Why it is Important to Remember
by Mag. Magdalena Müllner
For me it had been always important to keep the memory of the Jewish community of Laa a. d. Thaya alive. There are several reasons for this.
First I believe that you don't die and vanish totally from this world as long as you're remembered by at least one person. Being forgotten is kind of a second death. One could say that this is a natural process: Who remembers the grandfather of his great-grandfather? In the case of the Jewish community of my hometown, the situation is quite different. They were driven away or killed. Those who committed the crimes or just stood aside and did nothing survived to form the older generation of Laa. To forget the Jewish people of Laa is like agreeing to the expelling and killing. Keeping the memory is also a way of restoring a fragment of the old home they were robbed of to the Jews of Laa.
Furthermore, I see Laa as an example of the processes that happened in so many little towns all over Europe 60 years ago. Seen from that point of view, Laa is not just a tiny spot on a map. It represents the weakness of human kind in certain situations. It confronts us in a deep and difficult way with how we would react in a situation when the law itself becomes unjust. It's not only important that people from Austria know this story, but also that people all over the world know.
Finally I want to quote a story that shall explain why it is important to carry the story of the Jewish comunity into the 21st century and beyond:
Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Death Camps, taught a course at a City College in New York on the Holocaust. One day, a student asked, "What shall we tell our children?" [...] "But, since we weren't there, what should we say to the next generation?" a young man asked. "You have said that we will never understand what happenend. If so, how can we tell people about it?" "Yes," Wiesel said. "You will never know. But you will know that there was something. You will know one incident. One tear. That will be yours to tell." Wiesel went on. "In my books, I don't like to repeat stories. Once I did. One story I told in two books."
He then told the legend, a Chassidic tale. It was a tale that contained many of the Chassidic masters. It began with the founder of the Chassidim, the Baal Shem Tov, the Master of the Good Name. It seems that when there was a disaster about to strike, the Baal Shem went into a certain spot in the woods, lit a candle and said a prayer - and the disaster was prevented. Then, a disciple of his was faced with a disaster. He knew where the special spot in the wood was located, he knew how to light the candle, but he did not know the prayer. But the disaster was averted. Then another disciple was faced with calamity. He knew where the spot in the wood was located, but he did not know how to light the candle, and he did not know the prayer. But the disaster was prevented. Then a final disciple was faced with a disaster. He did not know how to light the candle, he did not know how to say the prayer, and he did not know where the spot in the woods was located. All he knew was how to tell the story. And then, too, the disaster was avoided. [...]
"What can you tell your children? Tell them that you knew the last survivors. As the survivors were alive when it happened, you were alive to hear their story.. Tell them that: you knew the last survivors. They will listen. And they will ask the same question: What shall we tell our children? They will tell them: We knew people who knew the last survivors. We heard the story from people who heard the last survivors. [...] And the question will again be asked. And the story will be told. Again and again. It will be told."
(from: Kurzweil, Arthur: From Generation to Generation. How to trace your Jewish genealogy and family history. New York: Harper Collins 1994.)