(Pages 452-453)

Pecovska Nova Ves was established at the beginning of the thirteenth century. At its beginning it was situated in the Novy Hrad estate, and afterwards it belonged to some noble Hungarian families. During the Wars of the Nobility in 1709, the village was destroyed completely and abandoned, but during the eighteenth century it was reconstructed. Its owners, during this era, were the counts Pecheny. The population of Pecovska Nova Ves, mostly Roman Catholic Slovaks, made their living as farmers, raised cattle, and wove fabrics. In the nineteenth century there was a long period of unemployment in the village, and much of the population immigrated to the United States or moved away.

During the Czech Republic era, Pecovska Nova Ves remained a small, poor village. During the years 1939-1945, it was included in the area of the Slovak State, established under Nazi auspices. Pecovska Nova Ves was liberated in January 1945 by the Soviet and Czech armies.

History of the Community

At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were only a few Jews in Pecovska Nova Ves. A document of the period shows the name of a local Jewish family who produced and sold hard liquor. According to a list of taxpayers in 1768, already there wee nine Jewish families from Galicia in the village. Most were peddlers. During the week the peddlers and their wares moved among the villages, and also came to the weekly fair in Sabinov.

The Jewish part of the village amounted to a neighborhood of the nearby town of Sabinov, although Jews were not formally allowed to settle there. According to a document from 1786, the Jews were permitted to trade in the Sabinov market, but their request to open shops was denied. During the nineteenth century Jews continued to settle in Pecovska Nova Ves. Their number peaked at 280, but when Jews were allowed to settle in Sabinov and other larger towns, there was an opposite trend. Many Jews settled in Sabinov, and were founders of the community, or in Pecovska Nova Ves. At the beginning of the twentieth century the population was smaller than that of the nineteenth century. Jews continued to leave small towns.

The Jewish community in Pecovska Nova Ves was one of the oldest in the Saris area. It was established, all according to local tradition, in the middle of the eighteenth century, and also Jews from neighboring villages belonged to it. In the 1870's the first wood synagogue was built in Pecovska Nova Ves. The schohet (ritual slaughterer) was also a Hebrew teacher.

In 1785 there were about 140 Jews in Pecovska Nova Ves, and the local community was the second largest in the Saris district. From the 1790's there were rabbis in Pecovska Nova Ves who served another 21 surrounding communities. The first rabbi, Itzhak Frankel, also directed the Talmud Torah, which included a dozen pupils. His successors were: Rabbi Shlomo Diamont (died in 1865), and Rabbi Moshe Kohan Gross, who established a yeshiva in Pecovska Nova Ves with about 60 students. In 1868 as the number of Jews grew, a grand, classically-styled synagogue was dedicated. After the split of Hungarian Jews in 1869, the community in Pecovska Nova Ves joined the organization of Orthodox communities. From 1872 the Rabbi was Naftali Sofer of Bratislava (died in 1899), the author of Mate Naftali, and other books. He was one of the disciples of Hatam Sofer, and famous for his sharp intellect and depth of Halachic knowledge. During this era the yeshiva of Pecovska Nova Ves grew, and Sabinov and Buèovice communities, as well as Jews from many other little villages without Jewish communities. After his death there were no more rabbis in Pecovska Nova Ves. The local community became weaker and weaker and lost its position.

After World War I the community numbered about 90, and belonged to the Sabinov rabbinate. It continued to function, and the community employed a shochet (religious slaughterer), who was also a Hebrew teacher. Jewish children studied in the local public school.

At this time most Jews in the village made their living in retail trade, as artisans, or in agriculture. In 1921 Jews were the owners of 4 groceries, 2 saloons, a flour mill, and a few farms. Among the Jews were also a few merchants who sold produce, and a few artisans who wandered with their tools from village to village.

The Holocaust Period

When the Slovak state was established on March 14, 1939, about 80 Jews remained in Pecovska Nova Ves. From 1940 they belonged to the “Jews Center” in Sabinov. They remained as exiles during the spring-summer of 1942. On March 20, 1942 there was a hunt for young Jewish girls. Those who were caught were sent to collection point in Popard. On March 25 they were added to the first transport from Slovakia to the Auschwitz death camp. A few days after the expulsion of the young girls, young boys from Pecovska Nova Ves and neighboring villages were sent from a transit camp in Jelina to the Maidanek concentration camp in the Lublin district in Poland. The majority of Jews who still remained in the village were sent on May 23, 1942 through Sabinov to Rejowiec ghetto in the Lublin district. After expulsions stopped in 1942, one Jewish family remained in Pecovska Nova Ves. Thanks to the family occupation as farmers, they got a protection document. In May 1944 this family was also sent to West Slovakia, and from that time there were no more Jews in Pecovska Nova Ves.

After the war some Jewish survivors returned to Pecovska Nova Ves, but left after a short time. The deserted synagogue was used as a storage facility, and the Jewish cemetery was neglected.

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