Israelitische Kultusgemeinde, Vienna (Fond 707)

The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (IKG) (Vienna Israelite Community) is the body that represents Vienna’s Orthodox Jewish community. Jewish Religious Community of Vienna-was authorized in 1852 by the Austrian authorities to conduct religious, educational and charitable operations among Jews in Vienna. The community was the unofficial representation of Jews interests’ vis-à-vis state entities and the city authorities. The community council was typically represented by the wealthiest and most successful group of Jews of Vienna. The Jewish Community in Vienna was officially dissolved in November 1942. Today, the IKG has around 7000 members. Throughout history, it has represented almost all of Austria's Jews, whose numbers are sufficient to form communities in only a few other cities in Austria. The history of Vienna’s Jewish population dates back to the time of the Roman Empire, but for a long time, Vienna’s Jews were prevented from forming an organisation to represent themselves as a result of legal and social discrimination. This situation first began to change with the Emperor Joseph II’s 1782 Edict of Tolerance. The emancipation of Vienna’s Jewish population began in 1848. In a speech held on 3 April 1849, the young emperor Franz Joseph I, used the words “Israelite Community of Vienna” for the first time; three years later, a provisory constitution for the community was enacted and 1852 is therefore considered the year in which Vienna's Kultusgemeinde was founded. The community's offices were established in the Stadttempel in the Seitenstettengasse. Vienna's Jewish community had around 185,000 members at the time of Austria’s Anschluss with the Third Reich in 1938. In that same year, the Nazis closed the IKG down. It was reopened in May 1938 as the “Vienna Jewish Community” with the task of acting as a buffer organisation between the Nazis and Vienna’s Jewish population. This body was also forced to organise the emigration and later the deportation of Vienna’s Jews for the Central Office for Jewish Emigration. The title Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien has been in use again since 1945. On 29 August 1981, a terrorist attack was made on the synagogue in the Seitenstettengasse using hand grenades and firearms. Two people died and another 21 were injured in the attack. The attack is attributed to the Palestinian extremist Abu Nidal Organisation. Since then, strict security has been in place at the entrance to the synagogue, while the Seitenstettengasse is guarded by the police. [Source: Wikipedia]