The Jews of Tiszafüred

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Tiszafüredi Füzetek 5.Tiszafüred Booklets No.5.Orbánné dr.Szegö ÁgnesMrs. Orbán, Ágnes Szegö PhDTo the memory of the Jews of Tiszafüredand surrounding district(Tiszafüred és vidéke zsidóságának emlékezete)Translated by Agi CaseySydney AustraliaPrinted in Tiszafüred, BlonDekor Printery 2004ISSN 1588-17092Translator’s note:I would like to dedicate my translation to the memory of my husband’s aunt,Mrs. Juliska Deutsch, née Elefánt, her husband Zoltán, their four beautifullittle children, György, Vera, Kató and Éva, from Tiszaörs.Also to my husband’s parents and the 36 members of his family, out of 41,who perished in the Holocaust, without trace, most of them in thegaschambers of Auschwitz.Their memory, the memory of many hundred thousands Hungarian Jews,perished in the Holocaust, should live forever.I tried to translate this booklet word by word, to render it how Mrs. Szegöwanted to show the history of the Tiszafüred Jews. Some explanation wasneeded for readers whose background is not Hungarian.Our son, John, edited my work to be a more precise English, for which I amtruly thankful.3Jewish settlements on the Great Hungarian Plains (Alföld)In Hungary, or rather in Pannonia as it was then known, there areindications of a Jewish presence from the time of the Roman Empire. Afterthe great migrations of the 800’s, after the conquest of the land of Hungaryby the Magyars in 896AD, coexistence started between the Hungarian tribesand the Jews. Later, during the Middle Ages, in the time of Turkishoccupation, the Jews organized business between East and West. In CountyHeves we have evidence about the Jews from the beginning of the 15thcentury. After the Turkish occupation ended at the end of the 17th century,the population of the Great Hungarian Plains increased throughout the 18thcentury, and during that period Jews started to settle there in greaternumbers.During the Middle Ages their dwellings, occupations and clothing weredetermined by strict regulations. Their occupation was mostly commerce,money lending and leasing land. They had no civil rights until theCompromise in 1867 with the Austrian Emperor; their religion was notrecognised until the end of the 19th Century. Queen Maria Theresa in 1746issued a tolerance tax which had to be paid for a hundred years. The freecities by royal decree did not let Jews settle inside their walls. Many countieslike Jászság, Kiskunság, NagyKunság, Hajduság, did not give them permissionto settle until 1850, citing the county’s privileged status.Commerce on the Great Hungarian Plains (Alföld) was controlled in the18th century by the Greek merchants from the Balkans. The Jews were stillliving there without rights, so they did not have to pay taxes, hence theycould sell their goods cheaper; selling the same merchandise as the Greeks,such as scrap iron, raw-hide, brandy, and fleece. Where landlords werewilling to accommodate them, they established themselves in largernumbers around the places forbidden to them, in smaller settlements likeNádudvar, Dévaványa Tiszaigar, Tiszabö, Tiszafüred.Some of the first communities started with the landowner, who in his ownbest interest gave permission for a number of Jewish families to settle. Fromthe last third of the 18th century Hungarian agriculture needed a mobilegroup of people, particularly in commerce, who would be able to grantcredit to a homestead that wanted to switch over to market produce. TheseJewish merchants underwrote the purchasing procedures, so with theircredit, they encouraged the development of the production of ruralcommodities. The Napoleonic war brought agricultural prosperity and thataccelerated this process.4For the Jews, the concentration in settlements was necessary for a feeling ofsecurity and for their religious customs; they had to maintain a religiousorganisation, employ a rabbi, a cantor, a kosher slaughterer, and to pray intheir accustomed manner they required a minimum number of coreligionist.However, even with all that, the primary consideration was theeconomic situation. When the prohibition on settlement ceased, the peoplemoved to larger settlements, only one or two Jewish families stayed in thesmall villages.On week days the Jews sold their goods in the markets of larger cities,where they spent the nights in rented houses or inn on the outskirts of town.At market time they had permission to stay 2-3 days before or after events.The peddler had to travel a long distance in his one-horse cart fromTiszaigar, Tiszafüred, Dévaványa, Tiszabö, Földes, and even from distantplaces like Kenderes, Tisza-Abád, or Nádudvar, so it was in their own interestto stay in the vicinity of the market. Around evening they left the village fortheir night’s accommodations, but in the morning went back to the marketto continue their activities. On Friday night though, they returned to theirhome, to celebrate the Saturday festivities in the family circle.In the 1727 census in the five villages of both county Heves and Külsö-Szolnok we find only six Jewish families, four worked farms, and two leasedinns. In the 1788 census, during the reign of Joseph II. in the two countieswe find five villages with Jewish families. In Tiszafüred four were leaseholders, in Kenderes two, in Alattya, Tiszaszabö and Tiszaigar one each. TheJews, who lived on an estate, were mostly leasing the inn, and later theyleased the butchery.The inn was a significant place in the villagers’ life, an informal centre,there they not only sold the landlord’s wine, but also brandy which waslegally or illegally produced. Next to the inn there was usually a generalstore and the courtyard and farm buildings served as storage space for thefodder. The duty of the innkeeper also included money lending and to settlecredit transactions. A capable lessee of an inn was over the years also able tolease a farm and with that, it was possible to move up in their economic andsocial status.The church district of Eger published bulletins from 1816. From thisbulletin we learn that in Heves and Külsö-Szolnok counties, there were 1,592Jewish inhabitants in 1816; 6,879 in 1851; 11,533 in 1869; so from 1816 till1869 their numbers grew by 724%. In 1816 they lived in 46 different5villages, in 1851 in 145 villages, and in 1869 in 166 villages. Theirconcentration increased in larger numbers in the larger settlements.Jewish settlements in TiszafüredIn the local Jewish cemetery, the oldest headstones are the baroque stonesinscribed in Yiddish from 1770. In 1788 there were four families: SalamonMoyzes, Borgen Calevy Manosses, Clamon Gasparus and Lörincz Jacobus.They were all tenants, i.e. did not own a home, and their occupation was:leasing (probably land or inn). In Tiszaigar where Salamon Jacobus wasliving, his occupation was leasing, and he had one son and three daughters.Traditional belief is that the first religious community was in Tiszaigar. TheJewish families in larger numbers moved to Tiszafüred only after 1790.Tiszaigar was the first centre of Jewish life: it had a congregation, synagogue,ritual-baths and rabbi. The rabbi was Menachem Bleier, who was a famousTalmud scholar, and wrote a book Kovod Halvonon. Yet, according to thecensus, by 1816, 104 Jews were residing in Tiszafüred while in Tiszigar therewere a mere 37.The Jewish population in Tiszafüred continuously increased in the 19thcentury. The 1827/28 census revealed 186 Jews. A total of 21 householdwere identified, and 40 of the Jews were between the ages of 16-60. They alllived on the estates of Pankotay, Gyulay, and Farkas. By trade they were 10merchants, 4 tradesmen. They were mostly poor. In that century populationmovements become larger, not only did Jews come to Tiszafüred, but alsothey left to go to different places. That was characteristic for that time. The1839/40 census revealed 33 households: 30 spouses, 46 boys, 46 girls, 9Jewish servants and one relative; altogether 164 Jewish persons.Occupations: 2 wholesale merchants, 1 businessman, 13 peddlers, 6tradesmen, 6 tenant farmers, 