<HUNGARY, state
in S.E. Central Europe.
Middle Ages to the Ottoman
Conquest.
[Roman legions - Middle
Ages - crusades - Jews in "important communities"]
Archaeological evidence indicates the existence of Jews in
Pannonia and Dacia, who came there in the wake of the Roman
legions.
Jewish historical tradition, however, only mentions the Jews
in Hungary from the second half of the 11th century, when
Jews from Germany, Bohemia, and Moravia settled there. In
1092, at the council of Szabolcs, the Church prohibited
marriages between Jews and Christians, work on Christian
festivals, and the purchase of slaves. King Koloman
protected the Jews in his territory at the end of the 11th
century, when the remnants of the crusader armies attempted
to attack them (see *Crusades).
Jews resided only in towns ruled by the bishops where
important communities developed: in Buda (see *Budapest;
12th century), Pressburg (*Bratislava, Hung. Pozsony; first
mentioned in 1251), Tyrnau (*Trnava, Hung. Nagyszombat), and
*Esztergom (by the middle of the 11th century).
[Professions of the Middle
Ages - criminal Church against the Jews - Black Death
persecution of 1349]
During the 12th century the Jews of Hungary occupied
important positions in economic life. The nobles felt it
necessary to curb this development, and in the "Golden Bull"
(1222) an article was included which prohibited the Jews
from holding certain offices and from receiving titles of
nobility. The legal status of the Jews was settled by King
Bela IV in a privilege of 1251, which follows the pattern of
similar documents in neighboring countries. As a result of
the Church Council of Buda in 1279, Jews were forbidden to
lease land and compelled to wear the Jewish *
badge.
In practice, these decrees were not applied strictly because
of the king's objection.
During the reign of Louis the Great (1342-82), the hostile
influence of the Church in Jewish affairs again
predominated. The *Black Death led to the first expulsion of
the Jews from Hungary in 1349. A general expulsion was
authorized though they were subjected to restrictions.
[A special "judge of the
Jews" since 1365 - Corvinus government 1458-1490]
In 1365 the king instituted the office of "judge of the
Jews", chosen from among the magnates, who was in charge of
affairs concerning Jewish property, the imposition and
collection of taxes, representation of the Jews before the
government, and the protection of their rights.
The reign of Matthias Corvinus (1458-90) marked a change in
favor of the status of the Jews, despite his support of the
towns, whose inhabitants, the overwhelming majority of whom
were Germans, were inimical to the Jews as dangerous
rivals.
[Jews at stake and riots in
1494 - all "Christian" debts canceled by King Ladislas VI
- direct protection since 1515 under Maximilian I -
degrading oath 16th-19th century]
In 1494 there was a *blood libel in Tyrnau and 16 Jews were
burned at the stake. In its wake, anti-Jewish riots broke
out in the town; these were repeated at the beginning of the
16th century in Pressburg, Buda, and other towns. The
economic situation of the Jews was also aggravated: King
Ladislas VI (1490-1516) canceled all debts owing to the
Jews. [[Probably criminal Church was the thriving
anti-Semitic force]]. In 1515, however, the Jews were placed
under the direct protection of Emperor Maximilian I (the
pretender to the crown of Hungary).
During this period, a degrading form of Jewish *oath before
the tribunals was introduced; it remained in force until the
middle of the 19th century.
[Anti-Jewish measured under
Louis II - tax rise for the war against the Turks]
During the reign of Louis II (1516-26) hatred of the Jews
intensified as a result of the activities of Isaac of
Kaschau, the director of the royal mint, and the apostate
Imre (Emerich) Szerencsés (Latin: Fortunatus), the royal
treasurer who devalued the currency and raised the taxes in
order to provide funds for the war against the Turks.
[Community life in Hungary
during 14th-15th century]
During the middle of the 14th century the most important
Hungarian community was that of *Szekesfehérvar (Ger.
Stuhlweissenburg), whose
parnasim
[[communal leaders]] also directed the general affairs of
the Jews of the country. During the 15th century the
community of Buda gained in importance (col. 1088)
as Jews expelled from other countries also settled there.
Little information is available on the spiritual life of
Hungarian Jewry during the Middle Ages. Apparently it was
poor in comparison to that in neighboring countries because
of the dispersion of the communities and the small number of
their members. The first rabbi whose reputation spread
beyond Hungary was *Isaac Tyrnau (late 14th-early 15th
century); in the introduction to his
Sefer ha-Minagim ("Book
of Customs") he describes the poor condition of Torah study
in Hungary.
