Memorial Plaque in Elkan House Hohenems

The villa built around 1800 at Swiss Street 35, now known as the Elkan House, hosted several prominent Jewish Hohenemser families, including the Steinach and Menz families. Theodor Elkan, the last cultus overseer of the community, also lived here with his family. In 1940, they were forcibly relocated from here to Vienna and then deported to the concentration camp Theresienstadt. After World War II, the Elkan House served as an interim residence for Jewish "displaced persons" who wished to emigrate to Palestine or the United States. In 1996, the house—like many other buildings of the former Jewish Quarter—was restored under preservation guidelines and is now used as a residential and medical professionals' house. Gerhard Lacha affixed a commemorative plaque in the entrance area of the house.