3 beggars, 2 others. The richest merchant wasGáspár Ernst. The social difference within the Jewish community, thepecuniary differences gradually increased. The majority was poor, butalready the more competent started to increase their social status.The poor hawkers were the lowest in the social ladder. They wandered thecountryside continuously, with whistles in their mouth, bundles on theirback. They sold sewing needles, cottons to the people in the villages, andcollected rug, , skin, honey, feather. Hawking was the traditional form ofcommerce around Europe that bridged the gap between countryside andcity. The peddler had to think about the commodity requirements of the city6and had to develop a certain economic rationalism. Peddling was mostly aJewish occupation in Europe, and it gave them a way to fit into the economicsystem.On the next stage of hierarchy were the traders with their horse drawnwagon (questores circumforei) who bought, sold and carted in largerquantities. The merchants, (mercator) with shops were entitled to trade inall sort off goods. The country “mercator” and “questor” were oftencommission merchant for the wholesalers from Vienna, Budapest Györ,Pozsony, till they themselves grew richer, and were eligible for the highertax brackets of the wholesaler, and graduated to a higher ranks of the socialladder.For the first time in 1827 Jewish vendors were identified in the twoprovinces mentioned earlier. At the weekly or daily market place, theordinary stall keeper paid 15 “krajcár” (penny), but anyone who had alarger stand had to pay 30 krajcár. In 1828 the ordinary stall keeper and thecommon potter without a cart had to pay the same rates. At that time themarket for earthenware and other ceramics belonged to the potter and theshopkeeper. Among them there were Jews too.The synagogue in Tiszafüred was mentioned first by Elek Fényes. In the1847/48 census it was on the estate of the Nánássy. To the congregationbelonged a house of prayer, a rectory, and a house for a kosher butchery.In Tisza county Imre Palugyai in 1850/51 registered 1371 Jewishinhabitants. Most of them lived in Tiszabö 424, Tiszafüred 341, Tiszaigar121, Tiszaszentimre 105. The first sudden increase in the numbers of Jews inTiszafüred was between 1844 and 1851. Their number increased from 181to 315, and further in 1854, to 500. After that it was a decrease but later anincrease and in 1869 when the Jewish population was 600.When the prohibition to live in the district was lifted, a number offamilies moved to the Nagykunság county. The first Jewish resident inKarcag was Abraham Ernst who was born in Tiszafüred in 1815. He wasprobably the son of Gáspár Ernst. In 1853 has he gained his permanentresidency.7The Jews from Tiszafüred in the war of liberation (1848)The Jewish population did not have any civil rights but they still tookpart in the war of liberation. They threw themselves into the battle, theywere transporting the army and provided provisions. Fifty years later MórJókai (one of Hungary’s greatest writer) recalled “when all of the differentraces in our country, with whom the Hungarians shared their freedom,whose sons were emancipated from their bonds, and made them their ownmaster, had arms lifted against them, then the Hebrew race sacrificed theirblood, their wealth, their mental ability for the Hungarian nation and for theprotection of the constitutional freedom”.On 29 May 1848 boys were conscripted into the national home guardin Tiszafüred. They were between 14 and16 years old. On the list there were162 names, among them 14 Jews. In the archives of the Pál Kiss museum inTiszafüred only four lists of names survived. In terms of the Jewishpopulation, the one which has 23 Jewish names out of 150 is the mostnotable. In the third group Jakab Blum was mentioned, in the eight groupcorporal Soma Groszmann, and in this group most of them were Jewish.Lipot Schönfeld, the surgeon who was born in 1811, and who finished hismedical studies in 1834 at the Budapest university, participated in thebattles in the south. Éliás Blau was only 19 years old when he participated inthe revolution, and after the defeat he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army as part of his punishment.Tiszafüred was an important place in the 1849 events, as the army startedthe celebrated spring offensive from there. The shops and inns prosperedwhile the troops were stationed there. It hardly needs other proof than thelarge figure of many the obligatory delivery after the collapse of the war ofIndependence of 1848. In the local field hospital two wounded Jewish boysdied between 15 -17 April, Jozsef Grün was 22 year old, born in Pozsony,and Lörinc Róth who was one year older and was born in Máramaros.The benefit that they gained during the war of Independence and theearlier wealth what they had, was greatly reduced by the harsh levies, thedelivery of their produce, which Haynau (the Austrian prime minister)imposed on the Hungarian Jewry. For punishment, he imposed a penalty of2,300.000 forint booty, which in part the Jewish people of Tiszafüred had topay. In 1929 the archive of the congregation of Tiszabö still stored a receiptfrom 1500 silver forint paid for ransom.8Religious worship in the first hundred yearsThe “Chevra Kadisa” – funeral association – was established in 1803 inTiszafüred. The first synagogue was built in the first half of the 19th centuryin classic style on the main street, close to the Roman Catholic church. Thefirst rabbi was Mozes Schönfeld, the son of Jakab Schönfeld the rabbi ofSzikszo. He was born 1791 in Szikszo and died 1867 in Simand. He was therabbi in Tiszafüred for 30 years. In 1848 he moved to Sarkad and later toSimand.The next rabbi was Herman Rosenberg (Reb Jiszroel Jajne Cvi) born 1802at Obuda (other name: Altofen). He also established a Jewish school, aJeshiva (school for Talmud scholars) which functioned until 1944. Itattracted students from far and wide. His son Sámuel, who was a well knownrabbi and worked in Hunfalva, established a Yeshiva there.Nathan Jungreisz was Herman Rosenberg’s successor. He was born inNagymárton 1833. His father Antal Jungreisz was the rabbi at Csenger.Nathan was brought up in Csenger, where he studies under his father whowas known in the whole country as an outstanding scholar. His unrivalledknowledge made him famous in the country and abroad as well. He was thechief rabbi in Nagy-Szölös and in Fehér-Gyarmat. Twenty-one years earlierthe congregation had invited him to fill this empty rabbinical chair, and hefulfilled that position until his death. He held that post conscientiously, withthe greatest devotion and tact. He wrote two Hebrew books “Torász MoseNoszon” and “Menuchász Mose” which were published in Munkács. He diedon 23 September 1889, his funeral was attended by 600-700 mournersamong them several chief rabbis, from Biharnagybajom, Csenger, Mezöcsát,Marosvásárhely. He had two sons, one was a rabbi in Eger and the other inNádudvar.In 1869 when the nationwide paticipation and modernisation was theagenda, a nationwide congress divided the Jewish population in the country.On the congress three direction took shape. The traditionalist, mostly on thesmaller settlements , chose the orthodox way. Tiszafüred become anorthodox congregation and always emphasised that independent status.9The EmancipationThe emancipation in Europe started at the end of the 18th century toachieve the equality of civil rights for Jewish people. But after theprecedents of the 1867 reform era and the not published proclamations in1849, only the “Historical Compromise”, which created the Austro-Hungarian Empire, brought the solution. In the 1867: XVII Act declared :“The Jewish population in the country has the same civil and political rightsas the Christian inhabitants. All terms of the law which is contradictoryherewith rescinded.”The Compromise and the emancipation created with its law and order theatmosphere for the social promotion of Jews and the acceleration of theirassimilation. In the modernisation, after 1867, the Jewish population