Jewish presence in Szerencs had its beginnings in the late 18^th century, when Jews settled as tenant farmers. The Jewish burial society (chevra kadisha) was established in 1808, and from this time onwards, a yeshiva (Jewish religious high school) operated in the town. According to a document from 1809, the community was already collecting funds for the construction of a prayer house, which was eventually completed in 1812. This suggests that Jews arrived in Szerencs before this date. The first president of the Szerencs congregation was Jakab Bilitzer.

In 1850, the census recorded 92 Jews in Szerencs (about 4% of the population); by 1880, the number rose to 407 (17.2%), in 1920 to 971 (16.6%), and in 1941, it slightly decreased to 916 (12%). The Jewish community in Szerencs was involved in small-scale industry, trade, and agriculture.

The first prayer house became hazardous around the turn of the century. In August 1903, a new palace-like synagogue was completed at the corner of Széchenyi utca and Széchenyi tér, designed by the architect Miksa Korach from Miskolc. Simultaneously, an older prayer house (built in 1895) at Széchenyi utca 50 continued to serve the smaller Hasidic community.

The community’s first rabbi was Jisáj Ámrám, a son of the Billiczer family, serving from 1864, who established a yeshiva in Szerencs. After his death, Emánuel Pollák succeeded him, followed by his son-in-law Ernő Lemberger.

During World War I, 85 Jewish men from Szerencs served as soldiers, with nineteen of them losing their lives in battle. During World War II, Hungarian Jews gradually lost their civil rights. From 1941, compulsory “labour service” was enforced for men. In the spring of 1944, Jewish women, elderly, and children from Szerencs were taken to the Miskolc ghetto, and subsequently deported to Auschwitz. Of the 760 deported, only 140 returned from concentration camps and forced labour.

The small community’s synagogue, a protected monument, was demolished in 1977. The Hasidic prayer house (Széchenyi utca 50) was converted, and today, only the tombstones in the cemetery and a plaque on the cemetery fence with the names of Holocaust victims remind us of the heritage of the former Szerencs Jewish community.

PHOTOS:

1. The Szerencs synagogue.
2. The cemetery entrance.

Szerencs Jewish Cemetery
(Szerencs, Árpád Hill, Széchenyi tér)

The once significant Jewish community in Szerencs is now only commemorated by the Jewish cemetery on Árpád Hill, where the ohels of Rabbis Arman Billiczer and his son Pinkász are located. In 2008, a marble plaque was placed on the stone wall of the cemetery in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.