SZOLNOK

SZOLNOK, city in E. central Hungary. Jews began to settle there around 1830; at first Jewish peddlers were only permitted to enter the city during the day. In 1848 there were 60 Jews in the city. A synagogue was built in 1850 (later used by the Orthodox congregation) and a second one in 1857. A talmud torah was founded in 1925. After the schism in Hungarian Jewry in 1868–69 the community of Szolnok joined the Neologists. In 1898 a magnificent synagogue was built. The community numbered 818 persons in 1869; 1,101 in 1880; 1,455 in 1890; 1,952 in 1900; 2,062 in 1910; 2,103 in 1920, 2,098 in 1930, and 2,590 in 1941. The Jews in Szolnok mainly engaged in trade and crafts, but also served as government and municipal officials. Rabbis of Szolnok were E. Klein (from 1854), V.I. Friedlieber (1887–91) and K. Heves (1898–1945), who died in Budapest. -Holocaust and Contemporary Periods During World War II, after the German invasion on March 19, 1944, the 1,800 remaining Jews in Szolnok were confined in a ghetto and at the end of June deported to auschwitz and Austria. After the war 609 Jews returned to Szolnok. They numbered 320 in 1953 and 200 in 1970. The great synagogue was converted into a municipal library. The mathematician G. Szegö and the author A. Komor were born in Szolnok. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: BJCE. (Baruch Yaron and Alexander Scheiber)