Siebengemeinden Explained

The Siebengemeinden (he|שֶבַע קְהִלּוֹת; en|Seven Communities, hu|Hét hitközség^[1]) were seven Jewish communities located in Kismarton (today Eisenstadt, Austria) and its surrounding area. The groups are known as Sheva Kehillot in Hebrew.^[2]

History

The communities were established after 1670, when Paul I, 1st Prince Esterházy of Galántha accepted the Jews that had been expelled from Vienna by Leopold I.

The Siebengemeinden (now in Austrian Burgenland, which formerly belonged to Hungary) were composed of communities in Kismarton, Nagymarton (Mattersburg, old German name: Mattersdorf), Kabold (Kobersdorf), Lakompak (Lackenbach), Boldogasszony (Frauenkirchen), Köpcsény (Kittsee), and Sopronkeresztúr (Deutschkreutz, Hebrew: Tzeilem, Yiddish: Zelem). All together there numbered around 3,000 Jews, who were predominantly of Orthodox Jewish persuasion.

The most pious lived in Nagymarton and Sopronkeresztúr, where there were important yeshivas. Another community developed in Nagymarton under the leadership of Rabbi Moses Sofer (1763–1839). All seven communities fell victim to the persecution of the Jews under the government of the National Socialists.

People

• Samson Wertheimer (16581724), chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, and rabbi of Kismarton
• Moses Sofer, rabbi of Nagymarton, 1798 - 1806^[3]
• Joseph Joachim (1831 - 1907), violinist, conductor, composer from Köpcsény

Data from the 1910 Census

• Alsókismartonhegy (Unterberg, now part of Eisenstadt): 276 Jews (79.3% of the town or village)
• Lakompak (Lackenbach): 464 Jews (27.8%)
• Kabold (Kobersdorf): 256 Jews (20.2%)
• Sopronkeresztúr (Deutschkreutz): 621 Jews (18.6%)
• Boldogasszony (Frauenkirchen): 412 Jews (15.1%)
• Nagymarton (Mattersdorf, now Mattersburg): 511 Jews (13.5%)
• Kismarton (Eisenstadt): 168 Jews (5.5%)
• Felsőkismartonhegy (Oberberg, now part of Eisenstadt): 58 Jews (4.4%)
• Köpcsény (Kittsee): 92 Jews (2.9%)

See also

• Kiryat Mattersdorf
• History of the Jews in Hungary
• Jewish history of Slovakia
• Jewish history of Austria
• Austrian Jewish Museum

References

1. Web site: Magyar Zsidó Lexikon: Hét hitközség . 1929 . MEK-OSZK.hu . hu.
2. http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.s/s564875.htm Austria-Forum: Siebengemeinden
3. http://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl_11/197.pdf N. Vielmetti: Schreiber (Sofer, Hatam Sofer) Moses. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Band 11. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Further reading

• Johannes Reiss (ed.): Aus den Sieben-Gemeinden. Ein Lesebuch über Juden im Burgenland. Eisenstadt 1997.
• Hugo Gold (ed.): Gedenkbuch der untergegangenen Judengemeinden des Burgenlandes. Tel Aviv 1970.

External links

• SHEBA' ḲEHILLOT (Jewish Encyclopedia)