VÁROS ÉS FALU HATÁRÁN (Kiállítási katalógusok - Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2010)
Low and successfully accommodated to the new conditions. The more conservative Jews in Eastern Hungary clinging to the orthodox Hasid traditions sharply condemned every novel idea. The more and more sharpening religious debates resulted in the separation of the two groups in 1869. Following the Compromise in 1867 the parliament accepted the emancipation Act which determined the Jews as a denomination and which endowed the people of Israelite religion with equal rights. After 1868 the Jews in Hungary congregated in two main groups — the orthodox of Galician origin who strictly followed the ancient religious traditions and who settled in the east of the country and the neology susceptible to novelty and were open to assimilate with the Hungarians and who made up the majority of the townspeople. In 1895 the Hungarian parliament passed the Act of reception raising the Jewish denomination to an official religion as well which enabled the Christians to convert to the Israelite religion. Through this full emancipation was reached for the Jews, however, this did not automatically result in the abolishment of the economic, social and cultural dividing lines. The way towards full emancipation was not exempt from hardships as in the 1880s, due to the Jewish masses running away from the Russian pogroms and the starting financial crisis, a new type of antiSemitism seriously endangered the success of the assimilation of the Jews. However, despite the charge of murder in Tiszaeszlár and similar incidents, the Hungarian Jews attempted to return to their identity and continued the process of emancipation. As a result, the period up to 1914 was an era of political and economic integration, during which the Jews, due to the abolishment of the constraining measures, gained an increased role in the economy and culture. Like in other countries of Europe, the Jews were excluded from farming, possessing land properties, state service and certain branches of craftsmanship. Therefore they were forced to make a living in the commercial and financial sectors. However, what counted as a competitive disadvantage for centuries suddenly became a huge advantage at the dawn of capitalism in the 19th century. Due to their accumulated experience the Jews entered business at a significantly greater speed than the rest of the people. For example, the Hatvany-Deutsch family raised the Hungarian sugar industry into the forefront of the continent; Gedeon Richter created the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry; the Weiss family did not only establish one of the biggest complexes in heavy industry in Europe on Csepel island but actually constructed and built up that part of Budapest, while the textile factory of the Goldbergers in Óbuda became one of the greatest achievements of the Hungarian industry. Today we call the outstanding products Hungaricum which became the trademarks of Hungary. Several of them were produced by talented and innovative Jews — Herz and Pick salamis, Kotányi ground red pepper, the china (porcelain) in Herend and Zwack Unicum. Also, the Jewish physicians played a significant role in the development of the Hungarian medical sciences and healthcare; it is enough to mention the names of Frigyes Korányi or Ignác Hirschler. As far as the denominational distribution and language use were concerned, the Jews had Hungarian as their mother tongue a lot faster than other ethnic and religious minority groups at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Mention must be made though that the processes of assimilation and integration, that is, a nation's merging with the majority of the society is never a unilateral process, leaving neither parties untouched. Mutual accommodation, rapprochement and acceptance must apply from both parties to make the process successful and fruitful for the culture, economy and society of the particular country. This reciprocity well existed in the era of dualism in Hungary, where the liberal aristocracy perceived that the Jews assimilating with the Hungarians could make a useful contribution to the formation of the multinational Hungary into a modern national constitutional state.
