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Gyula (Hungarian pronunciation: [%CB%88%C9%9Ful%C9%92] , German: Jula, Romanian: Giula, Turkish: Göle) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. The town is best known for its Medieval castle and a thermal bath. The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a monastery called Gyulamonostora (Julamonustra in Latin). By 1332 the settlement around the monastery was being called Gyula / Jula.
Notable people
Born in Gyula
Béla Bánáthy (1919–2003), social scientist and professor
Zoltán Bay (1900–1992), physicist (born in Gyulavári, now part of Gyula)
Imre Bródy (1891–1944), physicist
Albrecht Dürer the Elder (1427–1502), the father of Albrecht Dürer
Ferenc Erkel (1810–1893), composer
Imre König (1901–1992), chess player
László Krasznahorkai (born 1954), novelist and screenwriter
George Pomutz (1818–1882), American diplomat and general
Lived in Gyula
Béla Bartók (1881-1945), Hungarian composer
Burials in Gyula
John Corvin (1473-1504), King of Bosnia, illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus
Beatrice de Frangepan (1480-1510), wife of John Corvin[1]
The construction of Gyula Castle began in the 14th century but finished only in the mid-16th century.
It was the property of the Maróthy family (Marothy János) and later John Corvin , the illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus. Turks conquered Gyula in 1566 and remained the part of the Ottoman Empire until 1694, when Christian troops liberated the area.
Due to the wars, native Hungarian population fled from Gyula, Békés County became near uninhabited. The landlord [Baron Johann George Haruckern János Harruckern] invited German, Hungarian and Romanian settlers, who re-established the town in the early 18th century. Gyula became a popular tourist destination in the 20th century, the thermal bath was established in 1942 and expanded in 1959. The castle was restored in 1962.
Jews in Gyula
1840 represented an important juncture in the battle for the emancipation of Hungarian Jews and the abolition of their medieval deprivation of civil rights.
Article XXIX ensured freedom of movement and the free pursuit of industry and commerce for the Jews. At the same time, however, it stipulated that the employees would have to be only Jews. From now onward they were required to adopt a permanent surname and keep an accurate register of births and deaths.
Gyula’s gates too were opened to the Jews who wanted to make their home here. Earlier, though the distillery of the Harruckern domain had always been rented by Jews from the early 18th century, they had not been allowed to settle down in the city, only in nearby Gyulavári. In 1843, however, Magyargyula already counted Jewish families and 12 in 1847.
In 1848 a detailed list of the Jewish citizens of the country was drawn up identifying every family member, their age, place of birth, occupation of the head of the family and his ‘conduct’. It was also registered how long they had been living in the given settlement. The conscription in Gyula registered 25 families.
The formation of the congregation was preceded by the establishment of Chevra Kadisha, the charity organization aiding the poor and taking care of funerals, in 1847 with 17 founding members. Three of them were still alive in 1897, on the 50th anniversary. The organization was dissolved in 1944.
The parish was organized in the early 1850s. In his work “Reminiscences” published in 1903 and describing the history of the Jewish congregation and school in Gyula, Samu Bródy claims that an independent parish council was formed in 1852 but without any regulation. Chairman Sámuel Stöszler led the community at his discretion aided by four or five councilmen. As there was not even a prayer house in the city, parishioners worshipped in Gyulavári.
In the autumn of 1853 it was decided that the statute of the parish should be elaborated. The parochial tax was levied, the remuneration of parochial officials as well as the strict collection of gabelle (charge for kosher slaughtering) were agreed upon. Sámuel Stöszler remained chairman, the number of councilmen, however, was raised to ten (Márton Rosenthal, Bernát Wallfisch, Márton Spitzer, Zsigmond Kálmán, Izrael Leopold, Móritz Hoffmann, Salamon Bak, Vilmos Billitz, Fülöp and Móric Löfner).
In August 1856, during the rabbinate of Ignác Bak, the parish of Gyula comprised the villages of Gyulavári, Gyulavarsánd, Ottlaka, Elek, Pél, Kétegyháza, Nagykamarás, Kígyós and Siklós, all of them tax-paying, with a total of 41 families and 170 persons. The parish of Gyula proper was 175 strong: they lived in 40 families.
Ignác Bak’s rabbinical service expired in 1864: he did not see eye to eye with his parishioners and arguments seemed to be the order of the day. The attempt to entice Salamon Silberstein, rabbi of Sarkad, into Gyula failed.9 In this period without a rabbi, the register was kept by the Jewish priest of Békés. The high sheriff of the county directed the district sheriff to press the parish to employ a rabbi as soon as possible.10
Article XVII of 1867 declared that the Jewish inhabitants of the country enjoyed equal civil and political rights with Christians. To celebrate emancipation festivities were organized and a thanksgiving service was held.