Period of the Ottoman
Conquest. [Turkish rule 1526, Ottoman rule 1541
"relatively satisfactory"]
The first, temporary Ottoman conquest of Buda in 1526 caused
many of the Jewish inhabitants to join the retreating Turks.
As a result of this movement, congregations of Hungarian
Jews formed within the important communities of the Balkans.
After central Hungary was incorporated within the Ottoman
Empire in 1541, the Jewish status was relatively
satisfactory. Jewish settlement in Buda was renewed, and
Sephardim of Asia Minor and Balkan origin also settled
there. During the 17th century Buda was one of the most
important communities of the Ottoman Empire. This was
largely due to the authority of its rabbi, *Ephraim b. Jacob
ha-Kohen, author of
Sha'ar
Efrayim (1688).
["Christian" Hapsburg rule
with growing anti-Semitism - Jews at stake in 1529 -
expulsions - influx of Vienna Jews in 17th century -
Reformation changing the law]
In the Hapsburg dominions of Hungary in this period hatred
toward the Jews increased. In 1529, following a blood libel
in Bazin, 30 Jews were burned at the stake and the others
were expelled from the town. The Jews were also expelled
from Pressburg, Oedenburg (*Sopron), and Tyrnau. However,
the magnates of western Hungary accorded their protection to
the Jews expelled from the towns. The Jews expelled from
Vienna found refuge on the estate of Count Esterhazy in
*Eisenstadt and six small neighboring towns in 1670. It was
the oldest of the *Seven Communities" of *Burgenland,
granted autonomy in a privilege issued in 1690.
In *Transylvania, under the rule of Gabriel Bethlen
(1613-29), the status of the Jews was stabilized by a
privilege granted in 1623. The favorable attitude toward the
Jews there stemmed from *Reformation influences in
Transylvania (see also Simon *Péchi).
18th to 19th Centuries
(Until 1867). [Almost no Jews left - Hapsburg rule -
anti-Semitism of the townsmen]
By the beginning of the 18th century, when most of Hungary
came under Hapsburg rule, only a few remnants of the ancient
Jewish settlement were to be found there.
[[Probably the Jews had left with the Ottoman army for
Istanbul (Constantinople) where there was a big Jewish
community under tolerant rule, see: *
Constantinople
/
Istanbul]].
At this time, however, a movement of Jewish migration began,
marking the formation of Hungarian Jewry of the modern ear.
The census of 1735 enumerated 11,600 Jews (in reality, their
numbers were far greater) of whom only a few were born in
Hungary, while the majority had come from Moravia and the
minority from Poland. Most of the Jews were peddlers and
small tradesmen. Because of the hostility of the townsmen,
most of them lived in the villages.
[Maria Theresa: rising
"tolerance tax" since 1744 - Jews in royal cities since
Joseph II since 1783]
During the reign of *Maria Theresa (1740-80) the situation
of the Jews deteriorated. In 1744 an annual "tolerance tax"
of 20,000 guilders was levied on them. It was gradually
increased, until it amounted to an annual sum of 160,000
guilders at the beginning of the 19th century. The reign of
*Joseph II brought some improvements. In 1783 Jews were
authorized to settle in the royal cities. There were 81,000
Jews in Hungary in 1787.
[[Napoleon times, Napoleon reforms and reverse anti
revolutionary movement after 1815 are not mentioned in this
article]].
[Reforms and revolution of
1848-1849 - almost emancipation in 1859-1860 -
emancipation in 1867]
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Hungary, vol. 8, col. 1097.
Nineteenth-century painting of a
Hungarian Jewish peddler, artist unknown. Courtesy Israel
Museum Archives, Jerusalem.
During the "period of reform" in Hungary in the 1830s and
1840s, the Jewish question was discussed in the legislative
institutions, in literature, and in the periodicals and
press. In general there was a marked tendency in favor of
granting civic rights to the Jews, but on the whole society
took a critical view of the Jews and assumed an attitude of
reservation toward them, demanding religious and social
reforms (see *Emancipation).
The suppression of the revolution of 1848-49 also affected
the status of the Jews. Because many of them were active in
the revolution, the (col. 1089)
Austrian military government imposed a collective fine of
2,300,000 guilders on the communities; it was later reduced
to 1,000,000 (in 1856, the sum was reimbursed in the form of
a fund for educational and relief institutions). During the
1850s, the Jews were still subjected to judicial and
economic restrictions (the Jewish oath; the need for a
marriage permit; the prohibition on acquiring real estate;
and others).
