Bonyhád (german: Bonnhard) is a town in

Tolna County Tolna ( hu, Tolna megye, ; german: Komitat Tolnau) is an administrative county ( comitatus or megye) in present Hungary as it was of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube. It shares border ...

in Southwestern

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

Government

It is governed by a city council and a mayor. The current mayor of Bonyhád is Filóné Ferencz Ibolya who has served in this capacity since 2014.

Populations

The town's ethnic composition includes

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Ural ...

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, Székely and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

and the town has a long history. In the years leading to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Bonyhád had a sizable Jewish population. In 1941,

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

constituted approximately 14% of the total population. The community was divided between Orthodox and

Neolog Judaism Neologs ( hu, neológ irányzat, "Neolog faction") are one of the two large communal organizations among Hungarian Jewry. Socially, the liberal and modernist Neologs had been more inclined toward integration into Hungarian society since the Era ...

traditions. At the time Rabbi Aaron Pressburger and Rabbi Lajos Schwartz were the town's Orthodox and Neologue rabbis. They accompanied their community to Auschwitz where they too were murdered. There were many in Bonyhád who considered themselves German and were members of the pro-Nazi Volksbund. Perhaps that is why a large Hitler birthday event took place in Bonyhád with the German ambassador in attendance. After the occupation of

by the German army in March 1944, the town's remaining Jewish citizens were isolated and their property was confiscated by the Hungarian authorities. In May 1944, the Jewish population was estimated at around 1,300. Between May 12–15, 1944 the Jewish communities of Bonyhád, Bátaszék, Szekszárd and surrounding villages were moved to the two ghettos in Bonyhád. Some Jews were severely tortured to find out where they may have placed valuables. On July 1, 1944 those in the two ghettos were transported by train to the Lakitcs military barracks in the nearby city Pécs and from there deported in horrible conditions to Auschwitz, where most were murdered upon arrival on June 9, 1944 - Tamuz 18, 5704 on the Jewish calendar. Bonyhád was captured and occupied on 30 November 1944 by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

troops of the

3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front ( Russian: Третий Украинский фронт) was a Front of the Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southweste ...

in the course of the Budapest Offensive. After the war many in the Volksbund were deported and Székely Hungarians were brought to settle from Hungarian regions of Romania. A few Jewish survivors made an effort to reestablish in Bonyhád the Orthodox and Neologue communities. After the 1956 revolt most of Bonyhád's Jews escaped to freedom from Hungary and settled mainly to North America and Israel. By 1963 there were only 4 Jewish families left in the town.

Facilities

Bonyhád is home to the Völgység Museum. The town's population is served by a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

church and a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

church. The remains of the town's two

Synagogues A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

are still visible. There are nine cemeteries, including an Orthodox and the Neologue Jewish cemetery. Various sporting facilities and three high school/college compounds (e.g. Petőfi Sándor Evangélikus Gimnázium, Perczel Mór Szakközépiskola) along with the City Hospital currently serve the residents. Telephone service is provided by Bonicom Kft. Gas service is provided by Futomu Kft and water by Vizmu Reszleg.

Sport

* Bonyhád VLC

Twin towns – sister cities

Bonyhád is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Borsec, Romania * Jastrowie, Poland *

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; german: Pantschowa; hu, Pancsova; ro, Panciova; sk, Pánčevo) is a city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on ...

, Serbia * Siculeni, Romania *

Treuchtlingen Treuchtlingen is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 12,000. History The spot where the town is situated was first settled by Celts, Romans and Franks. The town proper was founded i ...

, Germany * Tvrdošovce, Slovakia * Wernau, Germany

References

External links

*
Street map

Bonyhad Jewish Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonyhad Populated places in Tolna County