The project's objective

The project “Holocaust Memorial to remember the Jewish population of Judenburg’ aims at making this history visible and conveying that the history of Jews and the withholding of information is still an issue.

During the academic year of 2014/15 and 2015/16 students from grade 6 and 7 from BG/BRG Judenburg started this project, which was then continued by students from grade 4 during the academic year of 2017/18. The memorial was unveiled in the fall of 2019.

The students started the project by discussing the medieval history of the Jewish population of Judenburg and the question of how Judenburg got its name, as well as, the history of Jews in Judenburg during the Third Reich. Additionally, the problem of a missing place to remember those killed and driven away was a further topic that students dealt with.

Together with students of the Zwi Perez Chajes-Schule in Vienna, the students of BG/BRG Judenburg have designed this memorial to establish a place that will help remember those who have been forgotten, silenced and killed.

Due to this project, the students did not only plan and realize a memorial, but they were also given the chance to experience Jewish culture and religion. As the BG/BRG Judenburg is a UNESCO school that aims at establishing intercultural dialogue and living together side-by-side in a pluralistic word, the students engaged have massively profited from this project.

The aim of the memorial in the Messerschmiedgasse is to make the names of the victims visible, as well as, the forgotten life of the Jewish community in Judenburg. The Messerschmiedgasse was chosen due to the fact that the Jewish life and the religious center, the medieval Synagogue, was located in this area.

Mag. Katja Heiden