Horrible History

Here are a couple of shots from Vienna's Jewish Quarter.

Prior to 1938 there was a thriving Jewish community in Vienna,  and across Austria as a whole. 140,000 Jews fled the country but 65,000 were murdered. The second image shows the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial also known as the Nameless Library which was designed by the British artist Rachel Whiteread. The walls depict the shelves of a library with the books standing spine inwards so the titles of the books and their contents remain unrevealed and they represent the Jewish people or "People of the Book" the stark structure stands in contrast to the fine baroque architecture and hopefully gives cause to visitors to think about a dark moment in the history of this beautiful city.

What I hadn't realised was the holocaust was not the first time in the city's history that the Jewish population had been persecuted. 

There had been a Jewish quarter in Vienna from the 12th Century with a population of between 1,400 and 1,600 people, with schools, a hospital and synagogues and thriving trades until 1420/21. The Wiener Gesera however was a period of increased hatred towards Jews leading to the mass extermination of the community,  the community were threatened with death if they did not convert to Christianity and as a result many hundreds were murdered or burned alive.

I hadn't intended to post something quite so dark, I had meant only to post some pictures to show some of the beautiful architecture however the history cannot be ignored.

I have been thinking lately about the importance of being kind and showing respect for others and these episode from history should serve as a reminder of this.