VAC

VAC (Hung. Vác; Ger. Waitzen), city in N. central Hungary. A Jewish community was organized in Vac after the publication of the law on free residence (1841). A permanent synagogue was erected in 1864. After the separation (1869), it retained its former orientation of status quo ante . The elementary school of the community was established in 1857, and a secondary school for girls in 1922. The majority of the members of the community were merchants, contractors, and craftsmen. The first rabbi of the community was Anshel Neumann (1832–62) and its last rabbi was Sh.F. (Fülöp) Pollak (until 1944), who was deported together with the community. The Orthodox community had already been founded in 1868, and its synagogue and school were opened in 1882. Its rabbis were david judah leib silberstein (1876–84), his son Isaiah Silberstein (1884–1930), and his grandson Leib Silberstein (1935–44). In 1885 a yeshivah was established. D.Z. Katzburg published the Torah periodical Tel-Talpiyyot (from 1892 to 1938) in Vac. There were five Jews in Vac in 1840; 139 in 1869; 2,131 in 1910; 2,059 in 1920; 1,854 in 1941; and 377 in 1946. After the German invasion (March 19, 1944), the Jews of Vac were deported to Auschwitz, and only a few survived. (Baruch Yaron)