The History of the Jewish Population of Vranov nad Toplou
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A Short History of the Jewish Population of Vranov nad Toplou
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IGOR SOĽANÍK
In Olden Times
Jewish people began to settle this region in the middle of the 18th Century; this we know based upon the dates of headstones found in the old Jewish cemetery. In these early times, the members of Vranov nad Toplou's Jewish community made their livings as pub owners, door-to-door vendors, distillers, craftsmen and farmers. (Vranov nad Toplou will henceforth be referred to as Vranov, and meant to include the entire Vranov nad Toplou county.)
In the middle of the 19th Century many Jews in Vranov began to study advanced degrees and became doctors, lawyers, teachers, and pharmacists.
In 1851 there were 683 Jews in Vranov, which made up 25% of the total population. The majority of Vranov’s Jewish community were Orthodox. There was also a Hasidic community which had its own Rabbi and private prayer location. Unfortunately, this prayer room is no longer in existence. In the place where it once stood is now the formal meeting room of the District Government Office Building.
There were many well known men among the rabbinical community. At the end of the 18th Century there lived Rabbi Moses Haas, Moses Lichtenstein (1785), and Abraham Spira (1825) whose headstone can still be found in the cemetery. Other well known rabbis included:
Som Vechsler
David Schuck
Lecharja Spira
Lazar Ehrengruber
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The Jewish community had its own burial association (Bikur cholin), Talmudic school, two Kosher butchers, a large mikva, and its own steam bath.
At the end of the 19th Century, the heads of the Jewish community were:
Moric Grunwald
Moric Landesmann
Izidor Schwartz
Hugo Schwartz
Jakub Grun
Maximilian Roth (after the year 1945)
Jewish Citizens
Since their arrival in the region (mostly in the 19th and 20th centuries), Jews were essential to the development of the city of Vranov. Their small shops in the center of town brought color to the streets, and despite their differences in religion and culture, the Jewish community lived in peaceful co-existence with its Christian neighbors (although that would, of course, not continue to be the case). As an example, Moric Landesmann, a member of the Jewish community, was elected as the Mayor of one village, and Mikulas Schwartz, a rich American born in Vranov, donated 50,000 Slovak crowns to the Christians to buy a bell for their church.
In addition, it was not uncommon for there to be mixed marriages between Jews and Christians. Jozef Luchs and Jan-Egon Immergluck both lived in mixed marriages with Christian women.
During the 19th and 20th centuries Jews played an important role in the cultural and economic development of Vranov. Census data from 1938 shows that there were 1,894 Jews in the county of Vranov nad Toplou out of a total population of 35, 026. In the actual city of Vranov there were 1,006 Jews out of a total population of 3,564, comprising 28.2% of the population.
Most of the historical materials gathered on the Jewish population of this region have been gathered since WWII. The following is a list of important members of the Jewish community.
Jewish Doctors:
Eugen Rozner
Jozef Rosenthol
Jozef Moskovic
Bela Voyar-Weisberg
Zoltan Sugar
Ilja Atlas
Eugen Engel
Arnost Landesmann
Jewish Pharmacists:
Izak Friedmann
Alfred Schaar
Zoftan Kraemer
Stefan Fried
Jewish Lawyers:
Ladislav Kastriner
Arnost Moskovic
Viliam Vas
Abraham Silberman
Arnost Gorog
Jewish Traders and Businessmen
The most well known businessman, Hugo Schwartz, was the owner a large store which sold mixed goods. Similar shops were also owned by Simon and Jakub Grunovci. The company Guttmann and Blum traded in beer and alcohol.
Shops with mixed goods were also owned by:
Elias Blumhaft
Lazar Guttmann
Benjamin Gelb
Ludovit Spira
Jozef Kulik
Ludovit Straus
Josef Deutsch
Pinkas Leftkovic
Ignac Guttmann
Arpad Klein
Etela Blochova
Hermina Corefova
Ignac Wollner
Herman Klein
Izidor Fischer
Tibor Schwartz
Shops which offered assorted foods were owned by:
Armin Weis
Bernart Friedman
Regina Grunfeldova
Tauba Kulikova
Herman Neumann
Chaim Markel and Samuel Gutmann traded in livestock.
