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Eger

EGER (Ger. Erlau), city in N. Hungary. Although Eger is mentioned in 1660 as a Jewish community it was only in 1841 that Jews obtained the right of residence there. A community organization was set up in 1843. By 1858 there were 861 Jews living in the city and an additional 680 in the district. Its first rabbi was Joseph Zevi Weiss. After his death the Orthodox members established a community - separate from the existing status quo community - whose first rabbi was Simon Schreiber, son of Abraham Samuel Benjamin *Sofer. Many Jews in Eger engaged in the wine trade. There were 2,559 Jews living in Eger in 1920, and 1,787 in 1941. They were deported to *Auschwitz by the Nazis on June 8, 1944. By 1946, only 215 Jews remained in Eger.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

E. László, in: Hungarian-Jewish Studies, 2 (1969), 137–82.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.