playedand important role in the Hungarian economy. The businessmen and thelessees who had previously accumulated assets provided the monetary basisfor the development of modern capitalism. The Jews created manufacturingcompanies, modernized rural estates, and created banking establishments,using their centuries old experience in commerce to ensure the agility oftheir enterprises.The Emancipation and assimilation of the Tiszafüred JewsIn 1851 Mr. Palugyai noted that the mother tongue of all Jewish residentin the district was Jewish (he probably meant Yiddish) and not Hungarian.For thousand of years the Jews put special stress on education there washardly any one, who could not read the Holy Scripture. Knowledge hadreligious respect, ignorance was shame. This mentality had his result thatafter the emancipation the Jews flocked towards intellectual occupations ingreat numbers and to do this they had to adopt Hungarian as their spokenlanguage. To adapt oneself, to change one’s own language must havebrought many difficulties, but the educational skill was of capitalimportance.The religious education for the children in Tiszafüred in 1803 started withthe Talmud Tora, and the Yeshiva started in 1865. The formal teaching instandard, more secular, subjects started in 1877 in an official recognisedJewish primary school, in a rented building, with three teachers in threeclasses. The principal teacher Gerzson Cserhát who had his education in ateachers training college, had several years of experience. This was the timeof the introduction of the Hungarian language. The subjects that were10examined in the third class were: Hungarian writing, reading, grammar,Hungarian history, geography, natural history arithmetic. The schoolfurnishing consisted of a few blackboards, maps of Hungary, some writingdesks and bench. In 1889 the school already had its own building.The Board of Supervisors of the school, whose members were mostrespected persons in the congregation, looked after the educational affairs.They regularly assisted the poor students, with free text books, writingmaterials, and in winter presented them with warm clothing, and shoes. Atthe end of the year examination the diligent students were rewarded withbooks. From the turn of the century till the thirties Jozsef Löwinger was theprincipal. He was teaching in the upper forms, Cecilia Czobel and laterBoriska Shwarcz were teaching in the lower classes.In Tiszafüred the opening of the higher elementary school dragged on fora long time. It started only in 1913, and among its pupils we find a numberof Jewish children. In 1914/15 school year among the 28 boys in first year 6are Jews, among the 45 boys in second year 18 are Jewish.To adapt oneself was not without conflicts. We know the gratitude foraccommodation, and the desire to fit from some of the newspapers of thatperiod. After the death of Náthán Jungreisz, on 6th of October in 1891 MorSzófer arrived to Tiszafüred though his first sermon was in German, but inspirit it was in devotion to one’s country. Many times later he emphasisedhis patriotism. No better example exists than his festive address in autumn1893. He said “In this country in front of the law anybody is equal, nomatter what religion the individual posses. Look around our continent, andwe can see our poor Russian co-religionists how they are exposed to torture!Not much better is the situation for our co-religionist in Romania. It thisland nobody is harassed because their religious belief. So we should pray forthe happiness of the country”The economic progress; the landownersEven in time of the Absolutism, between 1849 and 1867, when Hungarywas governed directly by Austria, there were favourable provisions towardsthe Jews. In 1860 they lifted the prohibition for the acquisition of land andlifted certain prohibitions on vocations. The capital which the Jewsaccumulated now was able to flow into the agricultural sphere whichsuffered from luck of assets. That opportunity was there for everybody. Topurchase a land was a sure way to social improvement At the top of thesocial scale in long established rural society were the land owners. They11invested capital and employed a qualified manager of the agricultural estateto ensure a high income yield.Jakab Blau was a peddler when he married in 1849; in 1880 he was thewealthiest, most respected Jewish citizen, and he was the president of thecongregation. In 1883 he was a member of the county council and as one ofhighest tax payers in the county. He died in 1890 and left to his heirs andinheritance of 1124 “hold”(1 hold is 1.42 acre).Jakab Gáspár, the son of Ernst Gáspár, had 674 “hold” in 1893; HermanLeuchter (who started as a peddler in the 50’s, and had lived in manyplaces) had 459 “hold”; Dr. Ignác Menczer who was a doctor, had 224“hold”; and the Léderer brothers, who lived in Tiszakürt run a farm of 2721“hold” on the borderland of Tiszfüred.The most respected Jewish citizen and who were in the highest tax scalehad a place in the town and county council. In 1883 Jakab Blau, Jakab Klein,Dr. Ignác Menczer, Lajos Rosinger and Peter Ernst were members. In 1910 inthe district among the highest tax payer were Gyula Léderer 5th; SándorKlein 11th; Zsigmond Klein 12th from Tiszaörs; Ignác Flam 21st; Dr HenrikSoltész lawyer 23rd; Lipot Wildman, lessee from Tiszaszölös,28th.The wealthiest families were the businessmen, who put their accumulatedassets in land. In the first half of the 20th century one after the other movedaway from Füred. Lajos Rosinger, a lessee of large agricultural property,moved between 1910-20 to Debrecen where he became the president of thecongregation. The wife of Soma Czeizler in 1929 was a manager of a modelagricultural estate in Eger. The descendants of the Ernst family –doctors andlawyers- were coming to visit for many celebrations from Miskolc orDebrecen.The participation of the Jewish citizens in the localindustry, commerce, hospitality trade and credit operationsIn the 19th and 20th centuries we find a number of Jews among thetradesmen in the district. In the 1827/28 census four tradesmen werenamed, without mentioning their particular trades. In the first roll in theregistry office we find a Jewish textile painter and a dressmaker. InTiszafüred it was a time honoured trade to be a saddler and we have a12record from the 19th century that one of them was a Jew, and so was AdolfNémethy (formerly known as Deutsch). In the 1877 census 14 Jewishtradesman appear and seven shopkeeper. When in 1891 an industrialcorporation took shape, the Jews filled important positions.Tailor/dressmaker was typical Jewish occupation and in different sourceswe can find their names. The first in the register of deaths was the wellknown French couturier Izrael Stern, born in Miskolc, and died on the 3 ofJuly 1851 at age 42.. Mor Schwarcz a local, who visited Wien, Berlin andParis and had his shop – for ladies and gents – from 1893 till 1944, when hewas deported. Samuel Funk and Jenö Frank, they were brothers, one aturner the other one a cobbler. They were from Késmark and married girlsfrom Tiszafüred at the end of the last century. Though Samuel went to theUSA at the beginning of this century, he returned, but then soon movedaway. Jenö on the other hand was working here even after the First WorldWar. Alajos Spitzer was a locksmith and ran a well outfitted workshop.Between the two world war the two Fisher brothers, Henrik and Lászlo wereworking here as joiners. Their up to date electrically driven workshop was inFö (Main)-street in their own house, next to the synagogue.At the end of the last century Henrik (Chajem) Herskovich, who wasblacksmith, married a local girl and moved here from Máramaros,. That wasnot a typical Jewish occupation. He had eight children and died in Auschwitzat the age of 81. In the 19th and 20th century a number of watchmakerswere working in the city. Miksa Weiszmann, the son of David, was one whowas working in the trade from 1874, and at the beginning of the century hehad a tobacco shop as well. His son Ignác opened his