MAKO

MAKO (Hung. Makó), town in S. Hungary. Jews were first authorized to settle in Mako in 1740. In 1748 they founded a ḥevra kaddisha in the town, and the community was probably organized at that time. A Jewish school was also opened. The first synagogue was erected in 1814, and the magnificent great synagogue was built in 1914. After 1868 the community was split into two factions and in 1870 the Orthodox built a synagogue. There were 158 Jews in Mako in 1773, earning their livelihood mainly from trade, especially in onions which grew abundantly in the surroundings. There were also Jewish craftsmen. From 154 in 1824 the Jewish population increased to 1,200 by 1858. The Jews numbered 1,928 in 1918, 2,380 in 1920, and 1,125 in 1941. The first rabbi of the town was Jacob Selig (1773). Others were solomon ullman (1826–1863), who maintained a yeshivah, and Enoch Fischer (1864–1896), the father of the poet emil makai . The last rabbis were the historian A. Kecskeméti (1898–1944) and M. Vorhand (Orthodox). The renowned journalist and publisher joseph pulitzer was born in this town. After the German invasion (March 19, 1944) a ghetto was set up for the 3,000 Jews of Mako and the surrounding area. All were transferred to Szeged at the end   of June and deported to auschwitz , with some going to Austria; only around 600 returned to reestablish a community in 1949. The synagogue was demolished in the late 1960s. In 1970 there were 98 Jews in Mako. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Á. Kecskeméti, A csanádmegyei zsidók története (1929); A. Scheiber, in: MHJ, 12 (1969), 5–18. (Alexander Scheiber)