Friedhof, jüdisch in Waidhofen an der Thaya

The Jewish cemetery in Waidhofen an der Thaya lies on Moritz Schadekgasse in the town of the same name, in the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria. It occupies a small plot of 1,203 square metres beside the municipal cemetery. Between 1892 and 1938 the community laid 117 to 171 graves here. The cemetery’s entrance once had bronze gates made by master builder Johann Freiberger from Groß Siegharts. These gates stood until 1938, when they were removed during the Nazi period. The graves themselves survive as silent witnesses to the town’s Jewish past. Visitors find rows of weathered headstones set in grass under tall trees. The oldest markers date from the 1890s, the newest from the late 1930s. A low brick wall runs around the plot, marking the boundary between the Jewish and municipal cemeteries.