high-class watchmakerand jeweller business in 1904 and it functioned until 1944 when he wasdeported.Sámuel Löw was a good example of economic mobility. In the 1870s heworked as a tinsmith, and also had a soda-water plant, and then in 1888established the first printing house in Tiszafüred. In 1893 he moved to Egerwhere he bought a bigger printing house and eventually become thepublisher of the newspaper called “Eger” In the 1930s, his son Béla becamethe director of the Bank of Eger. The printing house was managed by theKohn family, and after they moved somewhere else the Goldsteins took overthe management. They published the newspaper in Tiszafüred too and allthose papers were of high quality. Beside the publishing house they had astationary and book shop and a tomb stone manufacturing business. Someof their work could be seen even today around the graveyards of Tiszafüred.13The capital which Jews first accumulated in commerce later appear inindustrial investments. Ignác Flamm moved from Egyek to Tiszafüred in the1880s. Beside buying lands, he built the first steam mill, and eventually in1912 he established a brick yard . Adjacent to his steam mill he built asteam bath. In 1906 he established a bank for the Tisza district and held thedirectorship till his death in 1930. A few times he was voted in to be thepresident of the congregation.Zsigmond, the son of Jakab Blau left the farm in 1893. His sons Albert andLajos established “Brush and Whitewash Pty Ltd” in Tiszafüred. For thisindustry they build a whole industrial complex: steam-mill, factory, storeroomand in 1910 an electrically driven plant. In the 1900 they employed100 workers that was the largest industrial undertaking in Tiszafüred. Theirmanufactured products were even exported.About this time we know about a number of ventures which the Christianand Jewish landlords established together. In 1891 under the name of“Wood Depot and Steam-Mill Pty Ltd” the landowner on the side of the Tiszariver, established a joint company for lumber products and processingindustry. The members were Lajos Csávolszky member of Parliament, JenöGraefl big landowner from Poroszlo, Vilmos Ernst, Jakab Epstein and IgnácFlamm those three Jews from Tiszafüred.The three Klein brothers, Sándor, Artur, Zsigmond were land lessees fromTiszaörs, but at the beginning of the 20th century they turned to industrialundertaking with more or less success. Zsigmond moved to Tiszafüred,where he stayed here for 16 years, and for some of these years he was eventhe president of the congregation. In 1893 he opened a lumber yard besidethe railway station. In 1909 he established for his steam-mill, steam-saw andbutton factory the “Heves County Manufacturing Industry Pty Ltd” withPoroszlo as a centre. The upwardly mobile Jews considered themselves partof the local gentry and they adapted their habits to this status. In 1909 thenewspaper in Tiszafüred gives us information about the hunting parties ofSándor Klein, the land owner from Tiszaörs.Christian and Jewish nobilities (the landowners, businessman,industrialist, intellectuals) together founded in 1888 the first local creditestablishment: “The Tiszafüred Saving Bank Pty Ltd” Among the foundingmember we find Lajos Csávolszky, the representative of Tiszafüred in theparliament. The Jewish members included Lajos Rosinger, Ignác Flam(occupations listed as directors), Miksa Strausz (lessee), Bertalan Blau (theson of Jakab Blau), dr. Ignác Menczer (doctor), and Ábrahám Brieger(businessman). At the foundation of the bank, of the ninety people who14subscribed shares, one third of them were Jewish. The leading Jewishcitizens were always among the board of directors, as were large numbers ofthe shareholders. Their economic situation it was of vital importance thefunction of the local bank.The bank for the Tisza area was established in 1906. They ran the localbrick yard and in 1912 turned it into a proprietary limited entity under thename of “Tiszafüred Brick and Tile Pty Ltd”. The initial invested capital was60.000 crowns. The president of the Proprietary Limited was AdolfRubinstein. In 1917 the same people were the directors of the ProprietaryLimited and the bank.In the district register, which was prepared in 1877, it is remarkable thelarge proportion of Jewish tradesman and businessmen. In Nagyiván theywere five: two shopkeepers, one peddler, and two innkeepers, in Poroszlothey were eight: one butcher, two tailors, one timber merchant and fourshopkeepers. In Tiszaabád there were fifteen: two timber merchants nineshopkeepers, three innkeepers and the richest among them Ábrahám Kohnlessee; in Tiszaszalók they were fifteen as well: two rope manufacturers, onebutcher, one glazier, one tailor, one cobbler, one tenant farmer, and fourshopkeepers.At the outskirts of Tiszaszölös lived most of the registered Jewish shopkeepers and tradesmen: 20 of them, and among those were one blacksmith,1 butcher, 1 wine merchant, 4 general store owners, 2 general dealers, 2 innkeepers and 9 peddlers. Even the well to do paid only a small amount oftaxes, the other ones were too poor for that. Tiszanána registered 1 generalstore dealer and 6 shopkeepers. The wealthiest shopkeeper was AdolfGrünbaum. In Tiszaörs lived six families: three shop keepers one, generalstore dealer and two peddlers.In the commercial life of Tiszafüred the Jewish shop keepers had a leadingrole. Those families were very important they were the ”dynasties” ofcommerce: the Weiszmann, Schwartz, Breuer, Brieger and the Rubinsteinfamily with their poorer and wealthier branches.A documentary film was made in 1994, in which the intervieweesemphasised the superb commercial attitude of the businessmen, handeddown from generation to generation. On the main road were the wholesalersand the larger shops, while the side streets were virtually overflowing withsmall general stores, where it was possible to buy on credit. The elderly eventoday recall the memory of the Jewish shop keepers and tradesmen.15Dezsö Sajtos bookbinder: “In Tiszafüred the market lasted for a week, thepassing traffic was constant, the people needed the commercial activitiestoo. And the shopkeepers bought everything, so everything could be foundin Tiszafüred and there was no need to go to Budapest. The shops were wellplaced and one did not have to go far from one street to the other. Thepeasants often had no money, so they went into the shops and said to theJewish owner, “I am sorry I don’t have money, but I will bring it when I haveit.” So the shopkeeper took out his notebook and wrote in the creditor’sname. When the creditor bought eggs or flower, the shopkeeper neverreproached them for not bringing the money. The shopkeepers acceptedthose on the current value, so they both were content to give what was due.Even the poorest people liked the Jews because they went to length to makethem happy without any conditions, and they gave them the opportunity toget along in life”.We have knowledge about several firewood and timber yard merchantsfrom the 1931 directory and recollections. Gyula Glück and his familymoved from Zenta to Tiszafüred, and he had his shop in the centre of thetown, beside the Weiszman shop. The Ernö Weiner timber yard had stock in1944 which was worth 59,276.61 pengö. (Hungarian currency).One of the oldest and wealthiest family in Tiszafüred, were theWeiszmanns, who had their large general shop in the middle of the town,which was under their management through generations. Zakarias Weiszmancame to Tiszafüred from Eger in 1844. His son David established the shopand they had all sorts of merchandise. Then David’s son Jozsef, and hisgrandson David were in control until the nationalisation.Salamon Rubinstein was born in Tarcal, where his father was the cantor. Inthe 1870s he wandered with two horse drawn carts and sold hismerchandise this way. He wandered up to Gömör county, calling on thehighland potters, while on the way he sold the pots from Tiszafüred. Comingback, he sold the pots and pans which he bought there. After the turn of thecentury, the three Rubinstein