 8in high, around a circular green space planted with trees, creating an enclosed area for reflection and quiet commemoration. On the walls will be carved the names and years of birth of the 64,000-plus Austrian Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

The wall was first proposed by Kurt Tutter, an Austro-Canadian artist and Holocaust survivor, and the project began in earnest following a February 2018 international antisemitism conference held in Vienna, at which the idea was raised by French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy.

Construction of the memorial is expected to be completed by autumn 2021 at a cost of £4.8 million.

The names inscribed on the memorial will be drawn from a databank accumulated by the DÖW. The database contains information concerning 64,259 Austrian Holocaust victims, including their dates and places of birth, lastknown residence and date and destination of deportation.

But gaps remain. If Austrian Jews were picked up by Nazi authorities outside Austria and sent straight to concentration camps, for example, their names may not currently be in the database.

The DÖW is appealing for any additional information from the descendants of Austrian victims of National Socialism, to make sure no-one is left out. The DÖW’s database can be consulted at www.doew.at/english. Missing names or pieces of information should be sent to office@doew.at. The deadline for submissions is August 10.