Foundation

Almost 200 years of ban of settlement for Jews in Lower Austria ended in 1848 when the Revolution eventually brought about the right to free settlement. Jews and Jewesses, mainly from Moravia, Bohemia and Western Hungary, moved to St. Pölten. Already in 1851 they fitted a prayer room and in 1859 they bought the cemetery on Pernerstorfer Platz, which is today only extant as green area.  From 1906 onwards, the deceased were buried at the cemetery on Karlstettner Straße 3. The official foundation of the Israelite Religious Community took place in 1863. At that time, it had approximately 300 members in St. Pölten, Wilhelmsburg, Herzogenburg and the surrounding villages, increasing to roughly 1000 in 1928. 

By-laws

In August 1852, the authorities confirmed the status of a communal organisation and permitted this community to employ a religious teacher. On April 28th, 1857, St. Pölten’s Jews formally requested the foundation of an Israelite Religious Community (»IKG«). It was to cover the area of the district authorities of St. Pölten, Lilienfeld, Meld and Hietzing-surroundings. The confirmation by the Stadtholder was, however, only given in 1863.

Time of National Socialism

The "Section for Relief and Emigration"
The largest part of the Jewish population of St. Pölten lost their subsistence. In order to help those in need, the Religious Community set up the »Section for Relief and Emigration« which supported emigrants by providing them with required letters of confirmation and by attempting to support them financially.

Consultant therefore was Hermann Schwarz. For the "Welfare Mission 1938" 29 Jews made financial contributions between two and thirty Reichsmark (RM) even though they were themselves in difficult financial situations. These amounts were put at the IKG’s disposal either on a monthly basis or as a one-time lump amount depending on the financial abilities of the respective person. Due to the general plight this was a special accomplishment. The Relief Section also received subsidies from the IKG Vienna. 

Altogether, the cardboard-box number 3 of the municipal archive St. Pölten contains fifty applications for endorsement. Most of the impoverished Jews did not get together enough money for the flight and were deported and murdered. Some of them – an example is Franz Mandl – managed to escape to liberty with the granted amount.

The widow Josefine Tachau had to look after three little children. After the "Anschluss" she lost all welfare payments as well as her employment at a Jewish household. On June 9th, 1938 she approached the Relief Section requesting help as she would otherwise "be forced to commit an act of desperation". The mother and presumably also the children were deported to Opole in February 1941.

In some cases, the Relief Section was able to save lives. Fritz Bondy, who upon order of the Gestapo had to leave the territory of the German Reich within fourteen days, requested IKG support amounting to "at least RM 50,– so that I am in the position to follow the order of Secret State Police and am spared the aftermath." On September 11th, 1938, the IKG granted him the saving amount of RM 20,– and three days later Fritz Bondy gave notice of departure to France.

After the War

Return home
In 1947/48 the families Allina, Kohn and Morgenstern returned to St. Pölten. They had not managed to settle in Palestine, neither professionally nor climate-wise; after some applications and contacts with official channels they were returned their former property as far as it was still extant and set up a new existence. All of them had lost close family members.

The Restitution of "aryanised" property

"Property value can be restituted. But with us it is different, people have been murdered, they cannot be restituted anymore." (Stella Morgenstern)

"Julius and Adele Körner are requested to appear before the undersigned court or to make themselves heard in some other way." Such macabre appeals were normally released by the St. Pöltner Amtsblatt in order to initiate the process of declaration of death of missing Jews and Jewesses. Julius and Adele Körner had probably been deported to Minsk on May 19th, 1942.