Localities and loyalties.

New findings in the research on Hungarian Jewry
Viktoria Bányai
PhD, Senior Research Fellow

The papers in this issue are based on presentations of a conference. The conference titled New Findings in the Research of the Hungarian Jewry was organised jointly by the Institute for Minority Studies of the Centre for Social Sciences and the Henrik Marczali Research Group of the Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies, Hungary on 30 September 2021 in Budapest. (The organising committee consisted of Péter Turbucz, Mihály Huszár, and Viktória Bányai.) The two organising institutions are both committed to the history of Hungarian Jewry, and beyond their own research, they strive to provide a professional background for the wider academic community as well. The primary aim of the gathering was to address those involved in the research of rural Jewry in a broader sense: to create an opportunity for historians, archivists, museologists, librarians to present their new research findings and to engage in a professional dialogue, where they can gain insights, perspectives and inspiration from each other’s work and experiences. Their commitment to learning about the past of rural Jewry is an example we thought worth sharing with a wider audience. Another focus of the conference was the outstanding work of the historian Henrik Marczali (1856–1940), as explored by researchers associated with the Henrik Marczali Research Group, which will also be presented to the reader.
Of the 16 lectures given at that time, 11 evolved into papers. The first of these is a historiographical overview by Miklós Konrád, which summarises the characteristics of Jewish local history research from the Reform era to the present day. It stresses the indispensable nature of these studies, their importance as foundations for systematic reviews, and identifies directions and fields in which there is still a great deal of academic work to be done. Each of the other ten studies is a good example of deep drilling, drawing on a rich resource base, enriching our image of Hungarian Jewry with new insights, including in the areas identified by Miklós Konrád as needing more attention.
The rural localities of the papers are as follows: Csepel, Kocs, Mocsa, Tatabánya, Győr, Szeged, Szombathely, Körmend, Kőszeg, Rábahídvég, and Marcali. The dilemmas of loyalty and identity choices that accompany the Hungarian-Jewish history of the late 19th and 20th centuries are exposed in a more general socio- and cultural-historical context. We are presented with seemingly unproblematic periods and situations of economic empowerment and social integration, as well as of marginalisation and persecution. Personal and social dilemmas and choices are brought into sharpest focus in the context of World War I, Jewish scouting and the football tournaments of the World War II years.
By publishing these research findings, we would also like to support the work that will begin this year in many rural settlements to review the history of the local Jewish communities in preparation for the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust, and to document its last remaining traces.