Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
As chairman of the society Lead Niskor, which initiated the memorial, I am going to lead you through our program. At first I want to welcome our honorary guests.
Some of you might wonder about the name of our society. So I want to take the chance to explain how this name came about. Karola Zucker, nee ÷sterreicher, a founding member of our society, provided the idea for name and aim of the society: Remembrance, keeping alive of memory even if it sometimes is a bitter medicine, but it is a highly necessary and healing one. An old Jewish wisdom quotes: ÑThe secret of conciliation is remembrance.î Without conciliation there is no peace and without peace there is no future. So the roots of a prosperous future are remembrance.
A piece of remembrance stands in front of us today: The granite that carries the names of the 33 Jewish families, which formed the Jewish community of Laa an der Thaya until 1938.
Probably you’ve already noticed the leafless tree at the backside of the memorial. It was chosen to bet he logo of our society, too. This tree wants to remind the observer at the fact that the Jewish community of Laa an der Thaya is part of the city’s past. Even though it has vanished from our daily life here in Laa, it must not be forgotten.
The ground under our feet, that carries the memorial, belongs to the oldest part of the town, whose 850th birthday was celebrated in the year 2000. About 100 years after the town was first mentioned in a written document, it was first noted that there were also Jewish citizens living in town. The fact that this memorial is located on historical ground shall remind you that a co-existence of Christians and Jews is almost as old as the old honorable city, Laa an der Thaya.
The memorial has been formed from granite. Granite is a kind of material that is hardly changed by the course of time. Lead Niskor stands for eternal remembrance. The people whose familynames are engraved into this stone may live on in our memory. Only those who are forgotten are really dead.
This stone was cut not far from the former concentration camp Mauthausen. So it also remembers where prejudices and the hatred can lead.
Thanks and Acknowledgement
Today we also want to give thanks to all those who helped out so that we can stand in front of the memorial today.
First of all I want to thank Family Yokel. Without them the project could not have been realized. We want to thank the architect Uri Yokel, who volunteered to make the plans and intensively supported us during the construction of the memorial.
I want to thank the city-government of Laa and der Thaya, which we thank for the footing of the stone. We also thank the state of Lower-Austria and the ìNational Fund of the Republic Austria for the Support of the Victims of Nazismî. Both of them supported the project. I want to thank my family, which has supported this project. In particular I want to thank my daughter Magdalena. Without her continuing research the 33 family names might have been buried in history forever.
ÑThe secret of conciliation is remembranceì! Remembrance shall bet he reason and aim of today’s ceremony: Remembrance at the time when Jews and Christians lived next to each other – both citizens of Laa an der Thaya.
**********************************************
Now I want to ask the mayor, Dipl.-Ing. Fass, for his statement.
*********************************************
Now I have the honor to ask two people who were members of the Jewish community of Laa to tell us their memories. Dr. Felix Yokel is going to speak to us.
*********************************************
Kitty S. is going to address you now. Her maiden name was Drill, a name elderly people from Laa can still recall.
********************************************
Another Jewish family from Laa was Family Maneles. Two representatives of this family, Mr. Henry Maneles and Mr. David Bowes, are going to speak to us now.
*******************************************
Dr. Pierre Genee is an expert for the Austrian Jewish communities and synagogues. I am especially happy that he has agreed to join us today and explain the historical background. Please listen to his statement.
*******************************************
Even though there is no Jewish community in Laa an der Thaya today, descendants of the former citizens of our town are among us today. They have come today from all parts of the world.
The chief-cantor of the Jewish community Vienna, Shmuel Barzilai, will sing now the SCHE HECHEJANU. It’s a blessing, thanking the almighty that we could live to see this day and that he has brought us together at this place.
******************************************
The representative of the Jewish community Vienna, Dr. Hodik, is going to talk to us now.
******************************************
Chief-cantor Shmuel Barzilai is going to say the KADDISCH – to mourner’s prayer. I ask you to rise for this.
******************************************
Thanks of the Chairman
At the end of this ceremony I want to end with a thank you to all who gave us the honor to come today. I want to invite you to stay a little longer, talk a bit, have some bread and wine and listen to Klezmer music.
However, I want to thank you for being open to get in contact with this part of our town’s history. I want the end with the words of Isaak Babel: Ñ Without knowledge of the past there is no way into the future.
Mobirise website builder - Visit site