The Jewish Community of Megyaszo

Satoraljaujhely

In Yiddish popularly abridged to Ujhely.

Town in north-eastern Hungary.

Jews first arrived there at the beginning of the 18th century, in connection with the nationalist army of F. Rakoczi. They were allowed to own land. An organized community was established in 1771 and a synagogue was built in 1790. There were many economic opportunities and Jews were involved in agriculture (viticulture, farm leasing) and commercial activities connected to it, primarily to the wine trade. In 1901, wine and spirit merchants Márkusz Weinberger, Márton Bettelheim, and Frigyes Schleicher, and grain merchant Adolf Blumenfeld earned the highest incomes recorded in the town. Also among the higher taxpayers were independent intellectuals, lawyers, and doctors, including Bertalan Haas, Salamon Reichard, and Vilmos Schön. Several of the latter also filled leadership roles in town and county politics. Moreover, Reichard, who served as head of the Jewish community, was elected as mayor, and Dávid Kelli became the chief of police.

In 1829 the community received a bequest of 260,00 gulden from Martin Raphael Kastenbaum to establish a Jewish school (called the Kastenbaum School).  The school served the community for 106 years. M. Heilprin (who later became a well-known writer in the United States) was among its teachers and taught a class in Latin. Since the school taught secular subjects most parents sent their children to the traditional heder (religious school).  The orthodox community launched its own elementary school in 1887. A Jewish hospital was founded in 1904, and both communities maintained various charity organizations.

The first rabbi was S. Weil. He was succeeded by Moses Teitelbaum (1808-40), who was the founder of hasidim in Hungary. In 1808, his yeshiva attracted more and more newcomers, which led to constant conflicts between the hassids and the earlier Jewish settlers who had already become established. These conflicts split the Jewish community into hasidic and ashkenazic communities.

A legend prevalent among both Jews and gentiles in Újhely told that the great leader of the Hungarian revolution, Lajos Kossuth, was cured of an illness thanks to Rabbi Moses. At the age of nine, Kossuth came down with an ailment that his physicians could not cure. Over the objections of her husband, the boy's mother turned in desperation to the Zaddik in Újhely since the Kossuth family came from Zemplen. When they came to him, the Zaddik inquired as to the boy's name and when he heard that it was Kossuth, he blessed him with the Hebrew words from the Psalms (60.6):

“Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed, because of the truth”.

The Hebrew word for truth (koshet) in the Psalm is similar to Kossuth. The lad was cured and lived to raise the banner of revolt for Hungarian freedom from Austrian oppression. The noted statesman who became the regent of Hungary never forgot the favor bestowed on him by the Zaddik from Újhely, and his childhood memory of the thrilling scene when the rabbi laid hands on his head and blessed him, was doubtless reflected later in his attitude toward the Jews.

Rabbi Teitlebaum died in 1841 and was succeeded by his grandson, Yekusiel Yehuda Teitlebaum.  But he was compelled to leave the town as a result of the opposition to the hasidim.  

The community spent five years looking for a new Rabbi and even approached the Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Jehiel Michael Weiser), a well-known preacher and Biblical exegetist, revered to this day. Aside from his literary prolificacy, he was a staunch opponent of both hasidism and reforms in Judaism. The fact he would consider the position was a reflection of the status of the community. Rabbinical office was then held by Jeremiah Loew (1854-73), who took part in the Hungarian General Jewish Congress of 1868-69. He was an opponent of hassidim and decided not to join the orthodox or the Neolog communities, but to become what was known as Status Quo. His son, Eleazar Loew (1873-86), founded a separate orthodox community. Rabbi Loew was succeeded by Kalman Weisz and Isdor Goldberger.

After the term of office of Rabbi Kalman Weisz (1890-1910), a rabbi was not appointed until the arrival of S. Roth (1921- 44) who was the last rabbi. A large synagogue was erected in 1888. The orthodox community also built a large synagogue, and established a higher yeshivah (1922-44). The Jewish population numbered 3,523 in 1869; 5,730 in 1910; 6,445 in 1920; and 4,160 in 1941.

During the last year of World War I, an anti-Jewish act took place in Sátoraljaújhely. Searching for some deserters, gendarmes broke into the synagogue and private homes and carried off several Jews. When Albert Székely, a physician, protested these acts, he was prosecuted. In the 1920s, however, the Jews of Sátoraljaújhely actively participated in the town’s social life once again and, except for the isolated hasidic community, integrated successfully into local society

The Jews in the town were affected by the anti-Jewish legislation, unemployment, and other difficulties that faced the rest of the Jews in Hungary in the interwar period.

 

The Holocaust

Beginning in the 1930s, a new wave of Jewish immigrants arrived in Sátoraljaújhely from Poland and Slovakia, raising the hostility of the Christian population. In 1939–1940, Jewish businesses were confiscated. After German occupation, intellectuals were imprisoned and many were interned. A ghetto was set up and the Jews of Sátoraljaújhely and the surrounding county were transported there beginning April 15, 1944. There was terrible congestion and constant hunger. They were then deported to Auschwitz between May 16 and June 3 of that year. Ultimately, about 90 percent (4,000 persons) of the town’s Jews were murdered.

Only 555 survived.

 

Postwar

There were 204 Jews living in Satoraljaujhely in 1953. By 2001 there were only 6 Jews left in the town.