brothers moved here from Tiszaigar. Adolf in1908 opened a general store and beer wholesaler business; Samuel opened awholesale shop in 1904 for local and imported groceries; Herman had achina and glass wholesale business. Adolf closed his stores in 1923, andopened his distillery and wholesale business in 1931 on the street to Igar[?]where the discount cellar is today. After the landowners, they were thewealthiest Jewish citizen in Tiszafüred till 1944. And yet their children choseprofessional careers: Samuel’s son became a doctor. Adolf’s fortune in thethirties was estimated at two million pengö. In 1944 before they were hauled16to the ghetto – according the inventory list -they spent a great amount oftheir accumulated money buying property in Budapest.From the 18th century the hospitality trade became a traditionally Jewishoccupation in Hungary. There are existing earlier documents aboutinnkeepers in Tiszafüred, but at the turn of the century and in the 20thcentury the Jews were dominant among the innkeepers, the restaurateur,and the small or large hotel owners and managers.The first hotel in Tiszafüred the “BIKA” was built in 1894. Jozsef Barna(Braun) leased this hotel first, then he bought it. He owned it with his familyuntil 1929 when he died. The hotel consisted of 10 rooms, coffee shop,restaurant, the ballroom on the first floor was and the gentleman’s casino. In1912 they created an other building, which is today the cinema. The hotelbecome the meeting place of the high society of Tiszafüred, the district ballwas staged there too.Ignác Pilitzer opened his inn in 1903 at the railway station, and he hadsome guest rooms there as well. David Czeizler had an inn in the middle ofthe town, which his daughter managed after he died. That inn was themeeting place of the coachmen and the servant girls. In the centre was the“Poldi” owned by Lörinc Rosenfeld.At the Tiszafüred-Hortobágy highway they are several taverns functioningeven today. The closest to Tiszafüred is “Patkós”(horseshoe) tavern whichthe Schwarcz family leased and bought later. They were a number ofSchwarcz families around, so they all had some sort of nicknames: the tavernowner were the “Patkós Schwarcz,” but one can find “dull”, “pant-less”,“soapy”, “deaf”, “blockhead” Schwarcz. In the twenties, the Patkós MoricSchwarcz sold the tavern and bought a rest house the Balaton, which becamean overnight rest place for the peasant small holders who traveled from thecountry to the city. They were traveling on horse drawn cart and these resthouses had parking for their rolling stock and the horses. Moric Schwarczand his whole family were exterminated in the second world war.Alongside the successful businesses, around the turn of the century thepapers also wrote about bankruptcies and firms that were sold off, but theowners generally managed to lift themselves out of debt.17The intelligentsiaThere was a tendency for the Jews to move upward in the society. One waywas buying lands, while another way was to educate their sons to becomeprofessionals. Jakab Epstein moved from Tiszaszentimre to Tiszafüred wherehe leased the ferry crossing concession before the permanent Tisza bridgewas built. His sons born in 1883, lived here until their death: Géza was apharmacist and Jenö, who lived here until 1941 became a lawyerThe poor families exerted themselves to educate their children. JakabKohen came to Tiszafüred in 1909 as a peddler, then he become the ticketcollector for the stalls in the weekly market. He had 12 children, four of thesons emigrated to France, escaping the life of poverty. Jenö becomeambassador in the sixties, first in Switzerland, later in Romania. Josef afterhigher elementary school finished the Jewish teacher training college andwas teaching in Földes and Debrecen. Latter he was the principal there.The first person who became a doctor, actually a surgeon, from Tiszafüredwas Dr Lipot Schönfeld, who lived here until 1883. Dr. Ignác Menczer, whowas born in Vizkelet – Pozsony county – moved here in 1852. At the outbreakof the Independence war, he attended the university in Budapest, for severalmonths he was a member of the national guard, and was fighting the springoffensive under the leadership of Pál Vasvári. In 1872 to acknowledge hismerits, the office of common properties gave him his service flat as apresent. In 1902 to commemorate his fiftieth year in Tiszafüred to hisastonishment he was presented with a large silver medal. He practised untilhe was 83 years old. On 25th of March 1905, at the bedside of one of hispatient he started to feel ill and soon after that he died. He was buried at thesame place as his son-in-law, at his estate in Domaháza. His son-in-law Dr.Soma Szigeti (Sámuel Sidlauer) was also a doctor. He came here from Eger in1877. He had eight children. The Menczer – Szigeti family were totallyassimilated, and integrated in the Hungarian Christian society.From the 1880s more Jewish doctors had their practices here for shorteror longer period . Dr. Aladar Kiss came in the nineties to Tiszafüred , wherehe practiced as a district doctor till after the first world war. During the war18in 1914 in the higher elementary school building a 40 bed army hospitalwas established and he was the commanding officer.Dr István Aszodi, dentist, was born in Tiszaroff, where his father had arestaurant. He married the daughter of the Tiszafüred school principal in1923 and practiced until his death in 1960. Dr. István Vadász a historian,practised dentistry. He was well known in the neighbourhood. I meet withpeople lately around South-Borsod, Bordosivánka, Négyes, Tiszavalk whoregularly went to this famous dentist for treatment. He was the first inTiszafüred who treated the people from the surrounding district and notonly the people from the town.Dr. Kálmán Szántó was born 1894 in Kunmadaras and went to high schoolat Karcag. He attended universities in Budapest, Vienna and Prague andserved in the first world war for 35 months on the front-line. He wasdemobilised from the medical corps with several medals as a lieutenant andhe had his career in the Jewish hospital in Budapest, but then settled in1922 in Tiszafüred. He bought the first X-ray machine to Tiszafüred in the1930s.Dr. Jenö Nagy veterinarian born in Sirok as Jakab Groszmann, completedhis university study in Budapest. He came to Tiszafüred in 1905 and from1906 -1944 he was the only community public servant. He converted in1942, and in that way he was stripped of his office only after the Germanoccupation (19 March1944), but in the end it did not save him from thedeportation.The first Jewish lawyers settled at Tiszafüred at the end of the 19thcentury. Dr. Henrik Soltész married Lajos Rosinger’s younger sister and theylived here, but their children were educated in France. He worked togetherwith Dr. Lajos Békefi for decades. A good example of the degree ofassimilation of those two lawyers was that they were found guilty andsentenced to three days in prison in 1908 for the offence of dueling. Theyshot at each other, but it looks like the duel had no serious consequences.Dr. Dezsö Weinberger a lawyer from Sárospatak married Ignác Flamm’sdaughter, and they lived in Poroszlo and Tiszafüred, with their family. Hisdaughter Klára Weinberger remembers, “My father was a lawyer, and heenjoyed a good reputation. He was a talented musician who played the pianoand the violin. At the women’s club performances he was the one on thepiano. He composed a few pieces of music as well, they were published, byRozsavölgyi (publisher of music in Hungary). I sang and played the pianovery well. We lived a nice harmonious family life.”19In 1931 eight lawyers practised in Tiszafüred, half of those were Jewish.From the local Jewish community in the 19th Century and as well in the20th a number of gifted boys emerged. Béla the son of Ignác Menczer becamea transport engineer, who took part in the control works on the lower part ofDanube, and in several railroad constructions. His son with the same name:Béla, lived for fifty years away from Hungary, teaching