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Emotional return to roots for Highland Park family

By Sarah Morrison
October 10, 2008 

Phil Rabinowitz's recent trip to Austria was far from the average vacation.

Highland Park resident Rabinowitz, along with his wife, his twin brother Louis, and his sister, boarded the plane Sept. 5 to discover a part of his family history that he had barely known. His grandfather, Philipp Rabinowitsch, was the chazzan (cantor) at the St. Polten Synagogue in St. Polten, Austria. Rabinowitsch was a leader in the strong Jewish community, serving as the town's teacher alongside his duties as cantor.

That all disappeared after the Holocaust. Although Rabinowitz's family escaped the horrors of the Holocaust by immigrating to the United States in the early 1920s, the residents of his grandfather's beloved St. Polten community were not as lucky. In the town of 200,000, only five Jews remain.

Rabinowitz was, therefore, surprised when he recently received a phone call from Martha Keil, president of the Institute for the History of the Jews in Austria. The synagogue that belonged to his grandfather and father was designated in the 1980s for a parking lot -- until Keil stepped in. With her organization's collaboration with the Austrian government, the synagogue was restored to its former glamour -- much like it looked at its original dedication in 1913.

"The institute is used for concerts, lectures, a learning center, and a museum for the Holocaust," Rabinowitz said. "It is the only one of its kind in Austria."

The staff of the institute "are not Jewish," Rabinowitz told The Jewish State. "They are second and third generation young people… they feel guilty for what happened 60 years ago. They are trying to save what is there and to teach students and [other] people what happened and hope that this will never happen again."

New initiatives like the institute are helping to change the shape of Austria and the way they deal with their dark Nazi-affiliated past.

"Even 20 years ago in the Austrian textbooks, they left out 1938 to 1945," Rabinowitz said. "They didn't even mention it! Today, they're starting to deal with it in the proper way."

During the time period cut out of Austrian history books, the St. Polten Temple was not destroyed. During Kristallnacht, it was not burned in order to later fill it with Russian prisoners of war. Once the war ended, the temple held no particular purpose until Keil and the institution rescued it In the 1980s.

The four Rabinowitz family members embarked on their journey to Austria after the institute contacted them and extended an invitation to join in celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the institute. The institute greeted the Rabinowitz family at the airport, supplied an apartment to stay in, and provided dinners. "They were our hosts for the week (Sept. 5-12)," Rabinowitz said.

The ceremony was no ordinary ceremony, either. Government figures from all areas of Austrian government came out to show their support for the institution. Dr. Dan Ashbel, the Israeli ambassador to Austria, and Magistrate Wolfgang Sobotaa, the treasurer of Austria, were two of the attendees at the Sept. 7 ceremony.

"After my sister spoke, we found out that the treasurer of Austria liked what she said," Rabinowitz said. "He pledged 20,000 Euros, which is equivalent to 30,000 American dollars, to the institute."

This is the sort of support that the Jewish organization is receiving in the same country dominated by Nazi Germany 60 years ago.  The five Jews left in St. Polten are supported by hundreds of non-Jewish citizens and government officials looking for tolerance in the once-heavily Nazi-sympathizing region. 

"It was very emotional for the four of us," Rabinowitz said. "It was the first time that I stepped into my grandfather and father's temple, and there were 300 people there. Only 15 of them were Jews, including us. It's really something -- a once in a lifetime event happened there."

"When we first walked in," he continued, "we almost just broke down. It was so emotional. All these people, non-Jews, greeting us in English and German… they were so happy that we came, that someone from that era came back to say hello."

For Rabinowitz, there is hope for the Jewish presence in the town that his grandfather used to call home.

"We'd like to see, if possible, for the Jewish life to continue. But at this time, it's really hard. Some Jews have come back, but they're low-key. They don't want to express anything. They're afraid of the anti-Semitism around."

The whole event brought back memories to Rabinowitz, who lost his father six years ago at the age of 98.

"I couldn't believe that I was standing there in the middle of the temple that he was standing in 1913 as a young child," he said. "We found out later that when he passed away, there was a memorial service at the Austrian temple [for him]. About 150 people attended."

The memorial service was one of many reminders that the Rabinowitsch ancestors were never forgotten in the community.

"In the women's section upstairs, there is an exhibit of all the families and people who used to live in St. Polten who are gone or died in the Holocaust (Rabinowitz's grandfather immigrated to America is 1921)," he said. "There are pictures of my family! They're all there! The picture is described in German. Someone read us the whole thing. It said that my grandfather was the chazzan of the temple at the turn of the century. When my sister spoke, she also said [the] Mah Tovu [prayer] in a special melody that my grandfather had written in his time. That was the first time it was sung since the chazzan was there, the first Jewish prayer sung there since the war."

Perhaps the most moving of all was the recollections of one of the few Jews left in St. Polten. He told Rabinowitz that his father was a student on his back when the synagogue was first dedicated.

Memories such as these brought much comfort to the Rabinowitz family as they said their good-byes from Europe and headed back to America. Thousands of miles away from them, an essential part of their family history is being preserved by a kind-hearted institution and left as a monument to what once was a vibrant community that fell to the Axis Powers 65 years ago.

"We are still on a high on this trip," Rabinowitz said. "The Jews left in St. Polten do not belong to a Temple. They belong to the Jewish community."