🟥 Bibl’yotek. (די) [ן-] ביבליאָטעק is Yiddish for ‘library’ (noun). In German, ביבליאָטעק is (die) ‘Bibliothek’. In Hebrew: סִפְרִיָּה (‘sif’riyah’) (f.). In Polish: ‘bibliotheka’ (f.). I took the background image above in Vienna, 🇦🇹; 16 days ago. I chose ביבליאָטעק as today’s word because of the Vienna Holocaust memorial on the 1. Judenplatz, in the photograph above. The monument is also known as the “Nameless Library”. Initially, I did not want to use ביבליאָטעק. Followers of this account include those who lost family members from 🇦🇹 in the Shoah and I did not want to risk “presenting” the memorial, in the photograph above, as another “stop” on a tourist itinerary - for want of a better word. However, whenever I’m unsure of a word to introduce, I “check” it by randomly opening my Yiddish dictionary on a page and sure I enough, I opened it on page 409, which includes the entry for “library”. Today, 12 March 2024, is an emotional day for many people with an understanding of history, as Germany invaded 🇦🇹 on 12 March 1938. The Vienna Holocaust memorial is dedicated to the more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were murdered in the Shoah. Amongst those murdered in the 45 concentration camps that are inscribed on the monument were Austrian Jews who had managed to escape the borders of pre-12 March 1938 🇦🇹, but were caught by the Germans in neighbouring countries and later killed. A number of Austrian Jews committed suicide after the German invasion. In my opinion, the Vienna Holocaust memorial is “different” to “similar” monuments in other countries - such as, for example, the Shoah memorial in Eleftherias Square in Thessaloniki, 🇬🇷 - in that more than 130,000 Austrian Jews did survive the Shoah and surviving relatives and/or descendants can visit the memorial. Not to deflect from those murdered, but a visit to the memorial, which was unveiled on 25 October 2000, has inspired descendants to research their family history and record it for future generations. The starkness of the design of the memorial was intended to disturb the passer-by, but it has somewhat integrated well into the fabric of the city. 🕯️
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