The former Aspanggründe in the 3rd district holds a special position in Vienna as a place of remembrance. From here, thousands of Viennese Jews were deported to the Nazi extermination camps. A park, a memorial, an educational campus starting in the fall and, more recently, an “exhibition” on the premises commemorate the horrific history.
The installation “Psalm 23” by Dvora Barzilai at the Aron Menczer Educational Campus is dedicated to Leo Luster of blessed memory (1927- 2017), who worked tirelessly on behalf of Austrian Holocaust survivors.
Since 2013, the park of the former Aspanggründe has carried the name of Jewish Welcome Service founder Leon Zelman, and since 2017, a memorial there has also commemorated the fact that from 1939 to 1942, more than 47,000 Viennese Jews were deported to the Nazi extermination camps from what was then known as “Aspangbahnhof” (Aspang train station). The history of the area can now be studied in the exhibition “Exploring Aspanggründe” organized by the “GB*Stadtteilmanagement” (area management) with four stations.
With the start of the school year this fall, the Aron Menczer Education Campus will also begin operations here. The facility for 1,350 children is named after Aron Menczer – a Jewish teacher born in Vienna who helped thousands of Jewish children escape Austria during the Nazi era. Those rescued by Menczer, mostly fled to Palestine, but also to Scandinavia or to the UK with the “Kindertransport” (Refugee Children’s Movement), included individuals such as Paul Grosz and Ari Rath. He was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943.
The area is currently one of Vienna’s liveliest neighborhoods, with a total of around 3,100 apartments, a park, stores and offices being built there. The “Eurogate” has already been occupied since 2012, and the “Village im Dritten” (Village in the 3rd District) is currently being planned and is scheduled for completion in 2026.
