A Star of David and „Benches on which you can reflect“
Young girl makes memorial for the Jews of Laa reality.
By Irene Brickner
Laa an der Thaya. At the beginning there was the curiosity of a 16-year old teenager: “One day I sat in front of the TV and there was a short time-filler in the programm “Orientierung” about “Synagogues in Lower Austria”. There also was a picture of the synagogue in Laa”, tells Magdalena Müllner.
A synagogue in her hometown? The student had never heared about that before. Also her mother (born 1955) and the grandmother (born 1937) did not know anything. “So I started doing research-work and asked questions.”
This happened 13 years ago. Nobody had done any systematical research about the life of the about 70 expelled Jews from Laa. A situation of reject, which is just the same in many places and therefore is not untypical. But in the years that passed, this situation was changed. From early summer 2005 onwards there even will be a memorial for the Jews for the town of 50000. It will be located on Kirchenplatz, directly in front of the house in whose first floor, there once was the prayer-room, which was called ‘synagogue’ by the people though. The memorial will be made from different colors of granite; a Star of David will be surrounded by a circle and 2 benches – “benches, on which one can reflect”, as the English- and German-student says. Oposite the benches will be a head-stone that will hold the names of all the expelled.
The costs – Euro 175000 – will be fully covered by donations. The town-government, which rearranges the whole place, will donate 4000 for the foundations.
The decision to allow the memorial is mainly due to the efforts of Muellner, as major Manfred Fass (Conservative Party) states. “Her engagement is very positive for the community”, he says – and he means all the interviews the young woman did in the town with either citizens or former jewish people from Laa who live now all over the world.
Actually, the 29-year-old was able to find 14 survivors – in Belgium, Israel, Venezuela and the USA. An old lady from Israel has got the Austrian citizenship back. The architect of the memorial – Uri Yokel from USA – is the son of a former Jewish citizen from Laa.