King Stephen I

Occupation of the country
– Feszty portrait (1894)

2nd century

– Jewish slaves arrive in Aquincum (Old Buda) and Savaria (Szombathely) with the Roman fleet. Archaeological findings suggest Jewish communities lived alongside the river Danube (Dunaújváros/Dunapentele), although due to barbarian attacks the Jews disappeared by the 5th century.

9th century

– In Levedia, the Hungarians lived in a tribal alliance with the Khazars who were mostly converted to Judaism. A part of the conquering Hungarians headed from Etelköz to the Carpathian Basin in 895. The supporters of the freedom of religion arrived with them; Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities. About the Jews living in “Hungrin”, the so called “Khazar Correspondence” also made a report.

10–11th century

– Roma began its converting mission in Hungary. In 1000, Stephan was already christened, and was crowned by Pope Silvester II. King István considered the relationship with Jerusalem important, thus he opened a pilgrimage route to the city where he also created a pilgrim house. In 1038, Stephan was followed by the notoriously Catholic Peter Orseolo on the throne, who removed those who were less committed to Rome from the Royal Court. An uprising broke out, and in 1041, Samuel Aba is crowned, who was presumably from a Khazar family that was converted to Jewish religion. Sámuel Aba defeated the supporters of Péter and in his politics, he attempted to secure a prosperous life for the poorer classes. The humiliated higher classes turn to the German sovereign who started a conquest against the Hungarians; Samuel Aba died in the fights.

Samuel Aba

11–12th century

t– In parallel with the consolidation of Christianity (Roman Catholic), the relationship between the Jews and the Hungarians began to get worse. Even though under the reign of the kings from the House of Árpád the situation for the Jews was better than in Western Europe – as the nation attempted to keep its sovereignty from Rome – as a consequence of Papal pressure on some Hungarian synods, many orders were introduced against the Jews. The Jews could only work in the fields of commerce and finance. Thus, by the end of the 12th century the Jews played a significant part in the economics of Hungary.

13th century

– Under the pressure of the Church, András II published the Golden Bull. Its 24th article says that Jews cannot take part in managing state finances. The king did not want to put it into practice, but the envoys of the Pope forced him to take an oath in 1233 in the Bereg forest to keep the orders of the Golden Bull and the Lateran synod. Afterwards, the economy collapsed, and in 1241 the Tatars destroyed the country. Béla IV turned to the Pope, asking for an acquittal on the oath of Bereg forest. Even though Rome did not allow it, in order to rescue the country, the king provided the Jews extra privileges.

14th century

– With the death of the kings from the House of Árpád and during the reigns of foreign kings when Christianity spread through the country, the situation for the Jews got worse. In 1360, Louis (Great) I universally banned Jews from the country. The country became financially instable, so four years later he called them back. The economic policy depended on the future of the relation to the Jews. The king verified the charter of Béla IV which says that the Jews are a property of the king. The Jews were protected in exchange of an amount of financial pay. In consequence of the persecution of the Jews because of the plague in 1381, many Jews arrived from the West.

Zsigmond of Luxembourg

(1387–1437) had controversial Jewish-politics as well. Many Jewish communities were created during his time, for example in Kismarton (1388) and in Kőszeg (1393). At the same time, many of his regulations were against the Jews. For instance, in 1421, he published the Law Book of Buda (Ofner Stadtrecht), in which he called the Jews “mean-spirited, stiff-necked, foul, betrayers of God”, and forced them to wear discriminatory clothes and a yellow patch.

King Mátyás

(1458–1490) saw the Jews as a financial issue: so, in exchange of their protection, he forced them to pay huge taxes. With all this, the community of Buda became the leading community in the country, with many great rabbis and doctors in this period. After the death of Mátyás, a great economic crisis began. The population blamed the Jews: there were more and more atrocities against the Jews, they were expelled from many cities. The first significant blood libel is in 1490 in Nagyszombat, when many Jews were killed.

Seal of the Golden Bull

Tatar March – Thuróczi chronicle

1526

– After the Battle of Mohács, Buda was under Turkish control, and the Jews were deported. They were expelled from Pozsony, and in other cities many Jews were killed with the charge of blood libel.

During the Turkish rule,

Buda was populated with Jews again and fruitful communities were founded. They were not restricted in their financial works by the Turks.

In Transylvania,

the Jews were settled in many cities, they even had a national organization. The rabbis in Gyulafehérvár played significant leading roles in the area. Due to the Reformation, the reading of the Old Testament was in focus, and a Sabbatarian community was created which integrated Jewish religious elements as well. Many lords also joined this group. György I Rákóczi was hostile towards the Sabbatarians and ordered several restrictions. From 1650, he controlled the settlings of the Jews and forced them to wear discriminatory clothes.

1686

– At the time of the recapture of Buda, half of the Habsburg Kaiser’s fleet was slaughtered, the rest were saved in exchange for ransom. In 1688, Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch, the archbishop of Kalocsa, prepared for the gradual removal of the Jews from the Hungarian Monarchy, in which the Jews were restricted in their settlements and starting families. In exchange for their taxes, the landlords protected them on several estates – such as the estate of Esterházy, the estates of Batthyány in the counties of Vas and Zala – Jewish communities, synagogues and schools were created. Another larger community settled in Bratislava at this time, they started to populate the Tokaj foothills wine region and made it a famous wine county.

