A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 42. (2003)

Csíki Tamás: A kassai zsidóság a Holocaust idején

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF KOŠICE DURING THE AGE OF THE HOLOCAUST The first part of the study includes an overview of the history of the Jewish population of Košice during the age of the dualistic era and between the two World Wars. It concerns the circumstances of the settlement, the growing number of the Israelites, the process of assimilation and its controversies, furthermore the conflicts that accompanied the religious life of the Jewish community that was differentiated by its origins, socio-economic status and culture. The community joined the nealog organization after the congress of 1868-69, which - in addition to the long dispute over the furnishing of the new synagogue built in 1866 - lead to the separation of the orthodoxy, and resulted in establishing an independent faith community in 1871. The next chapter examines the consequences of the change in emporium after World War I, which, among other issues, created a new situation in the life of the Jewish population of Košice. Already during the war a number of Israelite refugees arrived to the city, and during the twenties and thirties, newcomers partly from abroad (Poland, Soviet-Russia), and partly from the remaining territory of Slovakia, increased the size of the community (11,420 people in 1938, nearly 20% of the total residents). The above facts contributed to further division of the community, as, next to the wealthy upper-middle and middle class, another layer formed from the increased number of Israelites incapable of melting into the economic and social structure, who remained unassimilated, kept their independent ethnic characteristics, and was regarded as alien. In addition to the above, the new state's political practice toward handling the Jewish population had changed. The Czechoslovak constitution qualified the Israelites as an independent nationality ceasing the earlier pressure to assimilate, which - especially among the younger generations - lead to the strengthening of the Jewish identity, which in turn provided the basis for the Zionist movement. The next chapters of the study present the events of the age of the Holocaust. After the German occupation, in the county of Abauj-Torna and in the city of Košice the regulations which, this time, were severely limiting the basic rights and living conditions of the Jewish life and later the deportations were enforced very intensely and radically compared to the national average. This occurred due to the fact that Košice (with the entire Sub-Carpathia and Northern Hungary) became the center of Operational Zone I, furthermore due to its favorable location close to the Polish border and to its role as a railway junction, that qualified it as a central point for transporting the Hungarian deportees too, who were handed over to the Germans, then sent to the destruction camps. The creation of the ghetto was started in the first half of April of 1944, when first the Israelites were gathered in the three streets (Zrinyi, Lubzsenszky and Pogány) which were most densely inhabited by them, followed by surrounding the area with a stone wall to separate them from the rest of the population. Later, by the end of April, the Jews were transferred to the property of the brickyard outside of the city, where the open drying roooms quickly became overcrowded, and were characterized by the shortage of food and water. Public corporal punishment and bodily searches became common, escape was nearly impossible, while the different forms of the resistance and saving attempts showed the same characteristics that were generally manifested throughout the country. The deportation began on May 15

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, followed by three additional transports taking the Israelites to Auschwitz. The degree of loss of lives can only be demonstrated by the fact, that from the population of over 10 000 Jews in Košice, a mere 3000 - the inmates of forced labour camp, the ones who chose illegality and the members of the Czechoslovak army - survived the age of the Holocaust. Tamás Csíki 398