Gmunden Jewish cemetery
The Gmunden Jewish Cemetery (also Gmunden Israelitenfriedhof ) in the Upper Austrian city of Gmunden was opened in 1923, destroyed in 1938 and rebuilt after the Second World War. In contrast to numerous other Jewish cemeteries in Austria, the cemetery is in a well-tended condition.
history
The Jewish community of Gmunden belonged to the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Linz and at the end of the 19th century strove to set up its own community facilities such as a cemetery, but this was always rejected by the city of Gmunden. After the transfer of the dead to Linz had become too expensive, a small area in the Protestant cemetery was used for the burial of the Jewish faithful. However, the space made available was completely occupied in 1923, so that after the death of the Russian pianist Lilia Kanevskaya , the Jewish community tried to move to the Catholic cemetery. However, the responsible dean Michael Gusenleitner rejected these plans and is said to have said to the representatives of the Jewish communities: "At most, Jews in my cemetery do not end up in the suicide corner". Thereupon the city of Gmunden provided the Jewish community with a small lease of 350 m² outside the Catholic cemetery wall. The Jewish community subsequently built a funeral hall and surrounded the property with an enclosure wall. The dead in the Protestant cemetery were subsequently exhumed and transferred to the new "Gmundner Israelitenfriedhof".
Between 1923 and 1938 the Chewra Kadischa , founded in 1860, carried out around twenty burials in the Jewish cemetery. After that, when the National Socialists came to power in 1938, the lease for the cemetery was terminated and the property was rededicated as a vegetable garden. The tombstones were removed and stored on private property, the cemetery wall and storage hall destroyed. After the Second World War the cemetery was rebuilt.
literature
- Ingrid Oberndorfer: The Jewish cemetery in Gmunden . In: David. Jewish culture magazine. No. 59, December 2003
Coordinates: 47 ° 55 '29.2 " N , 13 ° 47' 36.9" E