The Feilbogens and Klosterneuburg Cemetery
Josef Feilbogen gest 31 März 1920 im 50 Lebensjahre. In loving memory!
I recently learned my Grandpa Paul was born in a small historic town less than 20 minutes from Vienna. Klosterneuburg is a place with medieval roots that go back to the 12th century. Although Jews have lived there seemingly since the beginning, it is recorded that in 1852, a congregation of 16 families was established there. The Feilbogens were one of those families.
Nicole and I set out earlier this month to find the graves of Regina Feilbogen – 1837-1929 (born Hamburger), and her son, Joseph Feilbogen, 1870-1920. This was Grandpa Paul’s grandmother and uncle. His grandfather, Rabbi Dr. Phil. Benjamin Feilbogen, died in Vienna but was buried in his hometown of Holleschau (Holešov), Moravia, Czechia.
When I first researched my family here, Internet results showed that they were buried at the famous Monastery for which the town is known. Of course, I knew this was impossible, Jews were never buried on consecrated Catholic grounds. There was a story to unearth.
We arrived on a warm fall day leading up to Yom Kippur. The cemetery was beautiful and well-maintained thanks to a renovation just a few years ago. We were met by a volunteer guide, Heinz. He was friendly, welcoming, and full of local facts and lore. Here’s what he told us:
The Jewish community of Klosterneuburg had been poor and religious. They could not afford burial plots, so a local kosher butcher levied a tax on his meat, and the taxes went to buy land for the cemetery which cost about $500 in today’s dollars. It was on a slope and not close to anything. Nobody wanted it. Today, it is in a beautiful and well-populated neighborhood.
During the 1800s, Klosterneuburg was hit with several waves of a deadly cholera epidemic. This meant Jews could not bring their dead to Vienna for burial, which had been the custom. One winter in particular, Jews had no choice but to bury their dead near the monastery’s cemetery. The clergy there looked away in tacit agreement. They had to bury them somewhere.
When snow melted, the bodies were exhumed and brought to the newly established Jewish cemetery at night under torchlight. Nobody could know. Today, there are about 600 burials in the cemetery, 200 with stones.
It was a wonder to see the headstones of my ancestors. This was the first time I had ever seen the grave of a family member in Austria who was given a proper burial. I have seen many family names on the Holocaust Memorial, I have seen, and even installed a family Memorial Stone, but this was different.
Hier ruht nach einem Leben voll Arbeit und Güte meine geliebte Mutter
REGINA FEILBOGEN
Gest 28. Februar 1929
93 Lebensjahre
Here rests after a life full of work and goodness my beloved mother
REGINA FEILBOGEN
Died February 28, 1929
93 years of lifeOur guide, Heinz, made our visit memorable. He even brought us into town and showed us the memorial monument for the synagogue that once stood there before it was destroyed on Kristallnacht. His wife Martina, who was not Jewish, was on the city council and she was instrumental in having the memorial placed. She died of cancer in 2020.