The emancipation of Jews, however, did not go hand in hand with the acceptance of Judaism as equal with the other recognized religions. The reason was that Jews did not have a central church organization that could have regulated the activities of individual parishes. The national Jewish congress held between November 1868 and February 1869 was intended to resolve this problem. The congress, however, was a half-success. The traditionalist, so-called Orthodox faction decided not to accept the reforms proposed by Reform Jews. Organizationally, Judaism split into two factions: the progressive and the conservative. The schism became definitive. Finally, three factions crystallized: the congressional or Reform school accepting the resolutions of the national congress; the Orthodox one sticking to the conservative statute; and the ‘status quo ante’ group joining neither and maintaining the de facto state before the congress.11
The Jewish community of Gyula adopted the congressional principles. In 1876 some parishioners reported to the mayor that they were intending to secede from the parish in order to found an Orthodox community. It was officially approved by the municipal authority. In 1879 the elaboration of the congressional statute as well as the preparation of the agreement to be concluded with the Orthodox parish began. The agreement was unanimously accepted by the first general assembly the next year. In April the new parish statute was approved and submitted to the Minister of the Interior.
The Orthodox community proved to be short-lived. The parish registers kept by them were taken over by a committee in 1884 and passed on to the notary of the Reform parish.12
In the meantime the Jewish population of Gyulavári had dropped so sharply that the parish lost its independence and from 1869 onwards it belonged to the parish of Gyula with all its movables and immovables.13
On July 5 1873 a four-room ritual hot bath was opened. In the late 70s it was converted into a Turkish bath (later named Lampel’s bath).14
In October 1879 the parish decided to erect a synagogue in front of the prayer house built in 1873. The foundation stone was laid with due ceremony on June 27, 1882. The large audience was welcomed by Lipót Bródy, teacher, then a delightful patriotic speech was delivered by Rabbi Jakab Elfer.15
The following year, on September 5, 1883 the finished temple was inaugurated with solemn ceremonies. Dávid Kóhn recalls this momentous event as follows: ‘The newly built synagogue was inaugurated by the local Jewish community on the 25th instant. The synagogue standing on the building site donated by Count Wenckheim and his family, in front of the old prayer house, is a square structure with a cupola fronting onto the road to Arad. The relatively cheap building (costing only about 14,000 forints) with its practical and splendid furnishings as well as tasteful appearance is certainly a credit to local contractors Braun and Czinczár, the builder Konrád Scheer, the Berndt brothers, the carpenter József Sal as well as the painter Lipót Weisz. This decorative building will also be a welcome addition to the architecture of our city.’ The inauguration was attended by Dr Sándor Kohut, Chief Rabbi of Nagyvárad, RC Abbot Benedek Göndöcs, the delegates of other local churches, the delegations of the parishes of nearby settlements, High Sheriff István Beliczey, Deputy High Sheriff Pál Jancsovics as well as countless other officials of the county and the city. The inauguration began with the transference of the Torah to the new temple and its placement in the Ark there. A thanksgiving psalm and the Hungarian national anthem were sung. The beautiful inaugural speech from the pulpit was delivered by Chief Rabbi Sándor Kohut.16 The one-steepled synagogue, which over the years had become somewhat cramped was remodelled and converted in 1910 into a two-steepled building impressive both within and from the outside. It was at the same time that the rabbi’s home still to be seen in its original condition was erected. The synagogue was remodelled and enlarged in the 1960s to house the city music school. A memorial tablet on the wall by the entrance commemorates the old parish.
But not only synagogues were built. The last decades of the 19th century were the heyday of setting up new industries and commercial enterprises. The city of Gyula, along with Békéscsaba, attracted crowds of new residents from the neighbouring villages as well as from more distant settlements. From 1880 to 1910 the total population grew by 35%, whereas the number of Jewish inhabitants increased by 57%. In November 1900 11 and March 1901 Jewish families living in the city for four years were accepted as residents of the city.