at variousuniversities in western Europe, as a Catholic philosopher and the author ofnumerous books. Lipot Ungar was a shopkeeper whose youngest son Ödön,born in 1885, changed his name to Tisza along with his brother 1898. Laterhe worked in the USA in collaboration with Edison. His grandson Lászlo Tiszais MIT’s retired world famous physicist professor.Zsigmond Szöllösi born 1872 at Tiszaszölös, attended law at the university,but even then he leaned towards journalism. He with “Budapesti Hirlap” forfifteen years, then he worked at the “Ujság”. Between 1910-14 he was theeditor of a comic journal the “Kakas Márton” He became famous as “Madárbácsi” (Uncle Bird). He was one of those men who shaped the characteristicBudapest sense of humor at the turn of the century.Rozsa Brody born 1901 at Tiszafüred. Her father was a lessee, and shebecome a prominent chemical engineer and a research worker in the foodindustry. She wrote text books, and a number of her articles appeared in ascientific review. Ádám Zsigmond born 1906 at Patkos, his mother was fromthe Schwarcz family at Patkos, but he attended and finished his schooling inTiszafüred. He studied at Szeged university and became a teacher at 1931.He was teaching in different places till 1942, when he was taken for forcedlabour in the Ukraine. In the spring of 1945 he started to work withabandoned children, and established in Hungary the first village for them inHajduhadháza. In 1957 at his initiative a children’s village was established atFot, and then he was the principal at the Soponya organisation. With his giftfor teaching he created a program which complemented the teaching withpractical training, according to the age of the children.After the second world war, several of the young people who lost theirfamilies chose intellectual vocations. A number of them became universitylecturers, high school teachers, doctors, architects, librarians. Today theyare pensioners aboard or in our country. Dr Imre Lebovits, engineer anduniversity lecturer, worked as the principal librarian at the university ofengineering in Budapest until his retirement. His family already lived inTiszafüred at 1827. Dr. Lebovits has actively worked to ensure that theJewish cemetery in Tiszafüred has remained a dignified place.20Religious life in the 19th and 20th centuryThe presidents of the religious institutions and the people in the highestranks of authority always came from the richest or most influential circle ofthe society. The honorary president of the Chevra Kadisa was always therabbi, the head administrator was chosen each year from the highlyrespected members of the community. The congregation’s budget estimatein 1894 was an income of 9224 Forint, and from that they spent 1774 Forinton the school. The rabbi, the cantor, the kosher slaughterer all lived inofficial quarters. The congregation maintained a school, a synagogue, aprayer house, a religious school, a ritual bathhouse, all of which had greatimportance in religious life.The daughter of rabbi Mór Szófer, Jolan married rabbi Samuel Strasszer.He worked as the deputy beside his father in law, and upon his father inlaw’s death he took over the full responsibilities he was deported in 1944.He was very knowledgeable and he was an important, respected leader.The synagogue was built in the last century but it was auctioned in 1911.Immediately they began to build a new one and in addition to a securityprovided by the town, they obtained a loan of 40000 Korona. The buildingwas finished on time. The plan was drawn by István Igári, and the builderwas Márton Vágner. “The synagogue which was in secessionist style waswithout a doubt the most impressing building in Tiszafüred. For the largesurfaces ornamental bricks were used. The entry door, which was on themain street, had a protruding secessionist front facade, the two sides hadprotruding ornamental brick stripes. From all those ornaments few remainedand are only on the side of the building.”The festive dedication was on 16 May 1916.József Kuti, the retired school principal recollects the religious life betweenthe two wars. ”We had a lovely synagogue. The late Sámuel Strasszer, therabbi lived in the courtyard flat. There was even a small prayer house there“Bét Hámidrás” (the house of learning) where he gave religious services and“yeshiva” students, who came from all over the country, thought he was aremarkable man, a great scholar and generous. He donated a large part ofhis income to the poor. He had a standing in the whole parish, and hesupervised the religious life of Tiszaigar, Tiszaszöllös, Tiszaszentimre, Egyek,Tiszacsege, Tiszaderzs, Poroszló.21Endre Várkonyi recollects: “There were some ultra religious people, whocould be seen all the time going in the synagogue, coming out from thesynagogue or in the synagogue. But the majority of the population went onlyon Friday evening or Saturday morning. My own grandfather, who was fairlyreligious, preferred to pray at home. I have the feeling that some of themwent to synagogue only because at that time it was the right thing to do. Itwas in the society’s morals.”The social lifeIn Tiszafüred, the Jewish ladies association was established in 1883. Mrs.Jakab Ernst and Mrs. Peter Ernst were the leaders. The president in 1895 wasMrs. dr. Henrik Soltész. The main objective was to help the poor and thesick. The society was in operation until 1944. Often they organised charityballs, amateur performances, in which even the Christian gentry classesparticipated. Donations were a matter of prestige, the charity balls wereattended not only by the locals but also by guests who arrived from far awayplaces.The charitable interest of the association was primarily in the monthlysupport of the needy, but from time to time they made an effort to settle thefuture of the poor. The congregation and their members who were better offregularly supplied the poor children with their winter clothing, shoes, andschool equipment. They collected the dowry for the poor girls and theysponsored the children of the poor parents. There was some inner friction inthe association, but in general they acted in unison and helped others.The social life of the town, as we know from the newspapers of that time,was very vibrant. The various social classes established casinos (socialcentres), associations, and among the members there were Jewishshopkeepers, tradesmen, landowners, with everybody meeting with othersaccording their social status. The Jews were in the leading positions in theseassociations.In 1877 a Fire Brigade Association was formed. Among the 53 foundingmember, 16 were Jewish .The casino in Tiszafüred had 58 members in 1889.The president was Zsigmond Bán Presbyterian pastor, vice president JozsefLipcsey landowner, treasurer dr. Ignácz Menczer. Among the 14 member ofthe committee six were Jewish. In 1870 the casino had 75 members. Theymembers ordered newspapers, had a library, organised balls, gaveeducational lectures.22In 1896 among the committee members of the Regular-Casino, there wereeight Jewish members, they were doctors, lawyers, landowners. Among thecommittee member of the Civil-Casino was Ignác Lilienfeld. In 1910 the legalrepresentative of the Gentleman-Casino was Dr. Lajos Békefi, the treasurerwas Samu Szánto, district court civil servant, and among the committeemembers were five Jews.The local Jewish people also took part in the other religion’s socialprograms. In 1892 the Presbyterian congregation organised a ball at the“Vörös Ökör” restaurant to collect money for the restoration of the roof ofthe church. We find seven affluent Jewish citizens among the donors for thisworthy cause . After the defeat of the Independence war in 1895, Pál Kisslived in Tiszafüred. Upon his death they organised a benefit concert for hismemorial. On the list of donor, there are 20 Jewish names. The next year,Jews took part in collecting money for the fire victims in Szöllös.Religious tolerance and emergence of anti-SemitismAround the turn of the century the newspapers reported on severaloccasions the peaceful