Horváth László szerk.: Mátrai Tanulmányok (Gyöngyös, 1999)

Act. Most of the factories coming into being in Gyöngyös after the end of guild-based industry were established by Jews. All the banks in the town were directed by Gyöngyös Jews, what is more, they owned much of the viniculture and agriculture, a fact to be reckoned with in the light of the area's monocultural character. Their more and more definitive presence in the social life of the town came with their gaining economic ground. Not only were they the leading body of the Trades Hall (a body traditionally named 'Jewish Club'), but they also played leading roles in the Casino Association, the Mátra Association, the Fire Brigade and the Ambulance, the Skating Society, the Association to Help Knowledge, the Red Cross and other societies. Not counting the founding of societies, the lively press at the turn of the century was also mostly in the ownership of persons of Jewish origin. According to examinations on the area of the so-called 'free intellectual jobs', in 1893 8 of the town's 11 doctors and 5 of its 18 lawyers were Israelites, while in 1909, 10 of the 15 practising lawyers, 7 of 9 doctors and 2 of the 3 chemists were of Jewish origin. A decisive part of the local middle class in Gyöngyös came from the Jewish families. The middle classes, however, were not only accessible through economical status, but also through education and with consequent offices. For those who had no wealth, the road to offices and middle class status lay through the secondary schools - in Gyöngyös, mainly the local grammar school. The Jews' urge and demand for education was great, which is in fact one of the lessen known causes of their gaining ground: there were many more Jewish students studyng in the local grammar school and graduating from it than we would think based on their proportion of the whole population. The beginning of World War I broke a laborious but undeniably peaceful period in the history of the Jewish community. In the animated atmosphere of the country going into war, for one moment at least it seemed that the differences were at last blurred between Jewish and non-Jewish. From Gyöngyös 430 Jews were recruited, which contradicts the well-known anti-Semitic assertion that they avoided conscription and did not take part in the fighting. 36 of them died in action, countless Israelites returned crippled. Returned to find Gyöngyös burnt down in a great fire on 17 May, 1917. This tragedy only intensified the lingering oppositions after the terrors of war and the problems of provisions. During the revolutionary times there were pogroms to make their situation impossible, during the proletarian dictatorship, there were overhasty and irrational socialisations. After the fall of the Directorium the country was occupied first by the Rumanians, then by Horthy's National Army. Following this, open or secret anti-Semitic plotting dominated the period. More than once, at the time of elections, there were open pogroms in the town, and during the Bethlen consolidation the assimilation process seen earlier did not start again. It was not only the Numerus Clausus, passed by legislation, that stated that differences between denominations would not be blurred, but the Gyöngyös Jews were subject to more direct atrocities. In 1920, the Gyöngyös Athletics Club