Jews in Hungary

Bolesaw (William) Pick

Catherine Ulaszek

Jewish districts• The Jewish people appeared in Hungary in the 12th and the

13th centuries.• The towns had the right to decide whether to let the Jewish

people live within the city walls or not. Szeged also had this right.

• In the 18th century these people were allowed to rent rooms and flats in the towns. The owners having Jewish-tenants were registered.

• In 1813 Szeged marked a separated district for the Jewish people: the Gogol street and the Hajnóczy street.

„Jewish ghetto.Christians mustn't go in. „

Jewish districts

• That wasn’t big enough so it needed expansion.

• Not all of the Jewish people followed these regulations

40% of them didn’t live within this district• The Jewish Community was founded in Szeged in

1785.• Its central building was the Old Synagogue.

1843.

The life of Jewish people in Szeged

• The first Jewish person in Szeged was a tradesman called Mihály Pollák

• The Jews had to live in the Hungarian cities without owning civil rights that time

• In 1786-1787 approximately 25 families could be found in Szeged with a population of 136

A typical Jewish family

• Later they got permission to choose their own judge and two church servants for their religious community

• The leader of this community was called „rabbi”• The first book which involved the religious rules of Jewish people

was created in 1791

A Jewish family

• This is the Old Synagogue in 1879 during the Great Flood and today.

• We can see this historical building from the window of the school.

• Lipót Lőw was elected to be the rabbifor this synagogue

• The Jewish people could take part in the political life from the 19th century

• In 1920 the number of Jewish people living in the community was about 7000

• Seven years later the Jewish community consisted of 8000 people

In the summer of 1941 Hungary joined the Second World War.

On 19th March 1944 the German army occupied Hungary.

Eichmann and his notorious troop arrived in Hungary to find a ‘final solution to the problems of the jews’.

Jews were listed, and were ordered to wear yellow stars.

They were also separated into ghettos. 

It was the death march, and only few of the deported Jews survived it.

The Szeged ghetto was organized in May and in June in the streets around the Synagogue and in the Brick Factory of Szeged .

About 8700 Jews were moved to the Szeged ghetto.

There was only one gate to the ghetto, which was carefully controlled by the police.

In 1944 the Jews of Szeged nearly vanished.

From the 6600 people who were carried off from Szeged in 1944 only about 1500 returned.

The number of victims of the Second World War from Szeged region reached 6000.

On April 4 1945 Hungary was liberated from the fascist regime.

Before the war 600.000 Jews lived in Hungary.

About 400.000 of them were massacred during the Holocaust.

Although most of the society seemed careless about the deportation of the Jews, many Hungarians decided to help the persecuted in days of great fear.

They are known as the ‘Jew savers’

Sára Salkaházi was among the heroes whose martyrdom presents the foundation of humanity.

She is credited with saving the lives of 100 jews during WWII.

She was shot by the Nazis.

Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarian.

He is also widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue tens of thousands to about one hundred thousand Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary.

The Synagogue during the Second World War The Synagogue of

Szeged was the centre of the ghetto.

When the transportationof the Jews started, the Jews of Szeged were told to leave all their personal belongings behind.

These things later had been replaced to the Synagogue of Szeged.

After the liberation a part of the returned began to build up their life again...

Today victims of the WWII are remembered in the Synagogue:

The Memorial plaque, where you can read almost 5000 names on the marble tablets.

Consequently the Jewish community lives with substantial history, with values to be protected with declared historic moments, with an old people's home to look after, with a youth club, with a modest number of young people as the trustees of the future.

The church is again loud with the noise of the little ones in the services.

And the Synagogue today...