Most of the restrictions were abolished in 1859-60; the Jews
were authorized to engage in all professions and to settle
in all localities. The first political leaders of the new
Hungary, including Count Gyula Andrássy, Ferencz *Deák, and
Kálmán *Tisza, expressed their approval in the granting of
civic and political equality to the Jews, and after the
Compromise with Austria, the bill on Jewish emancipation was
passed in Parliament without considerable opposition (Dec.
20, 1867).
[Numbers]
During the same period there was a rapid growth of the
Jewish population of Hungary, due both to natural increase
and immigration from neighboring regions, especially
Galicia. The number of Jews had risen to 340,000 by 1850,
and in the first population census held in modern Hungary
(1869), 542,000 Jews were enumerated.
The Emancipation Period,
1867-1914.
During this period Hungarian Jewry consolidated from the
political, economic, and cultural aspects and succeeded in
establishing a strong position in the life of the country.
Jews played a considerable role in the development of the
capitalistic economy of Hungary, and from the 1880s large
numbers entered the liberal professions, and also
contributed to literary life, in particular in journalism.
In economic activity Jews in Hungary were especially
prominent from the mid-19th century in the marketing and the
export of agricultural produce.
[Professions]
Emancipation offered a wide scope for Jewish economic
initiative in the establishment of banks and other financial
enterprises. Jewish capital contributed significantly to the
financing of heavy industry at the close of the 19th
century. The role of the Jews in agriculture was also
considerable, as owners of estates and in particular as
contractors in agricultural management and marketing. (col.
1090) [[...]]
[Political anti-Semitism
since 1870s - growing anti-Semitism since the 1880s -
blood libel in 1882]
From the mid-1870s political anti-Semitism emerged as an
ideological trend, subsequently to become a political force,
led by a member of Parliament, Gyözö Istóczy. The driving
forces behind it were the resentment felt by those classes
which were dispossessed by the capitalistic economy and the
effects of recent social changes. Thus the main bearers of
anti-Semitism were the gentry. German examples also played
some part in Hungarian anti-Semitism.
At the beginning of the 1880s anti-Jewish propaganda
intensified [[the Jews were blamed of the murder of the
czar]] and reached a climax with the blood libel of
*Tiszaeszlar in 1882, which aroused much emotion and was the
cause of severe anti-Jewish disturbances in several towns.
The acquittal of the accused and the (col. 1090)
condemnation of the libel by many gentile leaders did not
calm feelings. In 1884 an anti-Semitic faction of 17 members
of parliament was organized but it did not wield much
influence there, owing to internal dissension. Jewish
defense against anti-Semitism took the form of apologetic
and polemic literature. In face of the emphatic attitude of
the government and the main political parties against
anti-Semitism, it was deemed unnecessary to initiate any
organized action. (col. 1091)
[Jewish religion officially
recognized in 1895]
In 1895 the Jewish religion was officially recognized as one
of the religions accepted in the state, and accorded rights
enjoyed by the Catholic and Protestant religions. The law
was enacted despite vigorous objection from the Catholic
Church and its allies the magnates, who succeeded in
delaying its ratification on three occasions. (col. 1090)
[[...]]
[Strong anti-Semitic
Catholic People's Party since 1900 - criminal Church and
clerical anti-Semitism - anti-Semitic nationalism]
At the turn of the century the Catholic People's Party
became the main bearer of anti-Semitism. It regarded it as
its main task to combat alleged anti-Christian and
destructive ideas, especially Liberalism and Socialism,
which according to clerical presentation was closely
associated with the Jews. Jewish intellectuals and their
allegedly harmful influence were a particular target for
unrestricted attack.
Jewish reaction to clerical anti-Semitism was stronger, more
pronounced and more courageous than to the anti-Semitism in
the 1880s, which seemed to be less menacing. Many of the
tenets of anti-Semitism in this era became cornerstones of
the anti-Jewish ideology in the inter-war period.
Anti-Semitism was also widespread among the national
minorities, especially the Slovaks, principally kindled
because the Jews tended to identify themselves with the
nationalist policy of the Magyars. (col. 1091) [[...]]
Internal Life during the
19th Century.
[Languages Yiddish and Hungarian - Jews in three regions -
nationalism provoking struggle]
In origin, spoken language, and cultural tradition and
customs, Hungarian Jewry was divided into three sections:
the Jews of the north-western districts (Oberland) of
Austrian and Moravian origin, who spoke German or a western
dialect of Yiddish; the Jews of the northeastern districts
(Unterland) mostly of (col. 1091)
Galician origin, who spoke an eastern dialect of Yiddish;
and the Jews of central Hungary, the overwhelming majority
of whom spoke Hungarian. [[...]] The threefold split left
its imprint on the internal organization and life of
Hungarian Jewry until the Holocaust. [[...]] In the
classification of the inhabitants according to nationality,
the overwhelming majority of the Jews in Hungary declared
themselves members of the Hungarian nation; Jewish
nationality was not officially recognized and the Jews thus
became a party in the struggle between the ruling Magyar
nation and the national minorities of Hungary. (col. 1092)
[[...]]
