Andreas Praher

Memory in Dialogue. Descendants of Jewish Families from Steyr in the United States

The Museum of the Working World (Museum Arbeitswelt) and the Mauthausen committee Steyr create together a permanent exhibition in the former Synagogue of Steyr to commemorate the Jewish life of the region before and after the Second World War. The Oral-History project is dedicated to researching and sharing the enduring memories of former Jewish families from Steyr, whose descendants now live in the United States. The goal is to seek out these descendants and, through in-depth, professionally conducted interviews, document the significance their families’ history holds for them today. The focus is on personal memories, family storytelling traditions, and individual forms of remembrance. The resulting video portraits will be curated in terms of content and prepared for the exhibition, as well as for educational programs. The aim is to give visitors direct access to the voices of the descendants and thereby build a bridge between the past and the present and to bring the global dimensions of Jewish history to life.

Andreas Praher (PhD in History/University of Salzburg, M.A. in History/Univeristy of Salzburg & Leeds, UK) is exhibition curator and cultural educator at the Museum of the Working World (Museum Arbeitswelt) in Steyr.