Austria refused to assume responsibility for its participation in National Socialism for a long time, so that a dignified commemoration of its victim was not possible. As a consequence of the Waldheim affair in 1986, a culture of remembrance set in, culminating in the so-called "Bedenkjahr" (a pun of "Gedenken" commemoration and "Bedenken" consideration) in 1988 and in the apology to the victims by Chancellor Franz Vranitzky in 1991. In addition to the official and state memory there were and are a variety of scientific and private interventions to point out the dark moments in our history.

The Institute for Jewish History in Austria is one of the central organizers and motivators of such projects and has made significant contributions to the visualization of Jewish history in Austria and the expulsion and murder of St. Pölten Jews during the past thirty years and Jews.