Memorial plaque for the detention site of 40,000 Jews

The memorial plaque was installed on 25 October 1984 on the façade of a former collection camp at Kleine Sperlgasse 2a. In this school building, the "Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung" (Central Office for Jewish Emigration) of the Nazi regime held approximately 45,000 Jewish women and men between October 1941 and March 1943 before they were deported to extermination camps. Several sources document the poor conditions in the collection camp and also the despair of the internees, some of whom committed suicide in the camp. One of the most striking sources on this subject is the poem by Holocaust survivor Otto Kalwo (1918–2008), who also worked briefly as a Jewish "orderly" in the camp. After the closure of the collection camp with the end of the deportations in October 1942, the Mädchenvolkschule Kleine Pfarrgasse 33 (Girls' Elementary School) and the Jungenvolkschule Leopoldsgasse 3 (Boys' Elementary School) were assigned the building. Renovation work began in early 1943. On 28 August 1943, classes were resumed at Kleine Sperlgasse 2a as a public school of the city of Vienna. The building is today a public elementary school. The plaque was donated by the school community and the Friends of Leopoldstadt Association.