84 Photos of the synagogue of Bonyhád

István Löwinger, Kornél Schmelczer

black and white photo

Collection of the Hungarian Jewish Museum in 1955

In August, 1955 the museum sent two rabbinical students on a round trip on the countryside, to assess the past of Jewish communities in the south-western parts of the country, the destruction of fascism there, and to collect documents and objects. They made photos of the synagogues and the cemeteries. The Jewish community of Bonyhád, founded at the end of the 18^th century, was one of their stops. “The old pinkasim (minute-books) and other documents of the community can be found in the building of the Neológ temple. They are in neglect. Some books are already moldy. Many of them were still written in Hebrew. (…) The old documents here would enrich the collection of the Jewish museum, and would be important for historical research.” – they wrote in their report. The remains of the old documents and minute-books of the Jewish community of Bonyhád were saved from decay in 1972 by György Landeszmann, after the opening of the Hungarian Jewish Archive.