Traces of the Holocaust in our communities in Levice Sovakia and Constanta Romania (1).pdf

The Jewish community in Levice, Slovakia, has a
rich and complex history that reflects the broader
experiences of Jews in Central Europe. Established in
the 19th century, the community played a significant
role in the cultural and economic life of the town.
Levice's Jews were involved in various trades, crafts,
and professions, contributing to the town's prosperity.
They built synagogues, schools, and community
centers, creating a vibrant cultural and religious life.
However, the community faced significant challenges,
particularly during World War II, when Nazi occupation
led to the deportation and extermination of many of its
members. After the war, the surviving Jewish
population was greatly diminished, and the community
struggled to rebuild. Despite these hardships, the
legacy of the Jewish community in Levice is preserved
through restored historical sites and the efforts of both
local and international organizations dedicated to
remembering and honoring Jewish heritage. Today,
while the Jewish population in Levice is small, their
historical contributions continue to be recognized and
celebrated, illustrating a resilient and enduring
presence in the region.
E-MAGAZINE ISSUE 1 TRACES
OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
eTwinning teams of Slovakia and Romania
Contributor
ETWINNING
✡️Traces of the Holocaust in our
communities in Levice Sovakia
and Constanta Romania ✡️
The Jewish community in Constanța, Romania, has
a deep and multifaceted history, emblematic of the
broader Jewish experience in Eastern Europe. Jews
first settled in Constanța in the late 19th century, drawn
by the city's burgeoning port and commercial
opportunities. Over time, they established a thriving
community that played a vital role in the economic,
cultural, and social fabric of the city. The Jewish
population engaged in various trades, including
commerce, crafts, and the liberal professions,
significantly contributing to the local economy. They
built synagogues, schools, and community institutions
that fostered a rich cultural and religious life. Notably,
the Grand Synagogue, an architectural gem, became a
focal point for religious and communal activities.
However, the community faced severe trials during the
Holocaust, with many members deported and killed.
The post-war period saw a significant decline in the
Jewish population due to emigration and the
oppressive Communist regime. Despite these
challenges, the remaining Jewish community in
Constanța has worked diligently to preserve their
heritage. Efforts to restore synagogues, document the
history, and celebrate Jewish festivals continue to keep

OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia and
Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Levice Slovakia
Historical sources indicate that a few Jews settled in
Levice as early as the 18th century. A document dated
1714, mentions a Jewish customs officer resident of
Levice, whereas the first Jewish census of 1727,
several Jews originating from Levice reported
themselves in nearby. It is assumed they were
banished from Levice due to a ban on Jewish
settlement in the mining area. During the 18th century
no Jews in Levice were recorded, yet in 1818 several
Jewish families resettled there.
Many Jews of the Nitra and Komarno districts settled in
Levice in the 1840s, thereby establishing a Jewish
community with its own institutions. In 1842 a burial
society and a cemetery were established. The first
head of the community was Gumprich Weiss. In 1848
the community had 100 families, some from nearby
settlements. In that year a private Jewish school was
founded, offering religious as well as general studies.
As of 1851 Levice had its own rabbi: the first was
Yehuda Heilborn, followed by Rabbi Mordechai
Liebmann, Rabbi Meir Hirsch Meisels, Rabbi Joseph
Schlesinger, Rabbi Shlomo Werner and Rabbi
Abraham Kohn. In 1857 a first synagogue in a
traditional style was dedicated, next to a ritual bath. In
1854 the community established an elementary school
acknowledged by the authorities; and thanks to its high
level, non–Jewish students studied there as well.
Classes were held in Hungarian and German.
In 1869 following the division among Hungarian Jewry,
and due to the influence of its leaders, the Levice
community joined Neolog Judaism. In 1874 several
orthodox families deserted the Neolog movement and
established a separate congregation. The rift brought
about the impoverishment of both communities, thus its
leaders sought a way to reunite. After 10 years the two
communities merged and set up a status quo
community. During the 19th century the community
flourished and grew bigger. The old synagogue
became too small to contain all the worshippers, and in
1883 was renovated and expanded. In 1891 a new
ritual bath with a bathhouse, school building, and a
community center with an apartment for the shamash
were built in the synagogue compound. Ca. 1880 the
cemetery was expanded and a beit tahara[2] set up at
its entrance. Jews of 30 small communities in the
surrounding area, as well as other localities which had
no community of their own, were under the jurisdiction
of Levice's rabbinate. The community rules of
procedure were reaffirmed in 1909.

OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Levice Slovakia
Jews Between the Two World Wars
During the Czechoslovak Republic Levice saw a
dramatic rise in public life and in Zionist activity in
particular, which as previously mentioned started even
before WWI. Right after the war Isidor Berkovic was
head of the community (Dr. Samuel Szilard was his
successor), and Jacob Lieberman was rabbi of the
community and the entire region. In 1922 the
community counted 1600 people (including 314 family
heads that paid community dues); employed seven
regular as well as temporary employees; and its
annual budget was 130,000 Czechoslovak crowns. The
community institutions included a synagogue, beit
midrash, prayer house, cemetery, ritual bath with
bathhouse, slaughterhouse for poultry, old age home,
a soup kitchen and an elementary school of five
classes. Classes were held in Slovak and Hungarian.
In 1869 following the division among Hungarian Jewry,
and due to the influence of its leaders, the Levice
community joined Neolog Judaism. In 1874 several
orthodox families deserted the Neolog movement and
established a separate congregation. The rift brought
about the impoverishment of both communities, thus its
leaders sought a way to reunite. After 10 years the two
communities merged and set up a status quo
community. During the 19th century the community
flourished and grew bigger. The old synagogue
became too small to contain all the worshippers, and in
1883 was renovated and expanded. In 1891 a new
ritual bath with a bathhouse, school building, and a
community center with an apartment for the shamash
were built in the synagogue compound. 1880 the
cemetery was expanded and a beit tahara set up at its
entrance. Jews of 30 small communities in the
surrounding area, as well as other localities which had
no community of their own, were under the jurisdiction
of Levice's rabbinate. The community rules of
procedure were reaffirmed in 1909. Alongside the local
burial society additional benevolent societies operated
in Levice: Poalei HaTzedek, Bikur Holim and Agudat
Nashim Yehudiot (Association of Jewish Women); the
latter was established in 1868.

OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Levice Slovakia
The involvement of Jews in civil as well as cultural life
at large rose in those years, and some of them held
senior positions in the public administration. In the
1920s six Jews were members of the town council,
while Alex Stern was head of the social services, and
Dr. Philip Gergely served as chief municipal physician.
Jews also held senior positions in government and
health institutions. Dr. Arthur Laufer was head of the
merchants organization in the Levice district.
In the 1921 census 337 people reported they were of
Jewish nationality, whereas in the 1930 census the
number rose to 954. The rest reported themselves as
Slovak and Hungarian. In the 1928 elections to the
town council, the Nationalist Jewish Party won 47
votes and two seats.
In 1928 the annual budget grew to 217,000 crowns,
and the community became a member of Yeshuron–
union of liberal Jewish communities. In 1938 Dr.
Nandor Nathan was appointed as chief rabbi. In that
year a memorial stone was erected for the 23
townsmen who fell in WWI.
Zionist activity in Levice was at its peak in those days,
thus leaving an imprint on Jewish culture and
community life. Several Zionist and youth movements
were active in Levice. The first was HaShomer Kadima
(later on HaShomer HaTzair) established in 1923,
which in the 1930s operated a Zionist training camp.
Up until WWII dozens of youngsters from Levice made
aliya; most of them joined the kibbutzim. Additional
youth movements were active in Levice: Maccabi
HaTzair, Beitar, Maccabi sports organization (with a
few hundred members), as well as the local branch of
WIZO, which was also large and active.

OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Levice Slovakia
During the Holocaust
In November–December 1938, after southern Slovakia
was annexed by Hungary, a few dozen families were
deported from Levice to Slovakia since they were
unable to prove their Hungarian citizenship. In 1940
the authorities implemented measures to oust Jews
from commercial life, and in 1941 many men were
recruited to labor battalions of the Hungarian army.
During the 1942 deportations in Slovakia many Jewish
refugees fled to Levice. Hungarian police officers
searched for these refugees in Jews' houses, and by
doing so abused their Jewish tenants. Many were
arrested and tortured for hiding refugees from
Slovakia.
In March 1944 right after the German invasion into
Hungary, the community numbered 1005 people (310
family heads who paid community dues). Rabbi Dr.
Nathan Nandor continued officiating, and the
community was headed by Dr. Stefan Fischer. The
Jewish school at that time had a total of 80 students.
In the 1921 census 337 people reported they were of
Jewish nationality, whereas in the 1930 census the
number rose to 954. The rest reported themselves as
Slovak and Hungarian. In the 1928 elections to the
town council, the Nationalist Jewish Party won 47 votes
and two seats.
Despite that Jews were only a little more than 10% of
Levice's total population, they played a key role in the
city's economy, especially in trade and commerce.
Even the majority of service providers were Jewish. In
1921 Jews in Levice owned 163 stores, 39 workshops,
three manufacturing plants and the local commerce
bank. 20 Jews were farm owners or estate managers.
Levice also had 8 Jewish physicians (out of 11), 10
lawyers (out of 14), 2 midwives, 2 dental technicians, 3
construction contractors, 2 pharmacists and several
engineers.
Data published by the local trade bureau in 1921
indicate the relative share of Jews in the business
sector, based on the number of business licenses
issued:

OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Levice Slovakia
In early June 1944 all the ghetto inmates were
concentrated at a government–owned tobacco factory
at the outskirts of Levice, as a preliminary step toward
their deportation. The Hungarian guards robbed the
little money and valuables they had left. On June 14,
1944, 1695 Jews of Levice and the entire district were
put on a transport of 2678 Hungarian Jews deported to
Auschwitz. Post WWII EraAfter liberation 300 Jews
who survived the various death camps and labor
battalions returned to Levice;140 were residents of
Levice before the war. Community life renewed. Dr.
Zoltan Banyai was elected as head of the community,
and Dr. Andrej Kempner served as religious leader up
until his immigration to England in 1947. The
synagogue, ritual bath and the rabbi's apartment were
renovated and put back into use. The cemetery was
also restored and a memorial stone to the community's
Holocaust martyrs was erected.
Zionist activity restarted, headed by Dr. Ernst
Lieberman, head of the Zionist branch in Levice. In
1947 the Jews of Levice donated 32,000 crowns to the
Keren Kayemet L'Israel, as well as for planting of the
Martyrs of Slovakia forest in the mountains of
Jerusalem. In 1948, 304 Jews were living in Levice; in
the immigration wave of 1949 half of them immigrated
to Israel. After immigration was banned, 161 Jews
continued to maintain community life. In the 1960s
Joseph Braun served as head of the community, and
T. Vital as religious leader. In 1972 the local authorities
demolished the synagogue, and since then community
prayers took place at a prayer room which is still in use
today. In the 1990s a few dozen Jews were still living
in Levice and the community continued to exist. The
cemetery has been preserved in good condition, and
recently the town has started restoring the synagogue.
The community had 13 employees and in cooperation
with the burial society operated an old–age home. On
April 11, 1944, the governor of the Levice district
ordered closure of all Zionist organizations and youth
movements. On April 28, 1944, the governor issued a
decree ordering closure of Jewish–owned businesses.
In early May a Jewish council was established; Dr.
Fischer, head of the community, was appointed as
chairman. On May 4, the governor decreed the
establishment of the Levice ghetto. Consequently the
authorities cleared several streets, and by May 10,
1944, the Jews of Levice were rounded up and greatly
constrained there under poor hygiene conditions. The
townsmen looted 190 apartments vacated from their
Jewish residents. As of May 8, 1944, the Jews of
Vráble, Želiezovce and Tekovske Šarluhy Hronovce
(Hungarian : Lekér) as well as of small settlements in
that area, were transported to the ghetto; 572
deportees in total. Some were housed at the Jewish
school. Many of the ghetto inmates were recruited for
slave labor inside town as well as to farm work in that
area.

OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
Synagogue and the
Jewish cemetery
in Levice Slovakia
The empty part of the cemetery is extra land, bought next
to Levice cemetery as it was slowly running out of space.
Unfortunately most of the residents for whom this land
was acquired were murdered during WW2 so this land
was not used. It is now part of the main Levice Jewish
cemetery and its area is fenced as part of main
cemetery. The suburban rural (agricultural) hillside
cemetery is isolated. Reached by turning directly off a
public road, access is open to all via a masonry wall,
broken fence, and locking gate. Present size of the
cemetery is 80x300 meters. 500-5000 19th-20th century
marble, granite, and sandstone flat shaped tombstones
in original locations are finely smoothed and inscribed
stones, or multi-stone monuments with Hebrew, German,
Slovakian, and Hungarian inscriptions. Some have
carved relief decorations. The cemetery is divided into
separate sections for men and women who have died in
childbirth. The cemetery contains special memorial
monuments for Holocaust victims. Within the cemetery
are a pre-burial house and a well. The local Jewish
community owns the property used for Jewish cemetery
only. Adjacent properties are agricultural. Private visitors
visit frequently. A regular caretaker cleared vegetation.
No threats
The synagogue in Levice has been owned by the
municipality since 1991, and in 2011-2012 underwent
complete restoration. It is now used as a venue for
cultural purposes. It was constructed in 1883 on the
edge of the historical center, on a building lot created
after the moat of the town’s former fortifications was
filled in. Designed by a local contractor, Gustav Šišák,
the synagogue is a mélange of various architectural
ideas: a Renaissance west front, archaic buttresses
along the side façades, and a main nave supported by
the cast iron structure of the women’s gallery.
Originally, the synagogue had two turrets, which were
later dismantled as a sign of compromise between the
traditionalists and reformists in the community. It was
used until 1967 by the small surviving Jewish
community. Near the synagogue stands a former
Jewish school building, an example of modernist
architecture from 1934. It is currently undergoing
restoration funded by EEA Grants for cultural
purposes.

