The folowing is from the Zemplen Megye volume of "Magyarorszag Varmegyei es Varosai" (edited Borovszky Samu, c. 1894). In translating this, I have left the Hungarian names unchanged, with the surname first. The anonymous author of this piece had a penchant for serious historical research, as is evident from his use of detailed archival material. He provides documentary evidence that Jews were able to buy real estate in Zemplen in the 1700s. Most standard histories claim that Jews could not own land in Hungary before the emancipation law of 1867. (I have looked at the tax census of 1828 for Szabolcs, and did not see any Jewish landowners there.) The author of this essay may have been Sandor Knopfler (1841-1929), a well known teacher at the Kastenbaum school and author on historical subjects related to Zemplen (and probably a cousin or even a half- brother of my great-grandmother Eszter Knopfler, the daughter of Rabbi Moshe Knopfler, a dayan and Talmud teacher in the early days of the Kastenbaum school). He is the author of a history of the Kastenbaum school, and the detailed treatment of it here suggests his hand, as does the hostile comment about the dress of Hassidic Jews. He was noted for his opposition to the Hassidim and their schools. The Israelite Community There is no documentary record to give the historian information about the earliest settlement of the Jews in Zemplen. In the record books of the city of Satoraljaujhely, we find for the first time in 1664 the first mention, that Macskassy Janos and his wife Zsido Katalin. The first official information about a Jew buying real property in Ujhely is from 1761, when the Jew Philep Izsak [note: in this period, any official record would have the notation "Judaeus" in front of the name of any Jew] and his wife, Judovics Erzsebet, bought a house in Paloty Street from the Honourable [lit: nagysagos] Szegedy Johanna. There is a mention from a generation earlier in a less official form. Teutsch David, an Ujhely resident who passed away in 1860, mentioned in his will that his grandfather settled in Ujhely in 1734, when there were only two Jewish families there. Later, one finds more frequent mention of Jews buying real property. Here, according to the city's registry book, on May 8, 1799 Kozba Gabor and his wife sold their hous in Cserko street to the Jew David Rabbe and Markus Anna, along with the cellar. Another record is from September 12, 1800, when the Greek merchant Rozsa Markus and his wife Marton Helena sold their vinyard in Vilyoka for 3000 forints. The first mention of the existence of a Jewish school in Ujhely is from 1744, in the record book of the steward of the Regeczi and Pataki estate (Conscriptio Pratorum). Here it mentions that in the "Willow Tree Meadow," which was owned by the city, there was a small section set aside for the Jewish school. The above mentioned documents cast an interesting light on land ownership by the Jews in the mid-18th century. It suggests that the claim that Jews could not buy or inherit land in the earliest times is a fallacy. It is possible that Zemplen County was more liberal in this regard than the laws of the rest of the country, and followed a different rule. This assumption is further supported by the official ruling of February 12, 1851 (no. 144) of the Zemplen royal law courts, directed to the political authorities. What is even more interesting from the viewpoint of Jewish cultural history is the finding that the city of Ujhely gave a piece of land from its own meadow for the Jewish school, so that the poor Jewish teacher could use it. We also read in the Ujhely registry [literally, orokvallasok konyve] book (1767, May 1, page 54) that the Royal Council sold a piece of land to one Jonas David, and at that time the neighbour on the northern boundary was the Jew Markovics. The documents of the Israelite congregation show that the Hevrah Kaddishah was incorporated in 1772. It follows from this that there must have been by that time a flourishing community in Ujhely. The benefits of this congregation to its members, and the importance the Jews placed on communal health, is also evident from the Ujhely registry book (1783, September 24, p. 189). This indicates that the Jews already had a hospital at that time. At this time, a goldsmith named Ruben Izsak was living in the city. The oldest Jewish gravestone in the old Jewish cemetery dates from the 1760s, but the deceased's name is illegible. The Jewish congregational archive holds the above- mentioned records. It also has the title page of an old worn out book of the Hevrah Kadishah. This most ancient memorial is very interesting from the viewpoint of cultural history. Two pages, illustrated with coloured pictures, explain that Rabbi Hirsch Naftali settled in Ujhely in 1772 and established the Hevrah Kaddishah. On the first page, the decorative pictures show a dying Jew is lying in bed, surrounded by his praying relatives. On the next page, the bed is empty, and the deceased, by ancient tradition, is lying on the floor; beside his head is a lit candle, beside which two children sit; on either side, two correligionists prepare to pick up the deceased. On the right hand our two other Jewish men, and in the background somebody sawing the planks for the coffin. At the bottom of the page, in the distance, the Jewish cemetery can be seen, surrounded by its stone wall; in the cemetery, the gravediggers are at work. Four Jews carry on their shoulders the black draped coffin [literally, "Saint Michael's horse," a common Magyar euphemism]. The dress of the Jews in these illustrations should be remarked on. Most of them are wearing shoes, with hose reaching up to their knees, and coats above their knees, and ordinary hats. That ugly costume, the shtreimel and caftan, with