Jewish mementos in Györ-Moson-Sopron Comitatus

Tét

Cemetery

In the youngest city of the comitatus only the cemetery indicates that numerous Jews had once lived here. There are over three hundred tombstones, the oldest is from 1820, the last burial took place in 1945. Back then the cemetery was quite far from the village. The Jewish community must have at some time had 200-400 members. Its synagogue was at Fö utca (main street) 31, it survived the Second World War. Most of the Jews were murdered in one of the concentration camps. A few returned home but quickly left the area. Today the only visitors are from Israel or the United States, it is only because of them that the locals know where the people whose ancestors were born here live now.
Without the believers the synagogue could no longer survive. In 1947 he village council decided to have it torn down and to sell the useable building material. Now only the oldest generation remembers the synagogue.

The cemetery however was maintained. It is not easy to find it as it is far away from the city limits. One can take Kisfaludy road out of town. The gate to the cemetery is locked, to enter one can retrieve the key from Miklós Szalai.
The former stone fence disappeared during World War II, the material was simply taken away for construction. With the financial support of a nearby resident the fence was later replaced. The tombstones carry Hebrew and Hungarian writing, sometimes separated, sometimes mixed. Although the cemetery is well maintained one can tell that the last burial took place a long time ago and that visitors are rare. It is estimated to be two hectares in size which makes it the largest Jewish cemetery in the area.
Almost directly opposite of the former synagogue lies the former home of a Jewish family, one of many hundred. The inhabitants had mostly engaged in trade and there was a butcher among them. The only house still left is now property of a company which rents it out to a store.

by Scholem Alejchem & Alexandra Vogt

2012.05.31