[Split between reformists
and Orthodox Jews]
The internal life of the Jews of Hungary during the 19th
century was marked by polemics between the Orthodox on the
one hand and those advocating modern culture, integration,
and *assimilation on the other.
At the beginning of the century, a strict Orthodox trend was
established in Hungary under the leadership of Moses *Sofer
of Pressburg. This town became a spiritual center for the
Orthodox Jews of Hungary, and its yeshivah [[religious Torah
school]] the most important in central Europe; it exerted
much influence over the Hungarian communities and even
beyond them.
From the 1830s, Haskalah [[enlightenment]] made its
appearance in Hungary, and the movement of religious
*Reform, whose leading spokesmen there were Aaron *Chorin
and Leopold *Loew, spread to several communities. Extreme
Reform did not strike roots in Hungary, but the wish to
introduce reforms in education and religious life made
progress and aroused violent opposition from the Orthodox.
The polemics between the Orthodox and the reformers (who in
Hungary were referred to as Neologists; see *Neology) gained
in intensity to become a central issue at the General Jewish
Congress convened by the government in 1868.
[Autonomy of the Jewish
community - Orthodox opposition]
The Congress was called in order to define the basis for
autonomous organization of the Jewish community. It was
attended by 220 delegates (126 Neologists, and 94 Orthodox).
The conflict between the factions was aggravated when the
majority refused to accept the demands of the Orthodox on
the validity of the laws of the Shulhan (Shulḥan) Arukh in
the regulations of the communities. A section of the
Orthodox opposition left the Congress, which continued with
its task and established regulations for the organization of
the communities and Jewish education. The organizational
structure was to be based on the existence of local
communities, on regional unions of communities, and on a
central office which was to be responsible for relations
between the authorities and the communities.
The Orthodox did not accept these regulations, and
particularly opposed those concerning the existence of a
single community in every place. They appealed to Parliament
to exempt them from the authority of these regulations.
Parliament consented to their demands (1870) and the
Orthodox began to organize themselves within separate
communities. There were also communities which did not join
any side and retained their pre-Congress status (the *status
quo communities). (col. 1092) [[...]]
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Hungary, vol. 8, col. 1100.
First edition of "Die Palme", a German-language
Jewish weekly published in Pest, Sept. 23, 1871. Courtesy
Internatinale Zeitungsmuseum, Aachen, Germany.
Moses Sofer and his school decisively influenced the
development of Orthodox Jewry in western and central
Hungary. Torah study became widespread among large sections
of Orthodox Jewry, and yeshivot [[religious Torah schools]]
were established in every large community. The most renowned
of these, besides that of Pressburg, were those of *Galanta,
Eisenstadt, *Papa, Huszt (*Khust), and Szatmar (*Satu-Mare).
During the 19th century the Hungarian rabbinate was of a
high standard and produced halakhists, authors of religious
works, and community leaders, such as Sofer's son Abraham
Samuel Benjamin *Sofer and grandson Simhah (Simḥah) Bunem
*Sofer, Moses Schick, and Judah Aszód (1794-1866) in
Szerdahely (Mercurea), Aaron David Deutsch (1812-78) in
Balassagyarmat, Solomon *Ganzfried, and (col. 1092)
others. Torah literature underwent a considerable
development, and a place of importance was held by learned
periodicals in this sphere.
*Hasidism (Ḥasidism) spread in the northeastern regions of
Hungary, where it did not encounter violent opposition from
the rabbis. Isaac Taub is regarded as having introduced
Hasidism (Ḥasidism) into Hungary; after his death the
Hasidim (Ḥasidim) there gathered around Moses *Teitelbaum in
Satoraljaujhely. He founded a hasidic- (ḥasidic)-rabbinical
dynasty which was active in the Maramarossziget (Sighet) and
its surroundings. Another center of Hasidim (Ḥasidim) was
Munkacs (*Mukachevo), in Carpathian Russia, where Isaac
Elimelech *Shapira settled. In addition, the dynasties of
the zaddikim (ẓaddikim) [[ultra-Orthodox Jews]] of *Belz,
Zanz, and *Vizhnitz had considerable influence in Hungary.
