Dr. Simon Ungar (1864–1942) was a doctor of oriental medicine and rabbi of the
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
Jewish Community who was killed during the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
.
Ungar was born in Máramarossziget,
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
(now
Sighetu Marmației,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
) to an
Orthodox Jewish family. His family spoke
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
. After he was educated by his father, a teacher, Ungar continued studying
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
. At the same time he also learned
Hungarian language
Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...
. Ungar continued his high school education in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. He also attended rabbinical seminar and studied at the Budapest Faculty of Philosophy. Ungar was fluent in Yiddish,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
,
Croatian, Hungarian,
Serbian,
German and
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
. Upon completing his education Ungar was rabbi in
Szekszárd
Szekszárd (, formerly also ''Szegzárd''; ; or ; ) is a small city in southern Hungary and the capital of Tolna County. By population, Szekszárd is the smallest county capital in Hungary; by area, it is the second-smallest (after Tatabánya). ...
, Hungary. In 1901 he was appointed as the chief rabbi of the Osijek Jewish Community. He was very active in the Osijek Jewish community and actively participated in the Osijek's cultural and social life. In 1942 Ungar was arrested, he died during deportation in the
cattle wagon
A cattle wagon or a livestock wagon is a type of railway vehicle designed to carry livestock. Within the classification system of the International Union of Railways they fall under Class H - special covered wagons - which, in turn are part of the ...
routed to
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia durin ...
.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ungar, Simon
1864 births
1942 deaths
People from Sighetu Marmației
Jews from Austria-Hungary
Croatian people of Romanian-Jewish descent
20th-century Croatian rabbis
People who died in Jasenovac concentration camp
Croatian civilians killed in World War II
Modern Orthodox rabbis
Croatian Jews who died in the Holocaust
Croatian Orthodox rabbis