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Mission & Activities           NEWS ABOUT US    The Board    Retrospective    1980-1993    Retrospective    1994-2009    Leon Zelman SUPPORTERS INFORMATION & SERVICE PROJECTS   The Jewish Welcome Service was founded at the end of 1980 at the initiative of then Mayor Leopold Gratz and City Councillor Heinz Nittel together with Leon Zelman, who was himself a Shoah survivor. The goal was to document the existence of an active and self-confident Jewish community after the Shoah. The starting situation was extremely poor: 130,000 Jews had been displaced, more than 65,000 were murdered in concentration camps and extermination camps. After the end of the war, the once blossoming Jewish community of Vienna had been reduced to just several hundred members. The current community was established primarily by "displaced persons" since very few of the Viennese Jews were able to or wished to return, and interest in their return on the part of the government was also very low. The Jewish Welcome Service therefore initially began to invite smaller groups of displaced persons to visit Vienna. These visits have taken place regularly since 1989. Within the framework of the "Welcome to Vienna" programme, it has so far been possible to invite thousands of former Vienna residents displaced in 1938. The mission of the Jewish Welcome Service: Carrying out the invitation programme for displaced Austrians, including the second and third generation of Shoah survivors. Carrying out numerous projects in schools and adult education that deal with Jewish history and modern Austrian history as well as the invitation and support of witnesses and lecturers. Cooperation with scientists and cultural organisations that concern themselves with issues of displacement and exile. Sharing information about Jewish life in Vienna. Providing an information resource for journalists from Austria and abroad. Assisting in establishing contacts with Jewish institutions. Acting as a link between individual institutions, particularly in the area of restitution (IKG, ESRA) but also between the city of Vienna, the Vienna Tourist Board and institutions such as the Jewish Museum. Reporting on projects and initiatives of the city of Vienna or the Republic of Austria.   Leon Zelman visited schools as a witness and talked ... "Das Jüdische Echo" – 50-year anniversary edition of the magazine