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Rabbi Dr. Adolf Aron Schächter and his wife Rosa Rachel, née Aron

“Deep and unpleasant changes have occurred in our community recently. Whether or how long we can remain here, I cannot currently say.” [...] “There is a sign on our temple: ‘Property of the City of St. P.’, we no longer have a shul. All J. are housed with J., most of the houses are locked. What is to become of us, above all we must not lose our faith in God.” These lines were written by Adolf and Rosa Schächter to their son Erich in Jeru­ salem on 16 November 1938, shortly after the attack on the synagogue. Adolf Aron Schächter was born in Tyrnau, then a part of Hungary, on 8 February 1872 and absolved his rabbinical studies in Berlin under the renowned rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer. His son’s Hebrew name was given in honor of his venerated teacher. We do not know in what subject Adolf Schächter completed his doc­ toral studies – possibly in literature, as he founded a Jewish literary association in St. Pölten in 1904, which was also greatly appreciated by the city’s Catholic middle­class intellectuals. His grandson Se’ev Sher could still remember his grandfather’s large library and impressive erudition. In Berlin, Adolf Schächter married Rosa Aron, who was born in Königsberg on 21 July 1872. In 1897, he became rabbi in St. Pölten, then still in the old synagogue. In late 1901, he also assumed responsibility for the Tulln­Amstetten region. He oversaw the construction of the new synagogue in 1912/13, ad­ ministered the community registers, supervised the religious instruction, and served his community until his retirement in 1933, but continued to serve on a voluntary basis thereafter. His son Erich was born in 1900 and married Helene Steiner from St. Pölten, with whom he lived in Jerusalem from 1935 onwards. A Stone of Remembrance is also being placed for Helene’s mother Juliane. His daughter Ilse was born in 1904 and fled with her husband Julius Albrecht Bach to the USA in August 1941. On 31 March 1939, the Schächter couple was forced to relocate to Vienna, where they lived in the retirement home of the Jewish community organiza­ tion in Große Schiffgasse 3. Only three weeks later, on 21 April, Adolf died and was buried in the new Jewish section of the Central Cemetery. His wife Rosa hesitated for various reasons to flee to safety: She wished to tend her husband’s grave, did not want to be a burden on her son’s family, and her age held her back from making a quick decision. In a telegram conveyed by the British Red Cross, she answered her son’s worried questions as follows: “Pleasantly sur­ prised, I thank you heartily. Am healthy, in retirement home here. Stay healthy all of you, keep good Holy Days, think of me.” The message bore a stamp dated 29 September 1942. Five days previously, on 24 September, Rosa had been de­ ported to Theresienstadt, where she perished from the difficult living condi­ tions on 28 November 1944."