Pinkas Hakehillot Hungary: Gebe

“Gebe” - Encyclopedia of Jewish
Communities in Hungary
(Nyírkáta, Hungary)
47°52' 22°16'

Translation of the “Gebe” chapter from
Pinkas Hakehillot Hungary

Edited by: Theodore Lavi

Published in Jerusalem, 1975

Acknowledgments

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for permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

This is a translation from: Pinkas Hakehillot Hungary: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Hungary,
Edited by Theodore Lavi, published by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. Page 228.

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[Page 228]

Gebe
Translated by Jerrold Landau

Donated by Aaron Slotnik

It is a village in the Szatmár District, Mátészalka Region, 1.5 kilometers from Nyirbátor. In 1941, its population was 2,473.

Jewish Population

Year Population

1840 160

1880 250

1900 236

1930 137

Until the Second World War

The first Jews settled in Gebe during the first half of the 19^th century, with the permission of the landowner who encouraged them to open shops there to provide for the needs of the farmers. The farmers were primarily Slovaks who settled there about 50 years previously, and assimilated with the Hungarian residents. The estate was sold at the beginning of the 20^th century, but the new owners also treated the Jews favorably.

Most of the Jews of Gebe were merchants who were occupied with the marketing of the agricultural produce of the local farmers, primarily rice and tobacco, which gained fame throughout Hungary. Some were leasers of estates.

The relationship of the residents to the local Jews was generally proper, aside from a brief period following the First World War, when anti–Semitic activity increased in the area, and found expression in the church as well.

The community, which defined itself as Orthodox in 1868, was dependent on Mátészalka. The synagogue was built around 1840. There was also a Chevra Kadisha [burial society] and a cheder.

The Holocaust

The suffering of the Jews of Gebe began when the discrimination laws were issued in 1938. These laws included the draft of Jews to forced labor and the restriction of livelihood. With the arrival of the German army in Gebe in March, 1944, the S.S. command demanded that the Jews be deported from the village, which was situated on the Hungarian–Romanian border at the time.

During the second half of April, the Jews of Gebe were transported on wagons to the Mátészalka Ghetto. They wandered about the fields under the open skies for several nights until a place was found for them with difficulty. They were transported to Auschwitz at the beginning of June.

Communal life was not renewed after the war. The few who returned left the place after encountering the hatred of the population. Today, there are no Jews in Gebe.

Bibliography:

Yad Vashem Archives 03/1403
Borovszky: Szatmár vármegye, p. 74. In Magyaroszág vm–i
Lévai, J. Zsidósoros Magyaroszágon, p. 410.

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