Kurt Rosenkranz (2 August 1927 – 13 March 2024) was an Austrian adult educator.

Biography

Kurt Rosenkranz was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He grew up in the Viennese district of

Brigittenau Brigittenau () is the 20th districts of Vienna, district of Vienna (). It is located north of the central districts, north of Leopoldstadt on the same island area between the Danube and the Danube Canal. Brigittenau is a heavily populated urban a ...

. His Jewish parents and grandparents had emigrated from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

to Vienna. At the age of 9 he became a member of the boys' choir at the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

(de) in Kaschlgasse. In the year 1938, in the course of the “

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

” Rosenkranz experienced riots and humiliation. He was transferred from his old school to a “Sammelschule” for Jews in Währingerstraße 43. The Rosenkranz family fled to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, but when the German troops arrived there, the members of the Rosenkranz family were transferred to Soviet camps and interned first at

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

in Russia, then in

Karaganda Karaganda (, ; ), also known as Karagandy (, ; ; ) (also sometimes romanized as Qaraghandy), is a major city in central Kazakhstan and the capital of the Karaganda Region. It is the fifth most populous city in the country, with a population o ...

in Kazakhstan. In 1946 Kurt Rosenkranz returned to Vienna to work with his father in their small shoe factory. In 1989 he founded the Jewish Institute for Adult Education. Rosenkranz earned the title “Professor” for his merits. His brother Herbert Rosenkranz worked as a historian at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

. He died on 13 March 2024, at the age of 96.Nachruf: ERINNERN:AT trauert um Kurz Rosenkranz

Writings

* Together with David Zelinger (ed.): Verpflichtung eines Überlebenden – Reden und Berichte. Bohmann, Vienna 1993

Literature

* "Encyclopaedia of Austrian Authors of Jewish Descent. 18th to 20th Century"; Ed.:

Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (, ) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Hofburg#Neue Burg, Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in Innere Stadt, center of Vienna. Sin ...

, Vienna.

K.G. Saur K. G. Saur Verlag is a German publisher that specializes in reference information for libraries. The publishing house, founded by , is owned by Walter de Gruyter and is based in Munich. In 1987, K. G. Saur was acquired by Reed International. ...

, Munich 2002, (Volume 2) * Christian H. Stifter, Brigitte Ungar-Klein (ed.): Bildung gegen Vorurteile, Festschrift aus Anlass des 10jährigen Jubiläums des Jüdischen Instituts für Erwachsenenbildung, Wien 2000

References

External links

Jewish Institute for Adult Education
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenkranz, Kurt 1927 births 2024 deaths Austrian educators Austrian Jews Businesspeople from Vienna People from Brigittenau Austrian prisoners and detainees