Some 350,000 Jewish soldiers marched to war full of enthusiasm and patriotism for the emperor and fatherland. But the war overran their houses and synagogues in Galicia and brought death and expulsion. It also put an end to the old systems, notably the Danube monarchy and Tsarist Russia, giving rise to new nation states and radical political movements that had no place for the Jews. The young generation reacted by turning to Socialism and Zionism.
The exhibition, which was inaugurated on 02 April 2014, looks at the cataclysmic events of the time: the loyalty of Austrian Jews to the emperor, the theaters of war in Eastern Europe and the Holy Land, the changes in the Viennese community, the anti-Semitism towards soldiers and the work of field rabbis, post-war revolution and pacifism, and the Bund Jüdischer Frontsoldaten in the 1930s. It also features the biographies of prominent personalities. Τhe exhibition also includes artifacts of Jewish religious art (Judaica), memorabilia, works of art, posters, documents, and numerous photos.
The Jewish Museum of Greece participates in this very interesting exhibition with the loan of eight (8) original artifacts from its collections, which are highly pertinent to the subject of the exhibition and are presented to the general public for the first time.
A book entitled Weltuntergang – Jüdisches Leben und Sterben im Ersten Weltkrieg (in German) accompanies the exhibition. Exhibition Duration: 03 April 2014 – 14 September 2014.