Hasidism (Ḥasidism) left its imprint on the Jews of the
northeastern regions, and differences in customs and way of
life arose between the Hasidim (Ḥasidim) in Hungary and the
section influenced by Pressburg and its school.
[Assimilation movement]
From the close of the 19th century, assimilation became
widespread within Hungarian Jewry and there was an increase
in apostasy especially among the upper classes. Mixed
marriage became a common occurrence, particularly in the
capital [[of Budapest]].
[Racist Zionists - racist
Theodor Herzl from Budapest]
Attachment to Erez Israel (Ereẓ Israel) [[Land of Israel]]
was already ingrained within Hungarian Jewry from the period
of Sofer, upon whose recommendation some of his
distinguished disciples had emigrated to Erez Israel [[Ereẓ
Israel]] where they ranked among the leaders of the
Ashkenazi
yishuv
[[Jews in Palestine before Herzl Israel foundation, before
1948]] during the middle of the 19th century.
During the *Hibbat (Ḥibbat) Zion period, Josef *Natonek was
active in Hungary, and some believe that this activity
influenced [[racist]] Theodor *
Herzl,
who was born in Budapest and spent his childhood and youth
in Hungary. The nationalist ideal and political Zionism,
however, only seriously attracted a limited circle of the
academic youth, the intellectuals, and a minority of
Orthodox Jewry, while assimilationist circles and the
overwhelming majority of the Orthodox were sharply and
firmly opposed to them. The Kolel Ungarn (Hungarian
Community) in Jerusalem (see *Halukkah (Ḥalukkah)) was a
center of extremist opposition to Zionism in Erez Israel
(Ereẓ Israel) [[Land of Israel]], and the *Neurei Karta
faction later developed from it. (col. 1095)
[[The racist Herzl fantasy
of a "Jewish State" combined with nationalism = Zionism
The racist Theodor Herzl wrote a fantasy booklet "The Jewish
State", published in 1896 with the description of a new
"Israel", and the Arabs could be driven away as the natives
in the "USA", the Arabs would be the slaves of the Jews, and
perhaps gold could be found in Palestine and the gold mines
would be in Jewish hands as in South Africa. This racist
fantasy of Theodor Herzl was normal for it's time, because
racism was also accepted at the universities which also were
racist and had racist structures. The Herzl fantasy of a
"Jewish State" combined with the Moses fantasy of a "Greater
Israel" with the borderlines from the Nile to the Euphrates
according to 1st Mose chapter 15 phrase 18 (see the Bible).
Since this time there was Arab opposition against this
stupid fantasy of a racist "Jewish State", and since 1948
there is the Middle East conflict as an eternal war trap.
Herzl lead the Jews into an eternal war. The main fault that
to be Jewish is a religion and not a nation was not seen by
the racist Zionists. And the main culprit of anti-Semitism -
the criminal anti-Semitic Church which has not changed it's
stupid "New Testament" until today - was not seen by the
racist Zionists either...]]
[Numbers of 1910]
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Hungary, vol. 8, col. 1105.
Drawing of the Jewish quarter
of Mármoros Sziget, from J. Pennell, "The Jews at Home",
London 1892
Before World War I [[1910?]] 55-60% of the total number of
merchants were Jews, approximately 13% of the independent
craftsmen, 13% of owners of large and medium-sized estates,
and 45% of the contractors. Of those professionally engaged
in literature and the arts, 26% were Jews (of the
journalists, 42%), in law, 45%, and in medicine, 49%. On the
other hand, only a small number of Jews were employed in
public administration.
The Jewish population numbered 910,000 in 1910. The
identification of the Jews with the Magyar element in the
Hungarian kingdom was an important factor in determining the
general political attitude toward them. (col. 1090) [[...]]
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Hungary, vol. 8, col.
1093-1094. Map of Hungery in 1910
with the numbers of Jews according to the counting of 1910
During World War I
the Jews suffered losses in life (about 10,000 Jews fell on
the battlefield) and property. At the same time, anti-Jewish
feeling was strong having increased because of the presence
of numerous Jewish refugees from Galicia, which had been
occupied by the Russians, and through the activities of Jews
in the war economy. (col. 1091)
[[At the end in 1917-1918 Communists were coming up, the
"Red Light" was coming from Moscow step by step to Central
Europe. Hungary had to accept the Trianon treaty and was cut
from all sides and many Hungarians were under foreign law
from CSSR, Ukraine, Romania, Yugoslavia, and little Austria.
By this there were migrations and hunger in Hungary because
many did not want to accept another nationality]].
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