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Snina was first mentioned in documents dating from 1364, as part of the Humenné (q.v.) estate of the nobleman DRUGHET, but was probably established many years before that. In the 17^th century mining and smelting of iron-ore began in the area. Its inhabitants were mostly Slovaks and a few Ruthenians, who mostly belonged to the Greek-Orthodox Church. They made their living from forestry, wood-working, cattle and sheep raising, and metal mining and processing. In the 19^th century, Snina became the capital of the district, its economy developed and many sawmills were established.

In the time of the Czechoslovak Republic, Snina suffered persistent unemployment, and some of its inhabitants migrated. During the Second World War, Snina was included within the borders of the Slovakian State that was declared under the aegis of Nazi Germany. During the years 1943-1944 anti-Nazi Slovak partisans were active. After suppression of the Slovak rebellion in the fall of 1944, Snina fell into the hands of the Germans. On 26 November 1944, Snina was liberated by the Soviet Army.

History of the Community

In the middle of the 18^th century, before Snina had its own Jewish kehila (community), communal prayer was held in private homes. In 1787, Jews of Snina opened a cheder (Hebrew school) for children and toward the end of the century, they sanctified a cemetery (the earliest tombstone in it dates from 1793). In the 1830s, an independent Jewish community existed, and in 1842, the first synagogue was built of wood, and in its courtyard apartments for the shochet (ritual slaughterer) and teacher. In time, other communal buildings were erected. In the middle of the 19^th century the kehila maintained a Talmud Torah. Snina's Jews conducted themselves according to the Hasidic way of life that they brought with them from their kehilot in Galicia, and this kehila was Hasidic. At that same time, this small kehila did not have its own rabbi and Rabbi Abraham Aharon TEITELBAUM who led the neighboring town of Kolbasov, served as its rabbi also. In the first 60 years, the kehila opened a basic school in which the languages of instruction were in German and Hungarian, and it was managed by the teacher MANHEIM. At the time of the 1869 split of the Hungarian Jewish communities, Snina defined itself as Orthodox and joined the Organization of Orthodox Kehilot. In 1880 revised its bylaws and they were approved again in 1914. From 1880 onward, rabbis led (the kehila) in Snina. The first, Rabbi Shmuel Segal KRAUS, served until 1912, and after him, Rabbi Reuven Chaim KLEIN author of Mateh Reuven, was elected to lead, and he opened a small yeshiva in Snina. At his side, presided the dayan and teacher, Rabbi Moshe HALBERSTAM. In 1893 a new synagogue was dedicated and communal prayer was conducted in the Ashkenazi nusach (style), and a few years later a second synagogue was established for Hasidim in the Sephardic nusach. Next to the synagogue a community center was built with apartments for the community's workers (chazzan (cantor), shochet (titual slaughter), and melamdim (teachers)).

With the outbreak of World War I, 37 of Snina's Jews were drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army; 7 fell in battle. As the war went on, the Russians conquered Snina, and many Jews fled and only returned to the city months after they retreated. Several Jews were captured by the Russians and released only after the war.

The Jews between the Two World Wars

In the inter-war period the “Agudas Yisroel^[3]” party was the largest in Snina. It provided extensive educational activities, and alongside it ran the youth movement “Tseirey Agudas Yisroel” (for boys) and “Beis Yakov” for girls. In the town during the same years, Zionist activities also began. The head of the local Zionist branch was Dr. Ferdinand KORNFELD and the main activities were collecting donations for national funds and the study of Hebrew. The active Zionist parties in Snina were the “Mizrachi,” “General Zionists,” “The League for Working Eretz-Yisrael,” and the Revisionists. In 1929, Snina's Jews collected 1,500 Kronen in donations to Keren Kayemet to plant a forest in Israel in the name of Czechoslovakia's president, Jan MASARYK. The National Jewish Party was also active in Snina and participated in local municipal elections.

The Jews of Snina were very religious and did not mix much with the non-Jews, unlike their brethren in other places in Slovakia at that time. Only a few of them, mostly those with more open professions, served the general public – the district doctor, Ferdinand KORNFELD, district doctor Herman HOFMAN, and two senior clerks in the district government.

Despite that the Jewish population of Snina was about 10%, they had a large part in the economical activities, principally in trade, business, and small industry. In the first two decades there were among them, 30 merchants, 11 business owners (5 shoemakers, 3 tailors, a butcher, tinker, and a baker), a few farmers, expert builders, two doctors, a lawyer, some clerks. Also a large factory for wood working, a factory for light drinks, and an “economy bank” were owned by Jews. From the list of business permits issued by the local business office in 1921, one can see their role in Snina's business sector:

Type of Business	Number of Businesses	Jewish Owned
Groceries and general stores	9	9
Textiles and clothing	6	6
Haberdashery and Tobacco	4	2
Wood, heating and building supplies	3	3
Agricultural products	2	2
Strong drinks (liquor)	2	2
Others	5	2

The Holocaust Period

In the spring of 1942 deportations from Snina began. On March 21 young Jewish men and women were rounded up. On March 22, about 50 young Jewish women from Snina and its environs were sent to the collection camp in Poprad (q.v.) and on the 25^th they were deported from there to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Dozens of young men were sent to the collection camp in Zilina (q.v.) and deported from there to the Majdanek camp in the Lublin region of Poland. On May 7, the authorities began to round up most of the remaining Jews with the intent of deportation. A non-Jewish local resident offered to hide Rabbi Reuven Chaim KLEIN until the outrage had passed, but the rabbi refused to cut himself off from his congregation and was deported with them. Most of the Jews of Snina and its environs were taken to the concentration center in Humenné and on May 11 joined the transport to the Chelm Ghetto in the Lublin region, and from there they were deported to the extermination camp in Sobibor.

In the fall of 1942, after the deportations stopped, eight Jewish families remained in Snina and two more in adjoining settlements, all of whom held exemption certificates and their deportations were deferred. In May 1944 the last of Snina's Jews were evacuated to western Slovakia. In September 1944 as the Germans were entering Slovakia, some of them succeeded in escaping and hiding. But some fell into the hands of the Germans and were deported to extermination camps.

Post-War

Stakčín

Kolbasov

References:

Translator's notes

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