Graz, Austria

Graz, Steiermark, Austria. Jews first settled in 1261. By 1300, there were about 150 Jews in Graz, occupying a Jewish quarter and engaged in money lending. They were expelled from Graz in 1438-39, but allowed to resettle ten years later. In 1863 Graz was recognized as an independent community. In 1865, a Jewish cemetery was established and in 1890 a splendid synagogue with a school and administration building was inaugurated. Jews engaged in trade and were represented in the professional class as university professors, doctors, and lawyers. They were also active in public life and served in the city council. In 1897, a Zionist student movement, Charitas, was founded at the university of Graz. In 1914-15 the Zionists were strengthened when about 1,000 Jews from the east (Ostjuden) settled in the Graz area. In 1930 there was an active Zionist youth movement with its own house organized along kibbutz lines in order to prepare members for emigration to Palestine. By 1932, the Jewish population reached a peak of 2,000 (of a total 153,000). On the eve of the German occupation, the Jewish population stood at 1,720. Until 1938, anti-Semitism was marked in Graz though not violent. In the beginning of March 1938, some Jews were expelled from their homes and their property was destroyed. Immediately after the Anschluss (13 March 1938), Polish Jews living in Graz were compelled to leave for Poland. By the end of 1938, almost all Jewish property was confiscated and Jewish shops “Aryanized.” On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue and the chapel at the cemetery were burned down completely. Men, women, and children were evicted from their homes and forced to sleep in the woods. In the morning, the men were arrested and sent to the Dachau concentration camp where some were beaten to death. They were only released in April 1939. Of the 1,599 Jews living in Graz on Kristallnacht, 417 managed to emigrate to Palestine, America, England, and the Dominican Republic. Some illegally crossed into Yugoslavia, France, and Italy. In June 1939, 300 Jews were still living in Graz. By 1941, most were deported to Vienna and then to death camps in the east where all perished.