Miskolc, Hungary

 

General

    Miskolc is a city in Hunagry, about 112 miles northeast of Budapest.  Jews began to settle in the area in the early 18th century.  In 1941, the Jewish population was in excess of 10,000 (about 13.5% of the total population).  In 1942, most of the Jewish men were called up for service in the Hungarian Labor Service System.  Shortly after the Nazi occupation of Hungary in March, 1944, most of the remaining men were sent to labor service camps, and the rest of the Jews were confined to a ghetto.  This concentration was carried out in an extremely cruel manner.  For example, the police made the following announcement in connection with this action:

"We warn the Hungarian Christian public that certain individuals have placed poisoned lump-sugar by house gates with which they want to endanger the life and health of Hungarian Christian children."1

By June 15, 1944, almost all the Jews had been deported.  After the war, about 100 Jews returned from the deportations and some 300 others survived the labor camps.  As of 1970, about 1,000 Jews lived in the city.

    Depicted in the postcard below is the Great Synagogue of Miskolc which was built in 1861.

References

1Braham, The Politics of Genocide, The Holocaust in Hungary, P.625-26

Gutman, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, P. 983-84

Encyclopedia Judaica, CD Rom Edition, Keter Publishing

Copyright © 1998-2000 Edward Victor