After renovation – the Jewish cemetery in Graz reopened

The first person was buried here in 1865. To this day, the Jewish cemetery in Graz is the largest outside of Vienna and only one of six Jewish cemeteries in Austria that are regularly occupied. Now this memorial site shines in a new light: “The tombstones have been put back in place, the grass has been cut and the weeds pulled out”, summarizes Elie Rosen, president of the Jewish community in Graz. “The rest of the dead are sacred in Judaism, preserving the cemeteries is our duty.”

In Graz, the municipality has taken on this obligation, money then comes from the so-called cemetery fund for the renovation of Jewish cemeteries, which is financed with funds from the Republic and the religious communities.

This care agreement will be expanded in the city council in September, Mayor Elke Kahr announced in her speech. “We will improve the rhythm and take better care of the stones,” she said.

Cemetery must be closely guarded
However, the chairman of the state parliament, Manuela Khom, saw a drop of bitterness: “The fact that we cannot open the cemetery to everyone makes me suspicious, that we have to guard the synagogue makes me sad,” the ÖVP politician hinted the current rise in anti-Semitism.

“Anti-Semitism is anti-democratic”
National Council president Wolfgang Sobotka, who came from Vienna, also warned: “Our job is to fight anti-Semitism because it is anti-democratic. He is not only a phenomenon of the right or left margin, but also in the middle of society.”