coexistence of the different denominations. A teacher,Dr. Béla Bartha, who lived in Eperjes, but was originally from Tiszafüred,writes in 1888: “In our city, the understanding among the denominations isfaultless, thanks to those who are leading the congregations.” Adám Lipcseypublished articles in the “Budapesti Naplo” and in the “Eger” – countynewspaper- “It is impossible to find, even in the most remote parts of theUSA, where the religious tolerance is even more observed than in Tiszafüred.The communal landholding gave to the Catholic priest a full share, eventhough 90% of the population was Protestant with the usual stoutness, evenplaced him ahead of the legally accepted Jews”.In the First World War, 471 men from Tiszafüred served, among them 63Jews. From this number, 13 died a heroic death; most of them weredecorated for their valour. In 1929, 142 Jewish families lived in Tiszafüred,which amounted to 620 people. Twenty of them were well-to-do, most ofthem had a middle class existence; thirteen family were so poor that theycould not pay taxes, even to their religious community. By occupation: theywere 3 wholesalers, 7 ran farms, 2 teachers, 50 shopkeepers, 4 solicitors, 523factory workesr,1 industrialist, 3 doctors, 3 office workers, 1 entrepreneur,15 unemployed, 12 tradesmen, 5 persons with private means, 8 other.Between the two world wars, anti-Semitism, backed by the state, alsogained momentum in Tiszafüred. Neighbours were still on good terms, butas some recall in the higher elementary school they let the children knownstep by step that they are “different”. Laci Rubinstein born in 1930 went tothe higher elementary school in 1940 and as his mother tells us, that whatever he did, however he solved the problems, the teacher’s reactionwas:”you guessed well”. Laci died in Auschwitz.The HolocaustThe consequences of the first world war put an end of those socialengagements which existed between the Hungarian elites and the Jewishcommunity. Through the equal rights they enjoyed and through theirpatronage of commerce, the Jewish community had played an importantrole in the modernisation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and thedominance of the Hungarian speaking inhabitants was only possible withtheir help. After the “numerus clausus”, which restricted the Jews to enteruniversities and professions, came some stabilization, but from the middle ofthe thirties the anti-Semitism grew again and the power of politics made itlegitimate with its three anti-Jewish laws.One economic result was the dispossession of Jewish estates. Alreadybefore 1944 several licenses were withdrawn from shopkeepers, from pubs,and from trade. With some trumped up pretext or trivial offence, a numberof people had to serve gaol sentences of some months. Endre Várkonyideclares “my uncles were harassed from various jobs; one of them, David,was arrested on some sort of pretence (could have been that he sold goodswhich were not allowed to keep in a Jewish shop). Later they called him upfor forced labour, and they took him to Lavocs in the Ukraine, where hestayed a long period. In July 1941 they arrested 15 Jews and interned themto Kistarcsa.After the outbreak of World War II., they called up the men from the ageof 18 to 42, later the older age group was also called, and they took them alloff for forced labour. When Hungary joined the war, they were sent to theRussian front, and there, untrained and without proper equipment, they hadto clear the minefields. The first martyr from Tiszafüred was Dr. Lászlo Blau,solicitor, who stepped on a mine. In April 1944 they recorded 35 personsmissing.24The lucky ones stayed mostly inside the country where they had to buildairports and their lives depended on the humanism of their companycommander and his men. Márton Schwarcz and his company were workingon the airport in Szamosfalva when he broke his leg. They took him toKolozsvár hospital, where they put his leg in plaster. But on the order of adoctor with the rank of major they put him in a shed in the courtyard on aheap of straw, because the major declared that “a Jew should not lie in abed”. His leg was quickly covered in maggots. Despite everything, herecovered and survived, unlike the rest of his family.They took inventory of the Jewish owned shops on April 28, 1944. Thecounty authorities first assigned the houses around the railway station forthe ghetto, and then later an area in the middle of the town around thesynagogue, but in both cases a number of Christian families would have tobe moved to a different location. So on the recommendation of Gábor Balog,the municipal magistrate, Gyula Szabo the sheriff designated the brickfactory which was owned by a Jew, as the ghetto. The sheriff went out to thelocality to be convinced about the suitability of that place. On 8 May theJews of Tiszafüred district had to move there. According to the 1941 censusthe number of Jews from surround localities was: in Nagyivan was 1,Poroszlo 128, Sarud 12, Tiszaigar 14, Tisznána 47, Tiszörs 7, Tiszaszöllös 49,Ujlörincfalva 1.The ghetto to be relatively livable, had to be covered. The brick dryingfactory was half open so the young ones partly bricked it up. Thecommander in the first two week was Dr. Jenö Ficzere, the chief constable ofthe county. The chief of the local gendarmerie Lajos Nagy was transferredand on the25 May, Jozsef Erdély become the commander of the ghetto, and later thecounty sheriff sent Dr. Sándor Szilágy, gendarme lieutenant, to control theghetto. He was the one who oversaw the interrogations and torture in thepeasant cottage which had been rented beside the ghetto. To feed the peoplein the ghetto they collected 59,000 pengö, but they used only 27,000. Atthat time the weather was unusually harsh: on May 24 according to thenewspaper in Eger it was 0.9 degree Celsius, which is close to the freezingpoint and rain. Despite the harsh weather, the people had to endure it in thehalf open brick drying factory.Several times they searched people. The wealthy were bound, cruellybeaten, the men’s private parts were beaten with stinging nettles. The headof the Jewish council was Ernö Weiner, timber merchant, his deputy wasDavid Weiszman, shopkeeper. Men were drafted and on May 18, they had to25go from the ghetto to Hatvan Gombospuszta. They were divided in twogroups, A and B. The first group A consisted of the intellectuals, the rabbis,who were taken straight to Auschwitz. A captain of the army KálmánHorváth, went around the ghettos of the Miskolc district and gave to a fewthousand Jewish men the chance to survive. From Tiszafüred, he sent about60 men between 14-18 years and the over 60 to forced labour camps.Endre Várkonyi remembers: “Probably the worst days were before wemoved to the ghetto. My poor old grandma called her neighbours,acquaintances and gave away her not so essential possessions: her bottles ofjams, which she had treasured for years. Most probably she gave away allher belongings and clothing. Some of them for good, some of them forsafekeeping. Those things don’t have any significant now, because she nevercame back”.Lili Weinberger remembers: “On the 8th of May, we went to the brickyard,the ghetto, where first we were under the impression that they are taking usfor some work, perhaps in the country or maybe in Austria., so that was a bitreassuring. It was very cold, all the time and raining. It was impossible to goout of the ghetto to the street”.Endre Várkonyi recalls the followings: ”We could not leave the ghetto; onthe gate was a large board, which announced : this is the place where thepeople of Jewish race from Tiszafüred district reside – the ghetto. They evencollected the dogs and the dogcatcher was parading in front of the ghettoshowing the hides of the dogs on an end of a stick”.Mrs. Imre Deak, a Christian lady states: “They piled the possessions fromthe Jewish flats in the synagogue. It was a vast amount; good quality bedlinen, silk quilts. And the mob, how does a mob behaves? Greedy aren’tthey? I was at my gate and saw it. Some carried so many