Traders in grain were:
Leopold Guttman
Salamun Riegelhaupt
Irian Schwartz
Alexander Jordan
Eugen Coref
Maximilian Reis
Traders of wood were:
Julius Gittmann
Viktoria Ternerova
Ludovit and Alexander Blum
Bar and pub owners included:
Regina Keskenbaumova
Rosa Amselova
Serena Urgerleiderova
Herman Straus
Zigmund Guttman
Traders in iron works included:
Alexander Neumann
Jozef Neumann
Jozef Amsel
Traders in textiles included:
Serena Lipschitzova
Herman Spiegel
Eduard Bloch
Estera Friedmannova
Gejza and Karola Farkasova
Jews had their own service industries such as dress making, the running of gas stations, and veterinary services. The only electrician in town was a Jewish man by the name of Arpad Braun.
Other:
Arpad Braun – electrician
Izidor Rabinovic; Bela, Fany, and Estera Karniol; and Herman Lebovic – dressmakers
Chillel Roth – glazer
Izor Aaron Hirsch – carpenter
Ludovit Strausz – forwarding agent (of parcels, etc.)
Jakub Israel, Moses Sara Fulternik – waggoner service
Lina Braun – gas station owner
Nathan Reich – building contractor
Abraham Schonfeld – watch repairer
Gejza Moskovic – concrete layer
Eduard Trenk – plumber (also noted for his fighting in the anti-fascist resistance)
Samuel Schwartz, Margiola and Abraham Elefant – dental services
Max Wollner – barber
Aladar Altman – veteranarian
Gejza Kornfeld and Dezider Kraemer – bank officers
Dezider Klein, Abraham Beer, and Pinkas Weinberger - bakers
Jewish Houses
In the year 1942 a list was made of houses according to name of owner and house number. From this list we know that out of 597 houses, 118 were owned by Jews. The majority of Jewish houses were situated in the center of town, located directly behind their shop fronts. Most of the owners of these houses also took in tenants.
During WWII the Hotel Praha, which was owned by the Jewish family Wintner, was completely destroyed, as were many Jewish houses in the neighborhood. Some other houses were destroyed after the war, and in their place are now the District Government buildings as well as some private apartment buildings. However, not all of these houses were destroyed; even now you can find houses which were owned by the Jewish people of Vranov.
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|The Old Jewish Bath - Mikva |The Home of Hugo Schwartz |
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|The Home of Dr. Ladislav Kastriner |The Home of Eduard Schwartz |
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|The Home of Dr. Eugen Engel |The Home of Dr. Ilju Atlasa |
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|The Home of Dr. Abrahám Silbermann |The Home of Jozef Amsel |
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|The Home of Gejza Moškovič |The Home of David Singer |
On the Way to Tragedy
After the establishment of the first Slovak state the so called “Jewish Question” became one of the first issues undertaken by the new populist government. This “Jewish Question” was embraced by the government as an ideal way to establish their power and prestige. The Slovak state gained independence under Nazi Germany, which granted this independence based on the condition that the Slovak state would treat the Jewish population in accordance to its mandate. The Slovak state complied in full.
April 18, 1939 marked codification of the first anti-Jewish law. Many more were to follow On April 24, 1939 all Jews were excluded from participation in all forms of government service. On September 19, 1939 all Jewish soldiers were ousted from the army. There were many other forms of discrimination that came into being at this time, such as the exclusion of Jews from music associations, the expelling of Jewish students from high schools and universities, etc.
One option to escape this discrimination was immigration, although not everyone could take advantage of this opportunity due to the enormous expense of the undertaking. By the summer of 1940, more than 6,000 Jewish people had left the Slovak state, both legally and illegally.
One of the goals of the Slovak state was to acquire businesses left behind by the Jewish emigrants. The first step taken by the government toward this end was the creation of an ordinance which granted them the legal power to take over these Jewish businesses.
From 1939 through the middle of 1940 there was an intensive discussion about how to solve the “Jewish Question.” The issue was debated in the newspapers, Parliament, and public spaces. In early 1940 the government of the Slovak state passed a series of laws which effectively ended all Jewish participation in economic activity.
These laws were supported by the majority of Slovak society, and with them life became increasingly unbearable for the remaining Jewish population. During this time, many anti-Jewish campaigns were carried out, all with the tacit approval of local governments.
