• Kreuzstadl Memorial
On March 24, 1945, members of the local NSDAP shot about 180 Hungarian Jews in the town of Rechnitz, close to the Hungarian border. The Jews had been deployed as forced labourers in Rechnitz in the construction of the so-called »Southeastern Wall«. Since 1991, the initiative RE.F.U.G.I.U.S has been lobbying for the creation and maintenance of a memorial at the shooting site, the Kreuzstadl homestead, dedicated to all victims of the construction of the »Southeastern Wall«.
Image: Rechnitz, 2002, Aerial view of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, RE.F.U.G.I.U.S.
Rechnitz, 2002, Aerial view of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, RE.F.U.G.I.U.S.

Image: Rechnitz, 2007, Ruins of the Kreuzstadl homestead, Wolfgang R. Kubizek
Rechnitz, 2007, Ruins of the Kreuzstadl homestead, Wolfgang R. Kubizek
Beginning November 1944, the SS deported tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews to the Austrian-Hungarian border area. They were forced to construct the »Southeastern Wall« - a system of fortifications meant to impede the Soviet advance. As the front was drawing closer in March 1945, the SS began chasing most of the prisoners westwards on »death marches«.
On March 24, 1945, the SS brought around 600 Hungarian Jews from Kőszeg to Burg, an Austrian township south of Rechnitz. Around 200 of them were sorted out as »unfit to work« and brought back to Rechnitz. That same evening, local NSDAP party leaders were holding a celebration in the town. Led by the local party group leader Franz Podezin, around 14 of the guests assembled. In the night, they shot between 180 and 200 forced labourers close to the so-called Kreuzstadl, a nearby homestead. A further group Jewish forced labourers had to bury the corpses. On the following evening, they too were shot in the vicinity of the local slaughterhouse.
Image: Rechnitz, 2002, Aerial view of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, RE.F.U.G.I.U.S.
Rechnitz, 2002, Aerial view of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, RE.F.U.G.I.U.S.

Image: Rechnitz, 2007, Ruins of the Kreuzstadl homestead, Wolfgang R. Kubizek
Rechnitz, 2007, Ruins of the Kreuzstadl homestead, Wolfgang R. Kubizek
The memorial is dedicated to Jewish forced labourers from Hungary and all the victims of the construction of the »Southeastern Wall«.
Image: Rechnitz, 2007, Memorial plaques at the Kreuzstadl Memorial, Wolfgang R. Kubizek
Rechnitz, 2007, Memorial plaques at the Kreuzstadl Memorial, Wolfgang R. Kubizek

Image: Rechnitz, 2007, Monument in front of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, Wolfgang R. Kubizek
Rechnitz, 2007, Monument in front of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, Wolfgang R. Kubizek
In 1970, the German War Graves Commission was able to locate the mass grave containing the remains of 18 victims of the second shooting at the slaughterhouse. Most of them were buried at the Jewish cemetery at Graz-Wetzl. Beginning 1988, there were many initiatives aimed at finding the victims of the mass murder at the Kreuzstadl homestead, yet they yielded no success.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the RE.F.U.G.I.U.S. association was founded. It purchased the ruins of the Kreuzstadl homestead and opened at memorial to the victims of the mass shootings at the site with a commemorative ceremony in 1993. Since 1998, Kreuzstadl has been the central memorial to all victims of the construction of the »Southeastern Wall«. Later, the memorial was flanked by an open-air exhibition.
Image: Rechnitz, 2012, Monument in front of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, Sándor Friedmann
Rechnitz, 2012, Monument in front of the Kreuzstadl Memorial, Sándor Friedmann

Image: Rechnitz, 2012, Open-air exhibition at the memorial, Sándor Friedmann
Rechnitz, 2012, Open-air exhibition at the memorial, Sándor Friedmann
Name
Mahnmal Kreuzstadl
Address
Bahnhofstraße
7471 Rechnitz
Phone
+43 (0)3352 345 25-22
Fax
+43 (0)3352 345 25-11
Web
http://www.kreuzstadl.net
E-Mail
info@kreuzstadl.net
Open
The memorial is accessible at all times.
Possibilities
Individual supervision and joint development of
projects on the subject for teachers and students,
lectures on the subject (especially for schools),
film screenings with discussions,
touring exhibition »The Destroyed Jewish
Community in Burgenland« (may be borrowed), trips to memorials in southern Burgenland