Ernestine Kubin was 78 and her sister Cäcilie 74 when they suddenly decided to move. On August 27, 1942, they moved from Rudolfstraße in Linz to Terezín in Czechoslovakia. The name at that time: Theresienstadt. This is how the Linz Gestapo presented it, in order to confiscate the sisters’ assets for the German Reich.
The story behind this report is part of a crime that is still incomprehensible and heinous today: the Linz Jewess Ernestine Kubin was murdered just a month later, on September 28, 1942, in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Her sister Cäcilie became a victim of the National Socialists there on June 14, 1944, two years after the deportation.
“Remembering with three senses”
Since Thursday, a stele on Linz’s Bernaschekplatz in Urfahr has commemorated the two sisters. Five other names of murdered or expelled Jews are engraved there. They all lived in the immediate vicinity of today’s park. It is the first sign of remembrance in public space in Linz. It shouldn’t stay that way.
By September 15, further steles are to be erected around the Volksgarten, in Schillerpark, in Stockhofstrasse and at the Jewish community in Bethlehemstrasse. The erection of the first stele, which was also attended by the Israeli Ambassador Mordechai Rodgold, was preceded by numerous unsuccessful discussions. The city of Linz had spoken out against stumbling blocks because “a monument is then trampled on,” as Mayor Klaus Luger (SP) put it. The topic stayed in the queue for a long time.
“As if you could ring the victims”
Until the municipal council decided in 2019 for an “independent Linz commemoration” and launched a design competition, which the artist Andreas Strauss, who was born in Wels, won. In cooperation with voestalpine apprentices, Strauss managed to remember “with three senses”, as Ambassador Rodgold said. Because bells are attached next to the names on the stele. They all have different pitches.
“It’s as if you could ring the victims. Is anyone else there, or are only the names left?” says Charlotte Herman, president of the Israeli religious community. She is happy and grateful that the commemoration has now been implemented.
For Ambassador Rodgold, the dignified memory of the women, men and children murdered by the Nazis is “the basis on which we can build a better future together today”. (against)
Localization: The first stele is located at Bernaschekplatz in Urfahr
Source: Nachrichten
