Guide to the Szeged, Hungary Jewish Community Records
1875-1948

Great Synagogue, Szeged

About This Guide

Finding aid encoded March, 2016

Finding aid encoded in English.

Historical Note

Szeged is the regional center of southern Hungary and the county seat of Csongrad County. The first Jews settled there in 1781, and were originally small merchants and peddlers. During the 19th century, Jews became more involved in commerce and crafts, and also engaged in agriculture. As a result of the emancipation and establishment of the dual monarchy in 1867, Jews became well established in business and in the professions. The majority of Jews strongly identified as Hungarians and spoke Hungarian as their native language. More than 3,500 Jews resided in Szeged at the time of the Great Flood of 1879 that wiped out more than 90% of the town's structures. The formal Jewish community was first organized in the 1790s, and remained intact until the Nazi invasion of Hungary in 1944. It resumed functioning with survivors of the Holocaust.

The Loew family was the most influential and renowned of Szeged's rabbis; Leopold Loew and his son Immanuel led the community for over 60 years, and were instrumental in establishing the school and many other institutions, as well as the construction of the Great Synagogue that was built under the direction of Immanuel Loew. Leopold Loew identified with Hungary's Reform or Neolog movement, but was held in such esteem that Szeged's Jewish Community did not split into separate Orthodox and Neolog communities but rather remained a unified "status quo" community following the General Jewish Congress of 1868 convened to decide such matters.

Another well known leader of the community was Dr. Izso Rózsa, who was president of the Community from 1884-1918 and received a noble title for saving the town during the Great Flood of 1879. Dr. Samu Biedl succeeded Rózsa as president, after which Robert Pap served during and following the Holocaust.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of records of the Szeged Jewish Community spanning from the 1870s until the 1940s relating to a broad range of functions. As documented by an item in the collection, most of the records did not survive the destruction of World War II and the Holocaust (Fate of the Archive, August 1945, Series A, Folder 5). As a result, this collection is most likely a remnant from the original records, and contains more gaps than consistent record sets. Most of the records cluster around the periods of 1879-1903, mid-1930s and early 1940s, with very few if any items from other years. As the collection is arranged by function, all of the series will have to be examined to review the full set of records for any particular time period.

Nevertheless, the collection provides a window into the aspects of this once flourishing community. In particular, it contains some meeting minutes describing the Community's challenges in the aftermath of the Great Flood (1879), some summary financial statements that document its size and scope (1896, 1902), some items relating to planning and construction of its world famous synagogue which still stands (1896-1903), correspondence between the community and other Hungarian Jewish communities and government and other officials (range of dates), as well as some records relating to its school and educational programs (range of dates). Throughout the collection are items from during of World War II that document how the community strived to continue its activities despite so many of its members having reduced financial opportunities due to the anti-Jewish laws (See Series B, Payment of Membership Taxes folder). There is also some documentation regarding conditions of forced laborers from Szeged during the Holocaust and the Community's efforts to provide them with assistance (Series F, Forced Laborers folder).

The collection is of particular use to genealogy research, as it contains several groups of documents containing records relating to individuals. These are primarily in the Legal Matters Series, which contains a number of birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates (range of dates), and in the Financial Matters Series, which contains information and correspondence relating to individual's membership taxes (1892-1903 and 1942-1943). The Membership folder (Series A, Folder 2) also contains a small number of lists of members for 1924, and 1945, as well as an undated list.

Arrangement

The collection was received unarranged, and was organized into six series of communal functions during processing:

Within each series, items are arranged broadly by topic.

Index Terms

This collection has been indexed under the following terms:

Provenance

Acquisition Information

The collection was acquired in 2014 through the Estate of Zoltan Erenyi and forms part of the Zoltan Erenyi Memorial Collection of Hungarian Judaica.

Processing Note

Processing Information note

The collection was received unarranged, and no original order could be discerned. Archivists chose to arrange the material according to the general community functions that were represented by the materials. Items that did not readily slot to a specific communal function but rather related to issues of the overall community were placed into a series titled Congregational Matters.

Dr. Julia Bock, Associate Professor at Long Island University, served as a consultant for the project and provided language expertise and knowledge of the historical context that were invaluable for processing the collection.

Other Finding Aids note

A detailed listing of items in the collection may be requested from the Archives.

Conditions Governing Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is available to researchers deemed to be qualified by the Archivist.

Conditions Governing Use

Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of materials in this collection. Please contact the Curator of Special Collections for information regarding Yeshiva University's reproduction policies and fees.

Detailed Description of the Collection