Jews played a leading role in the burgeoning growth of capitalism in Gyula kickstarted by the Agreement of 1867. At the turn of the century the major industrial plants of the city were Reisner’s match factory, Braun and Czinczár’s cooperage (Sugárút) and timberyard (Búza Square, today’s bus station), Mór Weisz and Co’s distillery, Fischer’s flour mill in Szt. István Street, Zsigmond Reisner’s flour mill in Kígyósi Rd and Adolf Multas’s vinegar plant. Jews also played a decisive role in commerce: Mór Weisz’s alcoholic beverages, Lipót Schillinger’s hardware store, Vilmos Braun’s leather and hides, Gusztáv Rosenthal and Co’s fashion store and Salamon Ehrenfeld’s jewellery
A gyulai zsidó iskola történetéből
A zsidók nagyobb arányú letelepedése Gyulán 1840-től kezdődött
A zsidó elemi diákja volt a múlt század fordulóján Bródy Imre (1891–1944), a kiváló fizikus és feltaláló
A gyulai oktatásügy színes palettáját a 19. század második felétől új szín gazdagította: az izraelita elemi iskola megjelenése.
A zsidók nagyobb arányú letelepedése Gyulán 1840-től kezdődött meg. Önálló hitközségüket jó évtized múltán, 1853-ban szervezték meg. Öt év múlva, „1858. április 26-án, a hitközség a felállítandó nyilvános iskolájához Klein Julius tanítót választotta meg” – olvasható Bródy Samu 1903-ban napvilágot látott Emlékezések című (tanítóskodásának 25. évfordulójára írt) munkájában, amely a gyulai zsidó közösség fél évszázados fennállásának állított emléket. Bródy könyvéből és egy szolgabírói jelentésből az is kiderül, hogy ez az első iskola rövid ideig működött. A gyulai hitközség 1862. május 25-én tartott ülésén száz forintot szavazott meg egy felállítandó iskola támogatására, tehát az 1858-ban megnyitott első tanoda ekkorra befejezte működését. A gyulai járás szolgabírájának a főispáni helytartóhoz küldött 1864. évi jelentése szerint „a gyulai héber vallásúaknak eddig két – egy fi és egy leány – osztályos rendes oskolájuk volt, miolta azonban a rabbi és a hívek között kölcsönös torzsalkodás állott be, ezen oskolák megszűntek és a rabbi, mint oskolai felügyelő jelentése szerint három zugiskola létezik. Az alkalmazott tanítók a kívánt képzettséggel nem bírnak…”
Még 12 évnek kellett eltelnie ahhoz, hogy 1876-ban hivatalosan és szabályosan megkezdje működését az a gyulai izraelita elemi iskola, amelynek rövid történetét, valamint a harmadik és a negyedik osztályos tanulók névsorát (1902-ig) a már említett Bródy-könyvben megtalálja az érdeklődő olvasó. Az iskola ez időtől kezdve csak okleveles tanítókat alkalmazott. Leghosszabb ideig Bródy Samu (34 év, 1877–1911 között) és Ullmann Józsa (32 év 1878–1910 között) tanított.
Az iskolaszék tagjai sorában a gyulai zsidó társadalom jeles képviselői foglaltak helyet az idők folyamán: Berkes Sándor kórházigazgató, Berényi Ármin ügyvéd, Bródy Adolf ügyvéd (Bródy Imre édesapja és a kiváló író, Bródy Sándor bátyja), Léderer Ede városi mérnök, Kálmán Zsigmond iparos (Gábor Dénes fizikus dédnagyapja), Kóhn Dávid újságíró-szerkesztő, városi hivatalnok, Braun Mór, Czinczár Adolf, Reisner Ede, Weisz Mór tekintélyes vállalkozók.
Az iskola padjait koptatta 1883-ig Bleyer (Székely) Aladár, a későbbi országos hírű fényképész, a fotóművészeti realizmus első jelentős magyar képviselője, Ady Endre, Bartók Béla, Eötvös Loránd, Rippl-Rónai József és még sokan mások arcképének megörökítője. Nem titok, hogy a harmadik és negyedik osztályt kétszer járta. A gyulai elemi iskolában tanulta a betűvetést 1901-ig Bródy Imre, akit a kriptonizzó feltalálása tett világhírűvé. Az 1880-as évek végén odajárt Jakobovits Adél, Gábor Dénes Nobel-díjas fizikus, a holográfia feltalálójának édesanyja is.
A gyulai zsidóság erőteljes asszimilációs stratégiája megpecsételte a felekezeti elemi sorsát. A 20. század első évtizedeiben a jelentkező kisdiákok létszáma folyamatosan csökkent, mígnem 1931-ben a hitközség az iskola megszüntetésére kényszerült. Ugyanakkor támogatta Ritter Ferencnét, aki még az évben izraelita magániskolát nyitott.