[Page 7]

The Jewish community was organized in the first half of the 19^th century. In the neighbouring city of Beregszasz, there was already an organized community with a synagogue and a ‘hevra kadisha’ by 1795. From this we can safely assume that the Jewish community in Kaszony was established not much later. For many years they could not afford their own rabbi and were, therefore, part of the rabbinate of Beregszasz or Munkacs.

From a religious point of view, every Jew in Kaszony was considered orthodox. 98% of them kept a kosher kitchen. Most of the Jews attended the synagogue on the Sabbath but in terms of practice, the differences were great. About 20% were considered “ultra–orthodox”. They spent a great deal of time studying and in the synagogue. They were easily identified by their clothing, beards, peyyot (side locks) tsitsiot (fringes) and the wigs of their women.

However, the great majority of the Jews, probably 80% of them, had none of these “typically Jewish” accoutrements. They dressed and behaved like the rest of the population except for wearing their best clothing on the Sabbath when all Jewish businesses were closed and the village assumed a holiday atmosphere.

The centres for Jewish learning were the heder, the yeshiva and the synagogue. Most of the Jewish children from the age of three attended the heder. The teacher was usually a person who had graduated from a yeshiva and had decided to devote his career to teaching. He was supported partially by the community and partly by direct payment from the parents, according to their ability to contribute. Children attended heder generally until the age of sixteen.

More ambitious students continued their education in a yeshiva or in a high school in Beregszasz or Munkacs. To the yeshiva arrived hundreds of young “bachurim” (young men) from within a hundred mile radius to study a year or more with the famous “Kaszonyer Rebbe”. On the Jewish holidays, many more Hasidism arrived to be with the rabbi. They wore the traditional “shtreimlech” (fur hats) and black or white socks under long flowing coats.

The synagogue was crowded only on the Sabbath and on holidays. During the week, it was not much of a problem to get together a minyan (10 Jews over thirteen years of age), but not many more attended. The synagogue was the place for circumcisions, for “bevarfen” (throwing), where the bridegroom was called to the Torah before his wedding and was showered by the women with candy, which the children quickly picked up. In the winter, the synagogue's ‘court–shtibl' (chapel) was used for prayers, study and the discussion of daily events and politics.

The community also maintained a cemetery and a Hevra Kedisha (burial society), to assure burial according to the Jewish tradition. The dead were taken to the cemetery in a special coffin carried by the friends and relatives of the deceased. The body was interred directly into the earth and the coffin was used over and over again.

[Page 8]

A special Jewish institution was the kosher slaughterhouse – one for cattle and another for poultry. All Jews bought their supply of meat from a kosher butcher who was under rabbinical supervision. Poultry was taken alive to the schochet (slaughterer) and brought back to the kitchen only if he had declared it kosher.

Another Jewish tradition was the baking of “cholent”, a dish made of meat and beans in the baker's ovens for Sabbath use. Most of the Jewish families, especially in winter, prepared this repast in a special ceramic dish and all the Jewish families took them to the ovens of the two Jewish bakers where they remained in his oven until Sabbath morning when they were picked up by their owners. This practice precluded the necessity for cooking on the Sabbath, yet provided a substantial dish for the family.

Students of the Yeshiva
Zwi Elimelech Feder	Hayem (Hendrych) Feder

[Page 9]

Yeshiva “Ateret Zvi” – Kaszony 1939

[Page 10]

The Zionist movement reached Kaszony in the 1920's. The first Zionist boy and girl scout organization was the “Hashomer kadimah” (The Advance Guard) which was founded in 1928 under the leadership of Fendrich Marton. Approximately thirty to forty children between the ages of eight and fourteen joined the group which lasted for five or six years.