OF THE HOLOCAUST
VOL. 01
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Constanta
Romania
Port city on the Black Sea, in the Dobruja (Dobrogea)
region of Romania. Named for a small Genovese local
port from the twelfth century, Constanța (Gk., Tomis;
Tk., Küstenje) was united to Romania in 1878.
Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of a
small Jewish settlement in the third century.
Ashkenazic Jewish traders who accompanied the
Russian army as suppliers during the Russian–Turkish
war then reestablished Jewish settlement in 1828. In
the 1830s, Sephardic Jews from Anatolia settled in the
area, set up a community of their own, obtained a plot
of land for a cemetery in 1853, and leased land to
construct a synagogue in 1867. That same year,
Ashkenazic Jews organized as a distinct community.
Modern Jewish education developed under the
influence of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. In 1880,
there were 344 Jews living in Constanța, of whom 60
were granted Romanian citizenship. In 1884, Jews
coming from elsewhere in Romania were given
permission to settle in the town; as a result, the Jewish
population reached 957 by 1899; approximately 1,200
in 1910; and 1,821 in 1930 (totaling 3.1% of the
population). They worked mainly in port businesses,
trade and the crafts. In 1903, a “modern” Sephardic
temple was founded. Jews participated in municipal life
from the end of the nineteenth century.
CONSTANTA (in Greek and Roman antiquity Tomis,
until 1878 Kustendje, Rom. Constanţa), Black Sea port
in S.E. Romania; within the Ottoman Empire until 1878.
There was a small Jewish settlement in Tomis in the
third century C.E. The Ashkenazi community of
Constanta was founded in 1828. After a while a
Sephardi community was established. The Jewish
population increased with the development of the town.
A Jewish cemetery was opened in 1854. In 1878, after
northern Dobruja passed to Romania, Romanian
nationality was automatically granted to the Jews in the
region, including Constanta. As former Turkish
subjects, they found themselves in a more favorable
situation than the other Jews of Romania, the
overwhelming majority of whom were deprived of
rights. The Romanian authorities, however, attempted
to expel individual Jews from Constanta. There were
957 Jews living in Constanta in 1899 (6.5% of the total
population), most of whom were occupied in commerce
and some in crafts, with two schools for boys, an
Ashkenazi and a Sephardi one. In 1930 the Jewish
population numbered 1,821 (3.1%) in the city and
1,981 in the province. In the fall of 1940, a German
military representative was placed in the city and entry
of Jews to the port was forbidden. After the outbreak of
war against the U.S.S.R. (June 22, 1941) all the Jews
were arrested and sent to the Cobadin camp. Men and
women were also sent to forced labor. In November
1941 the Jews returned to Constanta, but to a special
district. In 1942 there were 1,532 Jews in Constanta. In
1947, after the war, there were 2,400 Jews in the city,
some of them refugees from Bukovina. Until 1951
Constanta was a port of departure Jews emigrating to
Israel, with the community consequently diminishing to
586 in 1956. There were 60 Jewish families in
Constanta in 1969, with a synagogue and a rabbi. In
2004, 128 Jews lived there.