During a 1940 meeting between the Nazi and Slovak states held in Salzburg, the Nazi’s dictated important personnel changes in the Slovak government which had the effect of making the Slovak state even more dependent on Nazi Germany. At this time, Nazi Germany installed puppet leaders in Slovakia in the key positions of Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs (V. Tuka), and Minister of the Interior (A. Mach).
The laws against the Jewish population were greatly expanded during this time. For example, Jews lost permission to own pubs; carry guns; own a typewriter, car, or camera; or employ a non-Jew under the age of forty. In August 1940, another law was passed which required the establishment of a complete list of all Jews (men, women, children, and non-Jewish marriage partners) in Slovakia, along with their financial records. Further laws limited the amount of money Jews were allowed to take out of the bank. In the spring of 1940 a law was established requiring a special permit for anyone wishing to employ a Jew. Also in this time a law was passed which completed the work begun in 1939 on the liquidation of all Jewish owned businesses. The elimination of these businesses came out of the purely selfish interests of some highly placed government officials, who sought the destruction of the Jewish-based economy so that their own business interests would flourish.
On January 30, 1941 all remaining Jewish-owned markets and butcher shops in Vranov (a total of 151 businesses) were ordered closed. Then, on the August 18, 1941 the government ordered the closing of Vranov’s biggest business, that owned by Hugo Schwartz, which employed 16 employees. On the 25th the order for liquidation was stopped and replaced by an order for the aryanization of the business. This was carried out by Eduard and Alexander Dzatko. Further aryanization was carried out by Kerekes (who took over the shop of Simon Grun and Abraham Spira), Alexander Dzatko (who took over the shop of Zigmund Amsel), Jan Capik (who took over the business of Eduard Schwartz), Petrus (who took over the business of Frojmovic), Tulej (who took over the business of Friedmann), and many others, which completed the aryanization of the Jewish owned businesses and shops in Vranov.
In October 1940 the Slovak government began to install Slovak landlords in what had once been Jewish-owned houses. These landlords received a high salary from the estate, were given their choice of apartment within the building, all in addition to a high salary. The aryanization affected not only its owner but the Jewish community as a whole in that the landlords had the right to evict Jewish tenants with only two weeks notice.
Subsequent laws prohibited Jews from living in certain parts of the city, including any street named after A. Hlinka or Hitler, which were usually in the center of town. In Vranov this prohibition affected 24 Jewish houses which were located on Hlinka Street; and these residents were given until March 31, 1941 to vacate their homes.
The rapid limitation of public and human rights of Jews in some towns was even more brutal and unscrupulous than that carried out by the central government. The most cruel and intensive persecution of the Jewish population took place in the Saris-Zemplin County, where the poorest Jewish community lived. A. Dudas, a local country director, ordered all the authorities to assist in the theft of goods from Jewish people. He limited the rights of the Jews and ordered them to carry with them a marker of their Jewish identity on their clothes.
In this county each Jewish person, be they young, old, male or female, was required to carry a yellow ribbon (3 cm wide) on their left arm every time every time they went out in public. The marker was designed to display the status of the individual as a Jew, deepen their isolation, and expose them to even greater psychological and physical abuse. This ruling was even harsher than the national Jewish Code, in that even children under the age of six were required by local law to wear the ribbon. The only place in which a label was not required was in the synagogue.
Anti-Semitic feeling was high throughout the region, and violent actions were often carried out by the Hlinka guards (a special task force organized against Jews and partisans). Anti-Jewish sentiment was expressed through abuse, humiliation, blackmail of the Jewish community, demolition of Jewish houses and cemeteries, and the drawing of defamatory pictures on city walls.
Throughout the country Jews were required to mark all documents with the Star of David and the word 'JEW.’
On March 25, 1941 local authorities in Vranov ordered all Jewish people to desist from walking on certain streets from Monday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. and all day during holidays. Eduard Dzadko, a local county commander of the Hlinka Guard, forbid the Jews to swim in the Topla River.