quilts and pillowsthat they could not see anymore where they were going. Some did not needthe feathers, only the thick pillow covers, so they slashed the pillow, let thefeathers fly and the whole Fö (Main) street looked white, as though it hadbeen snowing”.In the ghetto, they searched the men and the women mercilessly, lookingfor any hidden valuables. Dr. Imre Lebovits remembers: “The gendarmeinvestigators arrived and started first with the most respected and thewealthiest people. With cruelty and with the most barbaric methods theystarted to beat them with stinging nettles on their private parts,interrogating them about the hiding place of their valuables. One could hear26those unfortunate peoples’ cries. They beat them, and it didn’t matter if theyconfessed or not”.On 8 June 1944 in the morning, by horse drawn cart, and on foot, the Jewsof Tiszafüred were driven to the railway station. Though not through thecity, but along the banks of the riverbed on the outskirts of the town. Thiswas at least a five kilometre journey, as in the town the Corpus Christiprocession was taking place. They cordoned off the surroundings of thestation and did not let in the neighbours who were coming to say farewell. Inthe station office everybody was registered.Tamás Kuczik, whose father was ordered to transport the Jews on his cart,gives this account: “A railway engine came with four, five or six freightwagons. The windows were blocked with barbed wire, which was brand new.I can even see it today. And then it started: first the children were shuffledin the wagons and they locked the doors. The children started to cry inside;the mothers were crying outside. Then the women were shuffled into thenext wagon and they locked the door. Finally, it was the men’s turn. Thewhole proceeding was quickly done. Then we were ordered to take thesuitcases and bags and put them in the wagons. The gendarmes told us tojust throw them in, that we didn’t have to be careful with them as theowners would never receive them”.Dr. Pál Polgary, the chief magistrate of the administrative district deliveredhis speech “See you again as fertilisers”.The train started toward Füzesabony. The Jews from County Heves wereassembled in the brick factory at Kerecsend. They were there for one night.That night a few committed suicide; Jenö Nagy vetinarian went mad. Nextday they marched them to the train station to Maklár, 10 km away. KláraWeinberger says: “For me the most horrifying memory is the abandonedstrollers on both sides of the road”.At the station they crammed 82 people into a cattle truck. The train went:Füzesabony – Miskolc -Kassa – Auschwitz. The duration of the journey wasthree days in inhuman conditions: without water, without food, without anysanitary facilities. Some people died, some of them went mad in those threedays.Lili Weinberger: “We did not know why; we did not know where they weretaking us. The journey started Friday evening and the train rolled androlled. We had to meet our human demands there. It was already Saturdaynight, our water was used up, then suddenly the doors opened and we got27some more, and then the train rolled on. It was Sunday midday when wearrived in Kassa. They opened the door; some SS came and took everythingwe had left from us: soap, perfume etc. We were hoping that they would giveus some water in exchange. We had some food, but nobody could eat.”The train arrived at Auschwitz on the 13th of June.Mr. Ernö Szegö: “We arrived in the morning at nine o’clock. They told as todisembark and leave our belongings in the wagons. The elderly were setaside, supposedly they will be taken further by truck. We had to line up infives, beside the wagons. One soldier whispered to Ibolya Weltman, that thechildren are going to be separated from their mothers. The news spreadquickly and the mothers embraced their little ones tighter and they marchedtogether to their deaths. The elderly were taken away on trucks and told usthat we would meet later. We never saw them again. Now we were marchedto Mengele, and he sent some people- those he disliked – to the right. Me andmy sister were sent to the left. Between the rows SS officers were roaming ontheir motor cycles with revolvers in their hands. We saw some women withclose cropped hair behind barbed wire working. “Oh My God, what is waitingfor us’ ?’’.Lili Weinberger continues: ” My last sight of my father was, when he wentto the other side with the men. We were driven forward with only thedresses and sandals we had on. We looked back, where the men were and wegave them a parting glimpse. We never saw them again. We were lined up infives, with our mother, our aunt and two other relatives. The rows grew lessin front of us, we arrived in front of Mengele. I was the closest to him and hewaved me to the left, then came Klari, and she was sent to the left too. I didnot know what it meant left or right, when Klari said: “No, I want to staywith my mother” Mengele’s answer was: “ No, you are young, you couldwalk, you have to go that way”, and both of us were pushed to the left. Theelderly were 52-53 years old! We were told “they will be taken to a bath andafter you will meet them again later. That is how they separated us.”Mrs. Ernö Szegö again: ”After the selection, they took us for disinfection.They took our dresses and shoes to disinfect. We got back our own shoes,but not our dresses, everybody had to make do with what they could grab.The girls from Slovakia shaved us, cut our hair, then oversaw the baths.After all that, they threw us some dresses, no underwear. That was Birkenau.We were there for two months, 3,000 of us in one barrack.” Then we weretransported to Brema to clearing ruins. “Every day, early morning they putus on motor-lorries and took us to work. For breakfast we had black coffee,at the evening, back in the barracks, we had carrot soup, 25 dkg bread and 228dkg margarine. Many of us at everything at once in the evening, so at leastto be full once a day”.Most of the women who survived the selection were working in differentparts of Germany or Poland, clearing ruins or in armaments factory. Anumber of them died, some from starvation; some even after Liberationfrom typhus. Lili and Klara Weinberg stayed in Auschwitz.Lili injured her hand while digging trenches. The wound got infected andthey operated on it, but the healing process commenced slowly. She can bethankful for her sister’s cleverness that she is still alive today. At the end ofOctober one of the soldiers noticed, that her hand was not fully healed, sothey sent them both off to the gas chambers. For 3 days there were 108 ofthem naked, without food or water, crowded in the gas chamber building,waiting for their death. Klara W. says: “In the gas chamber I found a halfpotato which I shared with my sister. And when my sister said “kühne,freien” (courage, we will be free) we both stood up held hands and saidloudly, “we are going to our parents.”With the advance of the Russian army, the first successful activity of theRed Cross was to rescue them from the gas chamber, on 17th January 1945.Barely alive, one weighed 20 kilos and the other 30 kilos.In 1941, 442 Jews were registered in Tiszafüred. After the Liberation only70 were alive. We could not find even one family where every member wasalive.The war, the forced labour, the concentration camps, and the loss of theirrelatives left a lifetime mark on the survivors. Even those who did not sufferthe worst of the horrors were affected. Most of them who came back,emigrated or went to live in Budapest or any other big city.Some comments from current timesMatild Radványi “A number of times I could not eat dinner during thenews, when I see that they are killing people here and there. For what andwhy ? Nothing is worth killing each other”.Dr. Imre Lebovits: “It cannot go on like this, because hate is an evil adviser.To live in harmony is the most important thing. People never should forgetwhat has happened, and it should never happen again. What happened to usshould not happen again; not with the Jews, not with anybody”.