OF THE HOLOCAUST
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Constanta
Romania
There were several Zionist organizations of various
orientations in Constanța, as well as a committee supporting
emigration to Palestine. The port was a point of departure
for ships carrying Jewish emigrants; it later played the same
role during the Holocaust and after World War II until 1951.
Among the town’s Jewish inhabitants were the historian
Solomon Abraham Rosanes and the archeologist Carol
Blum. Relations between Jews and Christians were
generally favorable, except in 1930 when a local antisemitic
group published the newspaper Strălucitorul (The Shiner). In
the autumn of 1940, a German military mission was
established in the port, and the Jews’ access to it was
forbidden. On 13 December 1940, Legionary groups took
over Jewish shops. When Romania joined Germany’s side
(22 June 1941), all Jews were arrested and confined in the
camp of Cobadin. hat year, 2,067 Jews were living in
Constanța; the numbers dropped, however, to 1,532 in 1942.
There were 2,400 Jewish inhabitants of the city in 1947,
during which time the leadership of the community was
taken over by the Jewish Democratic Committee.
In the fall of 1940, a German military representative was
placed in the city and entry of Jews to the port was
forbidden. After the outbreak of war against the U.S.S.R.
(June 22, 1941) all the Jews were arrested and sent to the
Cobadin camp. Men and women were also sent to forced
labor. In November 1941 the Jews returned to Constanta,
but to a special district. In 1942 there were 1,532 Jews in
Constanta.
After weeks later they were transferred to three smaller
camps—Osmancea, Ciobănița, and Mereni. Both men and
women were sent in hard labor detachments to stone
quarries and to repair roads in Dobruja and Bessarabia.
On 1 November 1941, the camps were removed and the
Jews returned to Constanța, but they were restricted and
forced to perform hard labor in the city. On the mayor’s
office initiative, the Jewish cemetery was destroyed.In
1941, for example, the chief rabbi of Constanta, Josef
Schechter, and the president of the Western Rite Israelite
Community, Avram Bercovici, were detained in the same
place at Osmancea for being Jewish. There is also
evidence of the killing of civilians by Romanian military
authorities at the Ciobănița camp. After 1941, the
community was permitted to resume educational and
social activities.
VOL. 01

The Great Synagogue of Constanța is a disused
former Ashkenazi synagogue ”for the Jews
called « Polish »”,located at 2 C. A. Rosetti
Street, corner with Petru Rareş Street.
The synagogue was built between 1910 and
1914 in a Moorish Revival architectural style. on
the site of an earlier synagogue, erected in
1867/1872, in the place of an older synagogue,
built after a firman of Sultan Abdul Azis.The first
steps were initiated in 1907, but the original
building application submitted in 1908 was
denied due to concerns about the strength of
the proposed dome and galleries. Architect
Anghel Păunescu thus replaced the proposed
dome with a semi-cylindrical vault intended to
express the same "seduction of the curved
space".It was the initiative of Pincus Șapira, a
supplier to the Royal House of Romania and an
important watch and jewelry merchant, and in a
century, the Askenazi Synagogue has gone
through several vicissitudes.
OF THE HOLOCAUST
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Constanta
Romania
The Sephardic Temple of Constanța also Spanish Rite
Temple Israelite also Templul Sefard din Constanța
was a Sephardic synagogue ”for the « Spanish »
Jews”, located at 18 on Mircea Street.
The Sephardic Temple was built between 1905 and
1908 in a Catalan Gothic architectural style following
the blueprints of Austrian architect Adolf Lintz and
decorated by painter Moritz Finkelstein. The Temple
was built in the place of an older synagogue dating
from 1866, on a piece of land on Mircea Street, a
donation from Ismail Kemal Bey. The sephardic
synagogue was heavily damaged during the Second
World War when it was used as an ammunition
warehouse, later further damaged by an earthquake,
and was demolished in 1989 under the rule of Nicolae
Ceausescu.
VOL. 01

Vol. 01
Vol. 01Vol. 01
OF THE HOLOCAUST
Traces of the
Holocaust in our
communities in
Levice Sovakia
and Constanta
Romania
The History of the
Jewish Community
in Constanta
Romania
For example, between 1941 and 1944, the building was
converted into a German military warehouse, used for
storing military effects, non-perishable food for soldiers
on the Eastern front and horse feed. After 1944, it was
partially rebuilt and returned to religious use. After
1989, the criminal indifference of the local authorities,
the outrageous disregard of the town's cultural and
civic bodies and the indifference of its inhabitants,
unaccustomed to ethnic and religious diversity, all
came to haunt it.
Pincus Șapira, who also held the position of
vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce
between 1920-1923, was, according to the
period's newspapers, "a leading merchant,
modern in the highest sense of the word, the
owner of the largest jewelry, watchmaker and
art objects shop in Constanta. Since the time of
King Carol I, he was granted the title of supplier
to the Royal Court".
The Askenazi synagogue is structured in three horizontal
registers: plinth, ground floor and first floor. Outside, the windows
and doors have Moorish-influenced decorations. The ground floor
covers an area of 238.37 square meters and includes the
courtyard, the temple entrance and a vestibule. On either side
are the benches for the parishioners. The altar is in the shape of
an elongated semicircle. The main entrance has a double door,
terminated at the top by a trefoil window flanked by two doors.
Later the design is modified and in place of the windows there
are two double doors ending in the Star of David.
The attraction of the temple was given by the beauty of the
arabesques in blue and red and the eight-branched chandeliers
that illuminated the room.

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Traces of the Holocaust in our communities in Levice Sovakia and Constanta Romania (1).pdf