On September 9, 1941 the Jewish Code was passed. This code would become one of the cruelest anti-Semitic laws in the modern age of the history of Europe. The Code contained 270 paragraphs and was one of the most significant actions taken by the Slovak Parliament at this time. However, this Code merely created a legal status for the policies that were already de facto law throughout the country. The only way in which the Code expanded existing policy was in its classification of the Jewish population as a race. Jews were classified according to those with at least three grandparents of Jewish origin. A new classification was also created for those of mixed origin which applied to those citizens with one or two grandparents of Jewish origin.
The first section of the Code contained all the restrictions of social, civil, religious, and personal rights of Jewish citizens. From July 1, 1942 all synagogues came under the control of the state and Jews were allowed to hold services there only with permission from the state. The second section of the Code concerned the property rights of the Jewish population. The third section of the Code was the most lengthy and concerned the aryanization of Jewish property. Under this Code, the President had the authority to grant exceptions to certain Jewish people, and exceptions made prior to the enforcement of the Code were maintained.
A sharp protest came in response to the Code from Catholic authorities as well as the Vatican in a diplomatic letter dated December 12, 1941. In the Fall of 1941 the focus of anti-Jewish actions shifted from actions aimed at gaining control of Jewish property, to the severe limitation of civil and human rights.
In the summer of 1941 the Slovak government established a new department within the Ministry of the Interior specific to the ‘Jewish Question,’ with G. Konka as its director. The purpose of this Ministry was to ensure that all anti-Jewish activity had been carried out and to control the future of the Jewish population.
During the time of the Slovak state the message to the Jewish population was clear; that with no ability to pursue economic interests and drastically curtailed human rights, they were not wanted in the country and all desired that they leave permanently.
Deportation
On December 2, 1941 V. Tuka and H. Ludin met in Bratislava to discuss the deportation of all Jews from Slovakia, as well as from Austria, Germany, and Bohemia. V. Tuka, in the name of the Slovak government, but without its permission, agreed to deport the Jewish people to a special designation as established by the Third Reich.
The preparation for the deportation of Jews was not limited to backroom negotiations, but was an open trend in dealing with the “Jewish Question.” Official propaganda in support of this crime was supported by the Hlinka Guards as well as the Ludove Noviny (People’s Newspaper). The issue of deportation did make some people feel guilty and ashamed, but more than this, they were concerned about their own futures.
A very important factor for the organization of the deportations was the pressure coming from Nazi Germany. The explanation was given that the Jews were deported due to the Third Reich’s need for laborers. Supporting this claim was the fact that the first transport was full of young men in good physical condition. However, this was nothing more than a cover in order to soothe the indignation of Jewish and some Slovak citizens. On the March 3, 1942 V. Tuka, with the support of A. Mach, went to the seat of government with a prepared plan for the deportation of the Jewish population.
The Slovak government received another harsh critique from the Vatican on March 14, 1942. The state secretary of the Vatican gave a diplomatic note to the Slovak emissary K. Sidor in which they protested the deportations.
Phase One:
The first phase of the deportations began in February 1942 when the Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered a new registration of all Jewish citizens to be carried out by the Hlinka Guards and the District City Authorities of individual towns. From that registration authorities sent out draft cards to the Jewish population which told them to appear at a special center, from which they were sent to concentration camps accompanied by the gendarme. They were only allowed to take with them up to 50 kilograms worth of possessions.
The first transport from Slovakia took place on March 25, 1942. Traveling by freight train, the transport was made up of thousands of young girls, mostly from Saris-Zemplin County. In that transport, there were also a few hundred girls from Vranov, as well as some from Humenne. In the next transport there were many boys from Vranov. Some young people tried to hide and escape to Hungary, where they lived under a false identity. Some other Jews were saved by aryanizators who secured work permits for them.
The following information was provided by Mrs. Ruzena Grunova, born 1925, daughter of Jakub Grun, who was the head of the Jewish community in Vranov during WWII: In Vranov, Mrs. Dobisova saved Dr. Gorog from deportation. Gejza Kornfeld was able to live by using the papers of a certain Mr. Kuzma. Jozef Dzatko saved one Jew by giving him money (the purpose of which was not stated)..
During this time massive christenings of Jews also took place in Slovakia in an effort to evade the deportations, an effort that was not always successful. Some Catholic and Evangelical priests tried to help Jews by altering the dates on the certificates of their christening.
