Jewish Zalalövö
This large town was located on several
important trade routes and already attracted Jewish settlers in the middle of
the 18th century. In 1746 3 Jews lived here, in 1778 there were 87. The census
of Jews of 1782 mentioned the synagogue of the Lövő Jews which is proof of the
existence of a Jewish community. Its first rabbi was Jakab Anhalzer. In 1848 the
Lövő community counted 176 persons, 44 families, and in 1851 two teachers
taught at the school under the supervision of the rabbi. The Jewish school had
to close after World War I.
The Lövő community joined the congressional communities in 1868 and in 1885
became the centre of the district. In 1929 the Jewish community had 305 members.
In 1930 a synagogue was built, financed by the community itself. There was an
active Chevra Kadisha and a women’s association. In 1941 around 100 of the
3356 inhabitants of Zalalövő were Jews (the proportion of Jews that belonged
to the mother community was higher). In April of 1944 the Jewiwsh community
counted 191 members, its rabbi was Adolf Bender and Izidor Wieder was president.
The Zalalövő Jews were brought to the Zalaegerszeg ghetto on May 16, they were
transported in several groups together with the other Jews from the district,
theirs was the last train going to the ghetto. The index of names made on the
day the ghetto was populated counts 100 Jews from Zalalövő, another one counts
102.
The 9 survivors of the Holocaust returned to find the synagogue in ruins and the
cemetery destroyed. The synagogue has since been rebuilt. In 1946 there were
still 19 Jews in the town, they later moved to Budapest or emigrated. In 1949
the congressional community counted 17 members with Mór Weltlinger as president.
The community had only one town.
In the fields of the town, alongside the street to Körmend, lies the Jewish
cemetery which to this day is in good condition. The World War II memorial in
the centre of the town guards for eternity the names of the Jewish victims.
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