The Jewish Community of Nyirmeggyes
Nyirmeggyes
A village in the Szatmar district, north east Hungary.
Hungarian: Nyírmeggyes
Yiddish: נירמעדיעש
Late 20th and 21st Century
The village of Nyirmeggyes has a Jewish cemetery. Gravestones were inscribed in Hebrew. In commemoration of victims of the Holocaust memorials were placed in the cemetery. In 2019 the burial ground of Nyirmeggyes was well tended to.
History
Jews first came to Nyirmeggyes in the second half of the 18th century, supported by the estate owners. Because of differences between haredim and maskilim (enlightened) at Jewish Congress in 1868, the community affiliated with the orthodox stream, which refused to accept the decisions of Congress. In addition to the synagogue there were a hevra kadisha, heder and mikveh (ritual bath).
In 1930 the community numbered 139.
The Holocaust Period
In 1944, after the German occupation and shortly after Pesach, the Jews were sent to the ghetto in Mateszalka. From there they were transported to Auschwitz.
After the war the community was not reestablished.
Mateszalka
(Place)Mateszalka
A town in the Szatmar district, north east Hungary.
Jews first settled in the place in the middle of the 18th century, under the patronage of the estate owner, Sandor Karolyi. His son, Ferenc, continued this tradition. The majority were engaged in commerce and trades. The community, which was orthodox, built a synagogue and a school, as well as a Talmud torah. After World War I, the town became the most important in the district and attracted many Jews.
In 1930, the community numbered 1,621, which represented 17.7% of the population.
The Holocaust Period
In 1941, the males were conscripted for forced labor, work on fortifications and in services together with other Hungarian citizens whom the authorities did not want to join the armed forces.
In 1944, after the German occupation, one of the largest concentration camps in Hungary was set up in the town; about 17,000 Jews from the neighboring towns in the district were kept there. The prisoners were held without a roof overhead, under overcrowded conditions and extreme hunger, and subject to cruel treatment and torture on the part of the police. After some time they were sent back to occupy a few of their dilapidated homes. The community was allowed to organize the distribution of one meal daily. Finally, they were taken to the railway station and transported in sealed freight cars, 80 people in each car, to Auschwitz.
After the war a small number of forced labor survivors returned, followed by a few more from Auschwitz. By 1946 they numbered 150, and this increased to 238 in 1949. They renewed communal life, but after the anti-Russian revolt in 1956 they began to disperse. The majority went to Budapest and Debrecen, but some went on Aliyah to Israel. In 1959 there were 98 Jews in the town, of whom one third were children.
Nyirbator
(Place)Nyírbátor
A town in the Szabolcs district, north east Hungary.
Jews settled in the town in the second half of the 18th century. The majority were engaged in commerce, while Jewish artisans had a good name. There were some Jewish landowners, among them two who established industries, as well as many members of the free professions.
There was a good deal of anti-semitism at all levels of society. As a result of the Tiszaeszlar blood libel in 1882, Jews were attacked by mobs, their homes were broken into and their property stolen.
The community was organized in 1816. Because of differences between haredim (orthodox) and maskilim (enlightened) at the Jewish Congress in 1869, the community adopted a stand on Congress nor those of the haredim. The haredim broke away and formed their own orthodox community. With the influx of families from Galicia, this community grew until it was larger than the original community. Active in the community were the hevra kadisha (burial society), bikur cholim (sick visiting) society, education and charitable institutions.
Following World War I there were continual outbreaks of terror. Many inter-marriages were dissolved, business licences were cancelled and Jewish officials in government service were dismissed without payment of compensation.
In 1930 the community numbered 1,873 (17.3% of the total).
The Holocaust Period
In 1938, following the publication of discriminatory laws which aimed at limiting Jewish participation in the economic and cultural fields, the means of livelihood of the Jews was affected. From 1942 many were conscripted for forced labor, work on fortifications and in services together with other Hungarian citizens whom the authorities did not want to join the armed forces. The majority were employed in the mine fields on the Ukrainian front where they perished.
On April 22, 1944, all the Jews of the town were sent by cart to Nyiregyhaza. Because of the overcrowding they were dispersed to the estates in the neighborhood where they were held under starvation conditions until May 28, when they were transported to Auschwitz. Some tens of Jews were transferred from Auschwitz to labor camps in Germany. Some of them were freed by the Russians at the end of the war, others were sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at Slutsk (in Poland and later Belarus) where they remained for nine months until their release.
After the war 500 people returned to the town, some of them survivors of forced labor and others residents of the small villages in the surroundings. The returnees renewed the orthodox community. The status-quo community was not revitalized. In 1958 no Jews were left in the town.