From the Sale to the Repurchase: A History of the Synagogues and Prayer Houses in Hungary between 1945 and 1989

After 1945, due to increasing emigration, the Jewish population of Hungary continued to shrink. Most of the survivors wanted to integrate and assimilate again.

The Jews also tried new ways "to leave" their Jewish life: beyond the linguistic and cultural assimilation, many of them chose a full social fusion. For this, the contemporary democratic system provided an excellent backdrop. Between 1945 and 48, Jews embarked on a specific relationship to the Communist Party and the Communist ideology. After 1945, Jews who previously had not had much sympathy with the labor movement, started flocking to the Labour Party.

After the previous "disappointment caused by the failure of assimilation” the ideology of the Communist Party offered multiple escape routes. People who joined the party found a new community, which was not part of the ’compromised’ nation but which represented a new and modern ideology.

In the same period, in 1947, the leading Rabbinate made a decision: communities can sell their unused synagogues as long as every area with some Jewish population retained one synagogue or prayer room for their religious life.

Major subjects and the related questions of my research and my planned lecture

1. Examination of the effect on Jewish identity of the former, no longer functionally active synagogues and prayer houses and of the still operating sacred spaces
2. Analysis of the role of the communist political system - that is of the State Religious Affairs Bureau and the MIOH - regarding synagogue sales