18th century

– During the reign of Maria Theresa (1740–1780), the situation for the Jews got worse again. She banned them from Buda as well. In the second half of her reign, due to the effect of the Enlightenment, she softened. She was followed by Joseph II, who made the situation for the Jews better in spirit of the Enlightenment: he allowed free settlement, free choice of jobs, they did not have to differ in their clothing. Although they were forced to give up speaking Hebrew and Yiddish and forced to attend state schools. The assimilation of the Jews began.

From the end of the 18th century,

the Hasidic Jews settled in the North-East of the country. Even the founder of Hasidism, Baal Shem Tov visits Mádzombor, Nagykálló and Szerencs. The first tzaddik in Hungary was the wonder-working rabbi from Nagykálló, Izsák Taub, from whom we know the Messianic songs of The Rooster is Crowing and The Sheep are Weeping. The most famous Hungarian wonder-working rabbi is Mózes Teitelbaum who settled in Sátoraljaújhely in 1808. According to the legend, he healed and blessed Lajos Kossuth and prophesied his success in the future. Several wonder-working rabbis appeared in Bodrogkeresztúr, Olaszliszka and Munkács and the most famous Hasidic-dynasty started in Satmar in 1890.

Due to the procedure of assimilation,

more and more Jewish schools hired Hungarian teachers and they started to preach in Hungarian in the synagogues. In 1839, the first Jewish prayer-book in Hungarian was published, and in 1840, the first translation of the Torah to Hungarian was completed. Organizations that supported assimilation and emancipation were created. The most liberal organization, the Reform Society of Pest, led by Ignác Einhorn, was quite short-lived. The first steps towards Neology were taken by Rabbi Áron Chorin, who integrated preaching in German and organ music. Their dressing and eating habits also changed. The leading figure of Neology and emancipation was Rabbi Lipót Lőw in Szeged. There were some who were against emancipation, like the prestigious Orthodox Rabbi Chatam Sofer in Bratislava. Through attempts to assimilate the Jews, they joined the Hungarian economic and cultural life. Thus, the Hungarian capitalist, intellectual, metropolitan Jewish community was created. The issue of Jewish emancipation appeared in the Parliament in 1839–40.

1847–1848

– Lajos Kossuth and József Eötvös demanded the complete emancipation of the Jews in the Parliament; however, no decisions were made.

1848–49

– Large numbers of Jews took part in the revolution, although many anti-Jewish riots broke out. Sándor Petőfi talked about the riots as a spark for the movement for freedom, Kossuth even visited the synagogue and apologized from the Jews. Despite the riots, the Jews committed themselves to the cause of freedom. The Jews contributed to the foundation of the central bank with fifty-thousand forints – more than anyone else – and the members of the community gathered thirty-thousand forints for national causes. According to the statement of Kossuth, in the revolution of 1849 the army consisted of 180 thousand, and there were twenty-thousand Jews, among whom there were 76 lieutenants, 29 first lieutenants, 30 captains, 8 majors, and 65 army surgeons and many camp pastors. After defeating the revolution, the government of Vienna wanted to take revenge on the Jews who supported the Hungarian national aspirations by imposing a military fine, one-and-a-half-million forints. In the end, they did not have to pay the fine, but spent the money on founding Jewish schools. With this money, in 1877 today called, the Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies was founded and the Israelite teachers’ college. Meanwhile, by 1859 the largest synagogue of Europe was built, the Dohány Street Synagogue which belonged to the Neolog movement.

December 28, 1867

– The Hungarian Parliament declared the Jewish citizens equal to the Christian citizens (emancipation). The institutionalization of the Hungarian Jews began with three national organizations. The progressives represented the Neolog movement, and those who were committed to the traditions represented the Orthodox movement – many of them migrated to the land of Israel – and those who insisted on keeping the situation before the Congress represented the Status Quo Ante. The Jews became citizens of Hungarian culture, economy and industry.

Parallel to the economic rise of the Jews

and the economic crisis of the 1870s, the modern anti-Semitism appeared. In 1882 the blood libel in Tiszaeszlár was followed by several anti-Semitic riots which had many victims. In 1833 Győző Istóczy established the first antisemitic party.

1895

– The Hungarian Parliament declared the Israelite religion as an equal religion with Christianity (reception), thus the Jews were equal both religiously and civilly with Christians.

The religious Jews who became Hungarian were happy to finally find a home. However, the Neolog Jews viewed the unfolding Zionist movement as high treason and as a danger for emancipation and reception. Miksa Szabolcsi wrote in the contemporary paper, Egyenlőség (Equality): “Acknowledge all kinds of Zionists and home acquirers for all, that in this land we have our roots, this land is our holy land, this land cannot be changed with anything else, as it is not replaceable, it is forever and unchangeably our home.”, and that “…the Hungarian Jews will never be forced to leave the country by antisemitism, nor other diseases or national disasters.”

1918

– In the democratic revolution, and in the government of Mihály Károlyi, many Jewish intellectuals took part. After the counter-revolution of 1919, in the capital and other cities a murderous temper spread, riots broke out and many Jews were murdered. With the peace conference in Trianon in 1920, many regions were separated from the country. Thus, 48% of the Jews were out of the country. The number of Jews left in Hungary reduced to half, however their share of the population rose from 5% to 6%. From the dis-annexed areas, many Jews fled to the mutilated country where frustration pooled on the Jewish middle class: the idea of limiting the number of Jewish intellectuals appeared. In 1920, Pál Teleki’s government introduced the law of numerus clausus, which limited the number of Jews who could apply to universities on a racial basis, there were several antisemitic movements on the universities.

Rabbinical school, 1877

Jewish portraits by Izidor Kaufmann (1853-1921)