The Nameless Library

    Visited the "nameless library" yesterday. What an amazing reminder and commemoration of the 65,000 Jewish people in Austria who were killed during the Holocaust. The square shaped concrete memorial stands in front of the Jewish museum of Vienna. The white concrete square-shaped memorial consists of "concrete books" that are "shelved" with the spines of the books hidden from view, representing the "stories" of the victims that will never be told, therefore, the titles remain nameless. Along the base of the memorial are the names of all the concentration camps where people had lost their lives. Also striking about the simplistic, but thoughtful design of the memorial are the doors to this "nameless library." The doors have no handles or knobs, another reminder of the fact that people can never "enter," and that these stories are gone forever. Very sad and striking when you truly think about the inhumanity of what happened. 

     We continued our day with a walking tour of the beautiful modern city of Vienna, and capped off our night with a traditional Viennese supper and mental preparation for Castle Hartheim today. This is no castle of princes and princesses, but rather the headquarters for Hitler's "euthanasia" program, where as many as 30,000 people were killed, mostly those who were mentally or physically challenged.  This will be followed by a trip to the first death camp on the tour at Mauthausen (mat-how-zen). Starting to feel a little overwhelmed.