On March 27, 1942, two days after the beginning of the transports (whose members were, by the official version, supposed to build dormitory housing for the newcomers), D. Wisliceny informed G. Konka that the German government had decided to satisfy a request from the Slovak government to take over all Slovak Jews on the condition that the Slovak government pay them 500 Reich Marks for each Jew, as well as disposing them of their Slovak nationalities. In exchange the German government promised that these Jews would never return to Slovakia, nor would they ever try to regain their property.
Phase Two:
The second phase of deportations began April 11, 1942 when the first of the family transports left from Trnava. Deportees were no longer held in Slovak transfer centers but were sent directly to concentration camps. On May 18, 1942 1,007 Jews from Vranov were sent to concentration camps in Poland via Zwardon, along with 106 Jews in a small transport from Poprad. Transports of Vranov’s Jews were staged at Cemerne because at the time, Vranov did not have a railway connection to Presov. These transports were poorly organized and chaotic, and inhuman conditions prevailed at every level.
On the afternoon of May 15, 1942 the Slovak Parliament had passed a law which, in spite of all exceptions voiced by dissenters, began with the words, “Jews can be deported from the land of Slovakia.” Deported Slovak Jews were deprived of their Slovak nationality along with their remaining property rights. Between March 25 and October 20, 1942 57,628 Jewish people were deported from Slovakia to Nazi concentration camps. Only a few hundred people survived the atrocities of the camps. The number of people estimated to have survived varies between 280 to 800.
Between October 1942 and 1944 there were no deportations in Slovakia. The deportations of the Jews had had immediate negative material consequences for Slovakia, in large part due to the manner in which the transports had been organized. The Slovak government paid not only the cost of the deportation (transport, police, and upkeep of transfer centers), but also paid 500 Marks (equal to 5,000 – 5,500 Slovak crowns) for every deported Jew.
Subsequent to the pause in deportations there were roughly 24,000 people remaining in Slovakia under the classification of 'Jew'. Many of these people were economic specialists who had been granted Presidential exclusion or were alive thanks to their new identity as Christians. Around 4,000 Jews remained in transfer centers in Slovakia.
In the autumn of 1942 the Slovak government began to deal with the issue of how to treat the likely outcome of the war. The Slovaks were now responsible for the explanation of their own anti-Semitism and culpability in the deportation of the Slovak Jewish population (approximately 58,000 people), and questions remained of how to treat the remaining Jewish population. The problems faced by the Slovak government were not only political and legal (not to mention moral), but also economic, in regard to the vast wealth of the now lost Jewish community. These unpleasant worries became all the greater when the populist government began to sink even deeper into a state of crisis and isolation.
There were still 24,000 Jewish people living in Slovakia. There were also many politically influential people who wanted to continue with a nationalist/socialist methodology of dealing with the “Jewish Question.” Added to these extremist pressures was the radical fascist element, which saw the Hlinka Guards as the only way to solve the so called “Jewish Problem.” Those who supported future deportations most often attacked those Jews who had been granted Presidential exceptions. Some of these people went so far as to complete the organization of new transports. This movement provoked a response in opposition to further deportations. Those in opposition were supported by the Church, and the Vatican sent an official note to the Slovak government condemning the deportation of the Jews. These actions brought about a limited success in that there were no further deportations of Jews from Slovakia during this time (1943).
On August 10, 1943 the Slovak government decided that no more transports were ‘necessary’ and that isolation of non-Aryan citizens would be carried out from then on in labor camps within Slovak borders. During this time the populist government launched one of the final attacks against the Jewish community. In the spring and fall of 1944 a new transport was organized with the exception of some doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians, and Jews from mixed-marriages. Some of these Jews were from Saris-Zemplin county. The government explained this new transport by claiming that Slovakia had now become an important part of the front line where Jews could, if they were not hemmed in, spread propaganda and panic. This transport began with the counting of Jews who remained in the country and then, once counted, many were sent to camps in the middle part of the country.