In the early 1930's, the revisionist movement established a “Betar” organization under the leadership of Dezso Rapaport, Henry Ackerman and Siku Klein. Betar remained an active force among the Jews of Kaszony until the war, having up to eighty active members. Each summer, several young people left to participate in their summer camps where they received recreational and even para–military training. They wore brown shirts at their gatherings and studied Hebrew, Jewish history and politics. They followed the teachings of Zeev Jabotinsky. Their ‘moadon’ (club house) became the recreational centre of the young people. On Saturdays, they had their own ‘minyan’ (10 Jews over 13 years of age) in the ‘moadon’ which was in one of the rooms of Ignac Schwartz's house. Major events of Betar were the yearly Hanukah shows and dances.

Betar – Kaszony, 1940 Standing: Salamon Jozsi, Auspitz Miklos, Berkovics Bela, Herbstman Pubi, Akerman Henrich, Herbstman Menyus, Klein Jozsi, Einczig Miki and Grosz Jozsi Sitting: Ackerman Yoszi and Friedman Mojshi

In 1933, Betar organized in Kaszony a ‘hachsarah’ for the movement. About fifty to sixty young men and women arrived from all over sub–Carpathian and Slovakia to work in the vineyards of Kaszony as their preparation for Aliyah to Palestine. The ‘hachsarah’ existed in Kaszony for two to three years.

[Page 12]

In the mid–1930's, a strong competitor of Betar was established. The League for Eretz Yisrael Haovedet (The League for Labour Eretz Yisrael). The local representative was Suli Klein. The League drew its membership mostly from among the working class and the small businessmen. In their orientation, they followed the policies of David Ben Gurion. The members of the League were less visible than Betar. They never attained the same influence but, nevertheless, developed a youth organization which practically saved the lives of many youngsters in our village.

This organization became known as ‘Dror–Hechaluz Hatzair’ (Freedom – Young Pioneers). It was formed in Kaszony in 1934 by the writer of this book who became attached to this movement in Munkacs. The local organizer was Karcsi Lebovics. The club's ‘moadon’ was in his parents' home and workplace. Dror's membership came from the poorest non–orthodox young people of Kaszony. Many of them were too poor to attend high school or even to have an opportunity to learn a trade. This group grew slowly to about thirty members. They met frequently to study Hebrew and to read together Jewish literature supplied to them by their headquarters. After 1939, when the movement developed industrial ‘hachsharas’ in Budapest, most of them left home to learn a trade there. Many of them survived the Holocaust in Budapest.

Except for Betar, the League for Labour Eretz Israel and Dror, no other Zionist organization existed in Kaszony. While the religious Zionists certainly had individual members in Kaszony, they never managed to grow into a viable movement.

[Page 13]

The Holocaust Period

The Hungarian Period and the Holocaust in Kaszony

In 1938, the border between Czechoslovakia and Hungary became “hot”. Hungarian guerrillas (Szabadosok) started to disturb the Czechs by shooting at them. These guerrillas were recruited mostly from highly nationalistic elements that were also anti-Semitic. They were potentially dangerous to the Jewish population. At the end of October, the fighting between the Czechs and the Hungarian guerrilla forces became so fierce that the Czechs decided to evacuate the population. After the “Vienna decision” of November 2, 1938, the people were allowed to return to their homes.

Two days before the Hungarian Army returned to Kaszony on November 10, 1938, the Jews, like the rest of the population, displayed Hungarian flags on their houses. Many Jews, especially of the older generation remembering the “good old days» of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were looking forward to the disappearance of the border between Kaszony and the satellite villages which had remained after World War I.

But then it happened. As soon as the Czech army left, the Hungarian guerrillas started to terrorize the Jewish population by breaking windows and tearing down the Hungarian flags from their homes. The Jewish young people of the village organized a self-defence group and chased the guerrillas back over the border. There were a few influential Hungarian families, like Horthy Sandors (a distant relative of Horthy, the regent of Hungary) who helped the Jews by summoning the gendarmeries from Barabas, the nearest Hungarian village.

