POLLAK, MIKSA

POLLAK, MIKSA (1868–1944), Hungarian rabbi and historian; born in Beled, Hungary. He was a rabbi in Sopron from 1894 until he was killed in Auschwitz. His main works are Die Juden in Wiener-Neustadt (1927, earlier in Hung., 1892) and Die Geschichte der Juden in Oedenburg (1929, in Hung., 1896). Despite new sources, Pollak's works are still considered valid in their major conclusions. His other scholarly activities were centered on exploring biblical influences on great Hungarian poets – Arany János (1904), Tompa Mihály (1912), and Madách Imre (in IMIT, 1935–39). He also published a Hungarian translation of the prayer book. Pollak was an outstanding preacher; a volume of his collected sermons was published in 1938. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Scheiber, in: MHJ, 11 (1968), 5–15. (Alexander Scheiber)