By February 1, 1944 there were 169 Jews remaining in Vranov; 121 of these people were taken to the camps. In all, only 120 Jews from Vranov and the surrounding region survived the tortures of the concentration camps and WWII. The following is a list of some of those people (names provided by Ruzena Grunova; this list is not complete):
Frantisek Klein
Serena Soldanova
Arpad Braun and wife Ruzena Braunova
Bozena, Elza, and Irena Trenkova
Elza Beerova with her brother
Berta Ungerleiderova and her son
The son and daughter of Chasim Markel
Mikulas Gluck
Rella Bleierova
The wife and children of Izidor Fischer
Ladislav Klein
Magda Kleinova
Agnesa Tannenbaumova
Sarika Rosenwasserova
Ludovit Schwartz and his three daughters
Hugo Schwartz
The occupation of Slovakia by Nazi and Slovak police forces began in the final days of August 1944; this would prove to be one of the last and cruelest phases of the treatment of the Jewish people. With the advent of the Nazi occupation of Slovakia, Slovak Jews found themselves in yet another dangerous, life-threatening situation. The German army’s assignment in Slovakia was not only to repress uprisings but also to resolve the “Jewish Question” once and for all through the on the spot killing of any Jew they found.
Between the end of September 1944 and the end of March 1945, 13 transports of Jews left from Slovakia, some of them headed to Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, and/or Terezin. Approxiamtely 13,500 people were deported. Roughly 10,000 of them died.
Some of the remaining Jews fought with the partisans. In 1944 the following Jewish people from Vranov fought side by side with the Capajev Partisan Unit:
David Schwartz (born 1921 in Detrik)
Ludovit Weis (from Bystre)
Dezider Karniol (born 1914 in Vranov nad Toplou)
Ladislav Salo Schwartz (born 1920 in Saarov)
Dr. Rudolf Szobel (doctor from the village of Dobra)
After WWII the one of the first steps taken by the new government was to cancel any anti-Jewish policies of the previous populist government. Even in the freed areas there still remained tension in Slovak-Jewish relations. New problems presented themselves in social, political, and economic arenas. Some of these anti-Jewish incidents took place in Vranov. For example, on October 12, 1946 a Jewish citizen was physically and verbally attacked by a former member of the Hlinka Guards. Another incident took place on October 13 of the same year, in which three separate incidences of verbal abuse were reported.
Most of the Jewish population of Vranov who survived the atrocities of the war years did not return; the majority immigrated to the United States and Israel immediately following the end of WWII, or later, in the years 1948 and 1968. Some of those who stayed tried to pass themselves off as Christians by altering their Jewish last names. A partial list follows:
Julius Blum
The family Ickovic
Ladislav Klein
Evelina Neumannova
Markus Friedmann
Tragically, the number of Jewish families living in Vranov was reduced to the point where the Jewish community barely existed. At the present time, there are only two Jewish families living in Vranov.
The history of the Jewish people and their faith is an indivisible part of the history of the Slovak state. Anti-democratic and totalitarian trends in the Slovak state revealed themselves through the purposeful anti-Semitic and anti-human actions taken by government and some of its citizens. During the years between 1938 and 1945 robbery and deportation were embraced as appropriate measures for dealing with the so called “Jewish Question.” This time was also a key moment in which the fate of the Slovak state became intertwined with that of Nazi Germany. History is an impartial judge; it does not count intentions, but rather the results of actions.
The Synagogue
In 1897 the Jewish Orthodox community bought the land where they would eventually build the Jewish synagogue. Building of the synagogue began in the year 1921 with the help of American Mikulas Schwartz, who was born in Vranov. During his visit he was disturbed by the poor condition of the old synagogue, and donated 10,000 USD to the building of a new synagogue. With this money the Jewish community built not only a new synagogue but also a new Mikva. Work on the new synagogue was completed in the year 1924.
The synagogue was situated on a hillside with three separate entrances to the building. The name of the architect was Vojtech Sipos; the builder was Hugo Kabos; and the final work on the synagogue was carried out by the Barkanyi brothers. The synagogue was a beautiful building with a unique architectural design. (see photo)
The synagogue was the center of Jewish religious and cultural life. The Mikva was located next to the synagogue, and still exists (though no longer as a Mikva) today. Across from the Mikva was the Jewish Orthodox school, and the rabbi lived nearby. The last Orthodox rabbi in Vranov was Lazar Ehrengruber. The last Hasidic rabbi was Eduard Halberstam. Groundskeepers and caretakers of the synagogue included butcher Fratisek Keleman, Mor Vrubel Goldstein, and Mor Rossenwasser.
