Archiv der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Wien - Wiener Bestand Archive of the Jewish Community Vienna-Vienna component collection

Identifier
irn517508
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2005.402
  • RG-17.007M
Dates
1 Jan 1933 - 31 Dec 1982
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

1,076 microfilm reels, 35 mm

200,000 digital images, JPEG

Creator(s)

Biographical History

The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (IKG) (Vienna Israelite Community) is the body that represents Vienna’s Orthodox Jewish community. Jewish Religious Community of Vienna-was authorized in 1852 by the Austrian authorities to conduct religious, educational and charitable operations among Jews in Vienna. The community was the unofficial representation of Jews interests’ vis-à-vis state entities and the city authorities. The community council was typically represented by the wealthiest and most successful group of Jews of Vienna. The Jewish Community in Vienna was officially dissolved in November 1942. Today, the IKG has around 7000 members. Throughout history, it has represented almost all of Austria's Jews, whose numbers are sufficient to form communities in only a few other cities in Austria. The history of Vienna’s Jewish population dates back to the time of the Roman Empire, but for a long time, Vienna’s Jews were prevented from forming an organisation to represent themselves as a result of legal and social discrimination. This situation first began to change with the Emperor Joseph II’s 1782 Edict of Tolerance. The emancipation of Vienna’s Jewish population began in 1848. In a speech held on 3 April 1849, the young emperor Franz Joseph I, used the words “Israelite Community of Vienna” for the first time; three years later, a provisory constitution for the community was enacted and 1852 is therefore considered the year in which Vienna's Kultusgemeinde was founded. The community's offices were established in the Stadttempel in the Seitenstettengasse. Vienna's Jewish community had around 185,000 members at the time of Austria’s Anschluss with the Third Reich in 1938. In that same year, the Nazis closed the IKG down. It was reopened in May 1938 as the “Vienna Jewish Community” with the task of acting as a buffer organisation between the Nazis and Vienna’s Jewish population. This body was also forced to organise the emigration and later the deportation of Vienna’s Jews for the Central Office for Jewish Emigration. The title Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien has been in use again since 1945. On 29 August 1981, a terrorist attack was made on the synagogue in the Seitenstettengasse using hand grenades and firearms. Two people died and another 21 were injured in the attack. The attack is attributed to the Palestinian extremist Abu Nidal Organisation. Since then, strict security has been in place at the entrance to the synagogue, while the Seitenstettengasse is guarded by the police. [Source: Wikipedia]

A day care center and hostel for Jewish elderly, particularly Holocaust survivors and their relatives.

Archival History

Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien

Acquisition

Forms part of the Claims Conference International Holocaust Documentation Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This archive consists of documentation whose reproduction and/or acquisition was partially made possible with funding from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Most of records were discovered in 2000 in a vacant apartment in Vienna; some of the records were identified during the project between 2002 and 2005 in the archival records storage of the Jewish Community Vienna, the basement of the Jewish Community Vienna's administrative offices in the Seitenstettengasse in Vienna, and the Jewish nursing home (Maimonides Zentrum) in Vienna. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the filmed collection via the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum International Archives Project in Oct. 2005, two accretions in 2008, four accretions of digital records in 2020. This is an ongoing project.

Scope and Content

Contains the Holocaust related archival records of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (Jewish Community Vienna), including material predating the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany in 1938, and post war records related to social welfare cases and personal inquiries from survivors worldwide received by the Jewish Community Vienna, Cataloging is in process (Sept. 2020)

System of Arrangement

Organized in the following order: Reels 1- 1,076 (Reel 17, 28, 29 and 136 are intentionally blank for the future expansion of materials); MF Nr. 1875 - MF Nr. 2543 (665 reels); MF Nr. 2669-MF Nr. 3080 (411 reels). Accretions of digital records arranged in four groups: 1. Nachtrag Personalkartei (A / VIE / IKG / I - III / PERS / Kartei). Personal cards of members of Jewish community in Vienna. Organized in alphabetical order; 2. "Fuersorgeakten" (A_VIE_IKG_III_SOZ_FS and A_VIE_IKG_III_SOZ_STIP)- post-war component. Welfare case files.1946-1982; 3. "Matrikenwesen/Bevoelkerungswesen" ( A_VIE_IKG_III_BEV)-post-war component ; 4. "Fuersorgeakten" ( A_VIE_IKG_III_SOZ_FS and A_VIE_IKG_III_SOZ_STIP)- post-war component: Welfare case files, 1946-1982. This is ongoing project.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.