Birgit Maderl was of course also one of the first contacts to be made when arriving in Austria. I already had met part of her family in Piber. We arranged to meet at her and her husband's new office, just shortly after they moved in. After picking up Julia and Philip, and lunch, we visited with her mom and dad for some Holler juice and Rhubarb pie, which were just delicios. Back at the Maderl's home, we chatted until late at night, and saw Peter again for breakfast.

   
     

One several of my trips in Graz I spotted a very modern unfamiliar building. One day, taking essentially my old way to school, I decided to stop and have a closer look. As I was reading the signs and memorial markers about the Jewish synagogue that used to be there before WWII, an older gentleman approached me to find out if I had any questions or wanted a tour of the new synagogue. Sure, I wanted to have a closer look, and find out more. Karl Nahlik, a Zeitzeuge, and volunteer at the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Graz was a very good guide. He told me how he just ended up in Graz after the war, and to get clothes started working for the tram line (Strassenbahn). Now he volunteers a few days a week at the synagogue for tours but also to be a discussion partner for schoolgroups that come to find out more about WWII and Jews in Graz.

This new Synagogue has been build on the ruins of the old one, and has now been open for about 2-3 years. The glass roof is held by 12 pillars to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, and forms a Star of David at the top of the dome just below the golden Star of David that is visible from outside. The inscriptions on the glass roof represent the weekly Sabbath readings from the five books of Moses. I was also able to see the Torahs. The building also houses community rooms and a library. If you want to see it for yourself: it is open Monday to Friday, 10 am to 2 pm, except on holidays.

I also learned that the old Synagogue has been destroyed on November 8, 1938 (an event throughout Germany, Austria, and Poland known as Kristalnacht), and the site eventually was turned into a parking garage for the city government. In 1988, the city of Graz erected a memorial in its place. (The glass table for reading the Torah inside the new Synagoge was built above the memorial.) And as part of Graz's City of Culture resurgence and reparation, the city decided to rebuild a synagogue. But it took some persuasion to convince the small Conservative Jewish community, which had been operating without calling attention to itself for a long time. The Synagogue has no police protection requirements, since there really is no threat in Graz (different to what we saw in Berlin, and were told about Vienna). Unfortunately, the community is very small, but growing. It consists of about 120 people - many coming from different countries, compared to over 2000 before the war. Due to its current size many services cannot be performed, since the minimum number of attendants often cannot be reached.