Vienna Photomontages Part 2

Vienna-Monumental Loss (Top)
Within the Judenplatz (Jewish Square) is the Memorial to Austrian victims of the Holocaust. Unveiled in 2000, created by British artist Rachel Witeread, the concrete cube resembles a library of 7000 turned inside out. The memorial's barred room and books that cannot be read represent the loss of those that were murdered.

This was the place that Jews were rounded up and shipped off to camps. The Jews who used to live in Vienna, educated and cultured, never got to live their lives and realize their dreams.



Sightseeing (Bottom)
The sightseeing bus tours do not show the fire and terror once so much a part of the environment. Many Jewish stores and businesses as well as synagogues were destroyed on Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938.

In the late 1980's, the Austrian government began reexamining their role in the Holocaust. In July 1991, the Austrian government issued a statement acknowledging their role in the crimes committed by the Third Reich.

Sightseeing in Vienna

Sightseeing in Vienna is an experience; everything is cultural, elegant and lovely. The Schoenbrunn Palace is the most popular site in Vienna, http://www.schoenbrunn.at

When we got to the Judenplatz, we were amazed at the Holocaust Memorial. Also known as the Nameless Library, it stands in Judenplatz as the central memorial for the Austrian victims of the Holocaust and was designed by the British artist Rachel Whiteread. The concrete cube resembles a library of 7000 books turned inside out. The memorial's barred room and books that cannot be read represent the loss of those who were murdered. It is a memorial to the 65,000 Austrian Jews killed by the Nazis. The Judenplatz (Jews' Place) was where Jews were rounded up during the war.

The day we arrived, there was an Israeli Fair in the Judenplatz, featuring Israeli music, food and crafts. I felt the loss and sadness of history here.