For Jewish communities worldwide, Munkatch is more than just the name of a town; Munkatch is an idea. From the 19th century onwards, Munkatch appeared more and more in Central and Eastern European Jewish correspondence. From the time of Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira, Munkatch became a pivotal part of the religious Jewish world. Munkatch was called the Jerusalem of Transcarpathia or even of Hungary because a good third and at some point even half of Munkatch residents were Jewish. During the Spira dynasty, a Hasidic court emerged in Munkatch, which considerably influenced local and neighbouring Jewish communities. Although people suffered the miseries of everyday life, overall, they were happy and satisfied because their strong faith provided comfort. Within the territory of historical Greater-Hungary, Munkatch was arguably one of the most pious communities where people served God with the greatest dedication.
In 1944, Munkatch Jews were among the first Hungarian Jews to be deported to Auschwitz. After liberation, the few survivors of concentration and death camps and forced labour tried to rebuild the community from its ruins, but Communism was very anti-religious, and many felt their only choice was emigration. Thus most survivors left the land of their forefathers and tried to build a new life, mainly in the United States and Israel. However, even then, the “Munkatch diaspora” still existed because some Auschwitz survivors remained in the town; some stayed even after returning from Siberian internment camps. The remnants of those who remained had no trained religious leader. They were without a rabbi, so their religious practices were based on childhood memories, thus creating a unique culture of religious legacy following in the footsteps of their pious forebears. Jews did not even have a synagogue, so they had to create a prayer hall in an apartment room. Although their attire or the strictness of their religious practices did not reflect the Munkatch’ Hasidic influence, their gestures, words, and certain practices preserved elements of pre-war Hasidic life. Ethnographer Miklós Rékai recorded these in his book “Set Table” of the Jews of Munkatch (A munkácsi zsidók „terített asztala”).
The remainder of the survivors created a unique system of beliefs that blended the Puritanism of Communist life with the richness of Jewish folklore. Éva Horvát took pictures of this singular world between 1992 and 1994, thus preserving the last three years of the remnants of the remainder of the “Jews of Munkatch.” By the middle of the ‘90s, the “Jews of Munkatch” had virtually all left the town. The Jews still living in Munkatch had moved there from other towns and villages. They tried to maintain a Munkatch community with the last, desperate efforts of a rabbi. But today, even this last effort is only a memory. One of the most important communities of the Jewish diaspora, the Munkatch diaspora has ceased to exist physically. Its spirit and memory, however, live on in so many ways. Éva Horvát’s album may be considered the closing chord in this symphony of Munkatch traditions.
Viktor Cseh