Searching for traces with the Vienna Trips

The “Vienna Trips” program has enjoyed steady popularity since 2021. On these trips, the Jewish Welcome Service invites descendants of Holocaust survivors to experience Vienna for themselves as they track down their ancestors.

In June 2026, Eli from Sydney was in Vienna. Both his father Danny and uncle Joel Hochberg have already participated in the Jewish Welcome Service’s group program. Eli, who has just recently accepted Austrian citizenship, was in Vienna for the first time with the aim of confronting his family history.

Up until their deportation, his great-grandparents Samuel and Frida Fischer lived in Vienna’s 4th district. They were deported to Theresienstadt and murdered in Auschwitz. Their daughters, Eli’s grandmother Herta and great-aunt Ilse, survived Auschwitz and after being liberated began new lives in Australia and New Zealand. Eli got the chance to visit the home and apartment of his great-grandparents on Waaggasse. A “stone of remembrance” in front of the house has commemorated the pair for several years now. Alongside the search for traces of his family history, the present-day, modern Vienna, and its culinary highlights were also part of Eli’s trip to Vienna.

The Vienna Trips are a format that was created in 2021 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Jewish Welcome Service. Depending on the financial capability of the Jewish Welcome Service, each year two people are awarded packages that include an allowance for their flight and stay. In addition, support is provided for family history research as well as tips for organizing the stay in Vienna. The idea is to then document each stay in a kind of “Vienna diary”—including photos and videos for social media channels like Instagram and Facebook.
The offer, for which registrations are currently not being accepted due to the huge demand, is supported by the Vienna Tourist Board.