But help was otherwise non-existent. As soon as the Hungarian army returned, all anti-Jewish laws which had already existed in Hungary became law in Kaszony. The first targets were the so-called 'foreign' Jews, those who could not prove Hungarian citizenship. They were molested and threatened with deportation to Poland. Luckily, the deportation was stopped in October of 1941, after the Kamenetz-Podolsk massacre. (Described on page 17 in this book).

The next step was the “review of licenses”. Jews were not allowed to keep their stores or to work in the professions. Only a few of them, if they could show that they had served in World War I with distinction, were exempt. Many Jewish families either took on manual labour jobs which were still allowed, or became unemployed. Some of the Jewish businesses re-opened by taking in a non-Jew as a partner (straw man). The Jewish partner was allowed to work for the non-Jewish partner. For example, the movie theatre was taken over by the Horthy family but the Einczig family continued to run it for a fee.

Young people, and later the not-so-young, were called up to serve in the labour battalions which were run by the Hungarian army. All the officers of the labour battalions were officers in the army. Jews were allowed to “help out” with the management and organization of the work task. (see details on page 18). Fifty-seven Jews from Kaszony lost their lives in these labour camps. (see list on page 39).

[Page 14]

The worst came after March 19, 1944 when the German army occupied Hungary. Jews lost any remaining civil rights and all of their properties. All in Kaszony, who were not in work camps or in Budapest, were transferred to the ghetto in Beregszasz and from there to Auschwitz.

The Liquidation of the Jewish Community

Rozsi Ackerman-Weissman, one of the survivors, described the liquidation of Jewish life in Kaszony as follows: “Roth Dezso and my father Lajos Ackerman were the last elected officials of the Jewish community in Kaszony. The Germans arrived in Kaszony on Erev Pesach (the day before Passover) and took over the organization of the “re-settlement” programme in cooperation with the local gendarmerie. Already on the first day of Passover, some of the Jewish families were transferred to the Kont and Vary brick factories in Beregszasz. Three days later, all Jewish families of Kaszony were transferred into the local schools and synagogue and from there to the brick factory. We were allowed to take with us no more than that which we could carry in our own hands. The ten-mile journey to Beregszasz was carried out by horse-drawn carriages supplied by the largest Jewish landowner, Menyus Klein. In the brick factory, we slept on floors without any roof above our heads. We built protective walls from the bricks but this didn't protect us from the rain and wind. For the first few days we still had food from home but later, food became scarce. Sanitation facilities were horrendous and medical services or medicine was in short supply. Some of the old and very young died in the ghetto. The evacuation started on May 15, 1944. We were packed in freight cars, not less than 80 persons in one sealed wagon. In Kassa, the train was taken over by the Germans but we still didn't know anything about our destination. The trip to Auschwitz lasted about three days. There we went through the selection process. Only the young and healthy people were selected for work. I was separated from my father, my mother and Joli, my youngest sister. I have never seen them again. After some months, I was sent with several hundred other girls to work in a factory in the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, where I was liberated by the Russian army in May, 1945. I was lucky to find two of my older brothers in Debrecen, Hungary. We decided to move to Israel and not to return to Kaszony ever, ever again”.

[Page 15]

The Names of Those Who Died in Kaszony Between 1938-1944

Braun Lajos Burger Hermina Felberbaum Zipora Rajze Fendrich Perl (Pepi néni) Fendrich Maier (in a work accident) Fendrich Etus Fendrich Lenke Fendrich Maierné, Fani Glaub Borbala Herbstman Aranka Herskovics, Liebe néni Jonas Jozsef Jonas Marton Klein Davidné Klein Ferenczné, Berta Klein Hermanné, Laura Klein Jenoné, Ilonka Klein Menyus (in a car accident) Rapaport Samuel Rapaport Haye Roth Klara Spiegel Hanna Schwartz Regina Veres Roza Weisz Maier Weisz Matyi

[Page 16]

The tombstone of Rabbi Yehosaf (Jodeph) Rottenberg. He died in 1911

Tombstone of Regina Schwartz. She died in 1939

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