which the Polish Jews make unsightly ["disztelenitik"] the streets of Ujhely and northern Zemplen, is not to be seen in this picture. The county's record book for 1807 tells that the congregation had a major awkward incident due to the arrival of a rabbi from Poland. The authorities deported this rabbi back to Poland. We do not know where the synagogue stood before 1790; probably, they just had some sort of little prayer house. The older synagogue about which we do know stood in the garden of the present synagogue, and its walls abutted the back walls of the present Town Hall. The foundation used to belong to the estate of Baron Sennyey, and prior to its use for the synagogue it housed a granary. We know from a plaque carved in stone, which is now in the wall of the new synagogue, that the old synagogue was built in 1790. At the time the old synagogue was built, there must already have been a flourishing community in Ujhely, which we can see from the substantial size of that synagogue. This synagogue stood until 1887. When it was demolished, seven or eight underground cells were discovered, which suggests that a long time ago the site was used for a prison or monastery. There exist documents listing the names of all the heads of Jewish families from 1817-1819. This is on account of the so-called Lista Taxalis, or "tolerance tax" lists. This tax was brought in by Queen Maria Terezia in 1749, and the Jews paid this on top of their other taxes. Joseph II, however, required the Jews to adopt German names, and changed this to a royal tax. Proceeding in a more liberal spirit, he gave the Jews favours, and in particular extended the rights of the community to govern itself. The Ujhely Jewish congregation's oldest record book dates from February 13, 1831. That is when Grunfeld Hesel was chosen as registrar [jegyzo]. At this time, the famous Teitelbaum Mozes was the congregation's rabbi. Tradition names him as a wonder worker, and the faithful still flock by the thousands to his grave in Satoraljaujhhely. The congregation's record book has been written in Hungarian since 1834. In this first Hungarian record book, we read that in 1828-29 the Jews paid a tax of 2000 forints towards road repairs and mail delivery. On February 15, 1836, the community elected Schon Moricz as its president, and the members of the council were Engel Abraham, Berman Izrael, Thoman Mor, Kremer Mojzes, Reiner Abraham, Hartstein Pinkesz, Ginszler Aron and Reichmann Samuel. The first indications of a schism in the community are seen in the record book on March 4, 1842. The congregation complained to the government that a separate Jewish organization was in formation, whose members "want to separate themselves." A judge forbade the formation of this organization. Jewish public education really started only in 1838, with Kastenbaum's large endowment of 100,000, left in his will for the establishment of a Jewish primary school. The school was built in 1838, in what is now Rakoczy Street, and on its front is a red marble plaque with this inscription: "Israelite school endowed by Kesztenbaum Marton; opened October 16, 1838." At the opening ceremonies, Matolay Gabor, the head superintendent of schools, gave the inaugural address. The school's first principal, Thoman Mor (born 1792, died 1876) was the grandfather of our famous pianist, Thoman Istvan. The language of instruction in the school from the very beginning was Hungarian. One of the most famous teachers was Heilprinn Mihaly, who served the cause of the homeland's freedom and independence, first in 1848 as a soldier, and later as secretary to the Minister of the interior, Szemere Bertalan. In 1852, due to the congregation's dedication, the school was expanded to include a vocational school and a girls' school. In 1856, because of insufficient enrollment in the vocational section, it was cancelled and the girls' section was expanded by four classes. In 1860, the school was promoted to the status of "Israelite Royal Model School." Since 1872, it has been fulfilling its religious, cultural and patriotic activities as the "Congregational Public Primary School." In 1850 the Jewish population of Zemplen County was 14,988, which we know from the statistical research of Fenyes Elek. In 1852, Loew Jeremias was elected to be chief Rabbi, a cultured man of great learning. It was during his time that the congregation was divided, as the Hassidim formed a separate congregation and left the mother congregation. Loew kept up a Talmud school. After his death in 1874, his son Low Lazar was elected in his place. In his time, a new rupture occurred in the bosom of the community, as the Orthodox split off to form a new congregation. Since this time, Ujhely has three congregations, with three separate organizations, three synagogues, and two congregational schools. The Orthodox keep up a separate boys' public school, similarly with outstanding Hungarian teachers. An example of the religious tolerance in the 1840s is that even people of other religions assisted the poor of the congregation. In July of 1848, Mr. Spek, the chemist of Homonna, gave a perpetual endowment of 60 pengos to the local Jewish community. That the Jews of Ujhely played an active role among the freedom fighters of 1848 is attested to in the 1848 records. Many of them went to the war and more than one reached the rank of second-lieutenant. The 1850 record book shows that the Ujhely Jewish community was required [by the Austrian government, after the rebellion was put down] to pay the penalty tax that was imposed on all the Jewish congregations of Hungary (with the exceptions of Pozsony and Temesvar) for their participation in the war for liberation. [Further sections describing Homonna and Varanno will follow.] Translated by Peter Spiro.