Event announcement: Handover of the St. Pölten Jewish Cemetery

The “new” Jewish cemetery in St. Pölten was founded in 1906 as a burial site for the local Jewish community. Like many of the Jewish cemeteries in the region, this cemetery also reflects the rich history and culture of the local Jewish community. Around 340 people are buried there; 188 gravestones have been preserved. During the Nazi era, the cemetery was severely damaged and many of the graves and headstones were destroyed.

In 1951, the City of St. Pölten had the surviving gravestones reinstated, and in 1954 the formerly “aryanised” cemetery was restituted to the Jewish Community Vienna, the legal successor of the Jewish Community St. Pölten. One of the cemetery’s most distinct features is its striking ceremonial hall, which was renovated in the year 2000 using public funds and private donations. Another noteworthy feature is the mass grave on the site containing the remains of at least 228 Hungarian-Jewish forced labourers who were shot by the SS in Hofamt Priel near Persenbeug during the night of 2 to 3 May 1945. In 2015, a gravestone inscribed with the names of the victims of that massacre was installed at the cemetery with the backing of the National Fund.

Once the Jewish Community Vienna and the City of St. Pölten had reached an agreement on the long-term upkeep of the “new” Jewish cemetery in St. Pölten, its restoration took place from 2022 to 2024. The restoration involved work by master builders, stonemasons, locksmiths and landscape architects, and included the renovation of the enclosure wall, the entrance gates and the graves, the static stabilisation of the grave markers, cleaning and safety measures, terrazzo add-ons in the ceremonial hall, as well as contracting planning work and general planning services.

The Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries subsidised the restoration, providing federal funding of around 880,000 euros. The Province of Lower Austria also supported the cemetery’s restoration with around 280,000 euros.

On Friday the newly-restored cemetery will be released to the St. Pölten local authority, which will be responsible for its long-term upkeep.

Handover of the St. Pölten Jewish Cemetery

Speakers:

Oskar DEUTSCH
President of the Jewish Community Vienna

Matthias STADLER
Mayor of St. Pölten

Johanna MIKL-LEITNER
Provincial Governor of Lower Austria

Wolfgang SOBOTKA
President of the National Council
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Fund and the Fund for the Restoration of Jewish Cemeteries in Austria

After the speeches, there will be a guided tour of the cemetery and the opportunity for photos and interviews.

Media representatives are invited to attend and are requested to register at presse@nationalfonds.org.

Men are asked to cover their heads.

Time: 28.06.2024, 11:00 – 11:45am

Place: St. Pölten Jewish Cemetery
Karlstettner Straße 3, 3100 St. Pölten, Austria