Religious services were held every evening and Saturday morning, and continued sporadically even during WWII. In order to hold services, a minimum of 10 adult males was required. After WWII, the synagogue was used as a storage center for various goods. Due to neglect after the war the building soon became dilapidated, but could have been repaired had the will to do so existed. Tragically, it did not.
In 1981 the Jewish community lost the rights to the synagogue and ownership was taken over by the city government, which determined that it would be more effective to demolish the building rather than to restore it. Plans were made to replace the building with apartments, and the synagogue was destroyed in September 1982.
Time has shown that there was no reason to destroy the synagogue; the apartment complex was never even built. At the time it was believed that economic interests should be placed above cultural and historical memorials and thus, the synagogue was demolished.
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Jewish Cemetery
The Jewish cemetery is located near Lesna street, behind the hospital. At one time, the cemetery grounds covered two and a half hectares, and was surrounded by a wall. There were three entrances to the cemetery: lower, higher, and middle. On the lower left side of the cemetery was a morgue which was later destroyed; all that remains of the morgue today is the outer wall.
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|Complete View of the Cemetary |
The cemetery was established in the 18th century. The oldest part of the cemetery is located near the back wall of what was once the morgue. The oldest headstones come from the middle of the 18th century. In the beginning, the dead were buried in the left side of the cemetery, continuing uphill. There are also many beautiful headstones from the 19th century. Many of the headstones from both centuries are skillfully crafted, with elaborate ornamentation. Typical ornamentation on these headstones includes flowers, wreaths, leaves, hearts, birds, and lions.
The most significant religious motif found on these headstones is the symbol of blessing hands, which was typical for the cohen. The motif of the jug, also found often, was typical for levit.
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In some places the cemetery is divided into male and female sections, while in other places it is mixed. Beginning in the end of the 19th century, the Jewish community began the practice of burying their dead upside down.
The most resent headstone in the cemetery is from the year 1948. The cemetery contains headstones of people not only from Vranov, but also from Cemerne, Majerovce, Sedliska, Hencovce, and other villages nearby.
Unfortunately, the book containing a complete list of those buried in the cemetery no longer remains. Records may be found in the archive in Nizna Sebastova where there is a list of all Jewish people born, married, and deceased in Vranov from the years 1840 – 1895.
On March 21, 1963 the Jewish cemetery was put on the list of Slovakia’s cultural heritage sites. Prior to the 1970’s, the cemetery was cared for by the Gajdos family. Then, in the 1970’s, part of the cemetery was placed under the dubious protection of the city government. During this time some of the headstones were removed, and two houses were constructed on the left-upper side.
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Tragically, the Jewish cemetery has often been vandalized. Some of the headstones from the right side of the cemetery have been knocked off their bases (with the engraved side now facing down into the grass) and some of the best quality headstones have been stolen, especially those made from granite. Some people have used the headstones to make new headstones for their own use, or as the mantle for their fireplaces. Some of the headstones of lesser quality were stolen for use in the construction of new houses. On the right side of the cemetery, up to 500 headstones have stolen or ruined. At least ten graves have been robbed by people looking for anything of value that might have been buried along with the corpse.
Today the vandalism continues. In 1999, nine headstones were completely destroyed and in 2001, seven more headstones were destroyed. Unfortunately, while this vandalism has continued, the police have been unable to successfully deter it.
The cemetery suffers not only from vandalism, but also from garbage which is often thrown onto the cemetery grounds, as well as some people who have co-opted some of the cemetery lands for private usage, often as a garden. In order to save the cemetery, it will be necessary to undertake a complete clean-up and public awareness campaign.
One positive step has been taken by City Hall, with the cooperation of the Slovak Jewish Community, which recently began to clean up the garbage, closed the upper gates, and plans to renovate the cemetery completely. They have also began to document the existing headstones with photographs and are creating an archive of information from the cemetery.*
Epilogue
In 1940 there were 1,821 Jews in the Vranov region. Only 120 of these people returned from the concentration camps; the rest were killed. This was one of the worst catastrophes of Vranov and its region. One-fourth of Vranov’s population disappeared from its streets in a very short time. This publication is dedicated to the memory of the 1,700 Jews from our District who died during WWII.
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