History of the Jews in Hungary

Hungarian Jews
יהדות הונגריה‎
Magyar zsidók

Location of Hungary (dark green) in the European Union
Total population
152,023 (total estimated for Hungary + Israel, does not include other countries)
Regions with significant populations
Hungary 48,600 (core population, estimation) (2010)[1] 120,000 (estimated population) (2012)[2][3] 10,965 (self-identifying Jews by religion, 2011 census)[4]  Israel 32,023 (immigrants to Israel) (2010)[5]
Languages
Hungarian Hebrew Yiddish
Related ethnic groups
Ashkenazi Jews/Hungarians[a]

Part of a series on the
History of Hungary
Early history Hungarian prehistory The Carpathian Basin before the Hungarian conquest Roman Pannonia Hunnic Empire
Early medieval Kingdom of the Gepids 454–567 Ostrogothic Kingdom 469–553 Avar Khaganate 567–822 Hungarian invasions of Europe ~800–970 Hungarian conquest 862–895
Medieval Principality of Hungary 895–1000 Kingdom of Hungary 1000–1301 Personal union with Croatia 1102–1918 Golden Bull 1222 Mongol invasion of Hungary 1241–1242 Kingdom of Hungary 1301–1526 Ottoman Wars 1366–1526
Early modern Reformation 1520 Ottoman Wars 1526–1699 Eastern Hungarian Kingdom 1526–1570 Royal Hungary 1526–1699 Ottoman Hungary 1541–1699 Principality of Transylvania 1570–1711 Bocskai uprising 1604–1606 Wesselényi conspiracy 1664–1671 Principality of Upper Hungary 1682–1685 Kingdom of Hungary 1699–1867
Late modern Rákóczi's War of Independence 1703–1711 Principality of Transylvania 1711–1867 Hungarian Reform Era 1825–1848 Revolution of 1848 1848–1849 Hungarian State 1849 Austro-Hungarian Monarchy 1867–1918 Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen 1867–1918 World War I 1914–1918 Interwar period 1918–1941 Hungarian People's Republic 1918–1919 Hungarian Soviet Republic 1919 Hungarian Republic 1919–1920 Treaty of Trianon 1920 Kingdom of Hungary 1920–1946 First Vienna Award 1938 Governorate of Subcarpathia 1939–1945 Second Vienna Award 1940 Revisions of Délvidék 1941 World War II 1941–1945
Contemporary Second Hungarian Republic 1946–1949 Hungarian People's Republic 1949–1989 Revolution of 1956 1956 Goulash Communism 1956–1989 Third Hungarian Republic 1989–2012 Hungary since 2012
Topics Hungarians Timeline History of Hungary History of Transylvania Hungarian language Árpád dynasty Holy Crown Hungarian Kings Transylvanian Princes Nobility Military List of Wars Christianity Economy Flag Coat of arms Literature Music Székelys Jews Budapest
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The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary and it is even assumed that several sections of the heterogeneous Hungarian tribes practiced Judaism. Jewish officials served the king during the early 13th century reign of Andrew II. From the second part of the 13th century, the general religious tolerance decreased and Hungary's policies became similar to the treatment of the Jewish population in Western Europe.

The Ashkenazi of Hungary were fairly well integrated into Hungarian society by the time of the First World War. By the early 20th century, the community had grown to constitute 5% of Hungary's total population and 23% of the population of the capital, Budapest. Jews became prominent in science, the arts and business. By 1941, over 17% of Budapest's Jews had converted to the Catholic Church.^[b]

Anti-Jewish policies grew more repressive in the interwar period as Hungary's leaders, who remained committed to regaining the territories lost at the peace agreement (Treaty of Trianon) of 1920, chose to align themselves with the governments of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy – the international actors most likely to stand behind Hungary's claims.^[8] Starting in 1938, Hungary under Miklós Horthy passed a series of anti-Jewish measures in emulation of Germany's Nürnberg Laws. Following the German occupation of Hungary on March 19, 1944, Jews from the provinces were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp; between May and July that year, 437,000 Jews were sent there from Hungary, most of them gassed on arrival.^[9]

The 2011 Hungary census data had 10,965 people (0.11%) who self-identified as religious Jews, of whom 10,553 (96.2%) declared themselves as ethnic Hungarian.^[4] Estimates of Hungary's Jewish population in 2010 range from 54,000 to more than 130,000^[10] mostly concentrated in Budapest.^[11] There are many active synagogues in Hungary, including the Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest synagogue in the world after the Temple Emanu-El in New York City.^[12]

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