town image: [February 2009]

[Community rights since 1739]  (Hung. Dunaszerdahely), town in S.W. Slovakia, near Bratislava, now Czechoslovakia. While still within Hungary, its community was a center of Orthodoxy and had important yeshivot. The rights of the community were granted in 1739 by Count Palffy, but 16 families had already settled by 1700. The number increased to 19 families in 1728, 112 in 1770, 121 in 1774, and 363 in 1848. A synagogue was built in 1780 and in 1865 another to seat 800 persons. In 1887 the Jewish quarter was set afire by anti-Semites, but reconstructed shortly thereafter. Rabbis who officiated in Dunajska Streda include Alexander Meislisch, David b. Menahem Mendel Deutsch, and Judah b. Israel Aszód. Many refugees from Poland settled there during World War I. Jewish population in 1921 was 3,029 and 3,222 in 1930.  The Dunajska Streda community also had jurisdiction over the Jews living in about 50 villages in the vicinity (approximately 4,000 Jewish inhabitants) before World War II, mainly traders, craftsmen, and farmers. The Jews were over half the total population. In the municipal elections of May 1938 seven representatives of the Jewish party were returned on 556 votes. The collaboration of the local population with the Nazi authorities should be noted. Between 1938 and 1945, Dunajska Streda was again incorporated in Hungary. The yeshivah was closed 1940-41 and Jews "without citizenship" were deported to Kamenets-Podolski, Ukraine. In 1942 Dunaj Streda became the regional headquarters for Jewish labour battalions with about 500 Jewish men compelled to work in Hungarian labour corps. Dunajska Streda also served as a transit center for refugees from Slovakia in 1942-43.  In 1944 the Germans established a ghettowhere Jews from Samorin and Velky-Mager and the vicinity were concentrated before deportation to death camps. Nearly 4,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz from Dunajska Streda. The large synagogue, partly destroyed by the Nazis in 1944, was demolished by the local authorities in the late 1950s. About 600 survivors returned in 1945 and reconstituted the community. The majority emigrated to Israel and a few to the United States. A few Jewish families were living there in the late 1960s. A charitable foundation in memory of the martyrs of Dunajska, Streda and Magendorf was established in Tel Aviv. Source [February 2009]

US Commission No. SLCE000300

Dunajska Streda is located in Dunajska Streda, SE of Bratislava. Caretaker: Eugen Foeldmar, Dunajska Streda. Last known Jewish burial was in 1990. Inscriptions in Hebrew on the gate or wall and by Hebrew, Slovak, and Hungarian inscriptions on the pre-burial house mark the isolated flat urban location. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a masonry wall and locking gate.

Present size of the cemetery is 100x300 meters. 500-5000 marble, granite, and sandstone 18th-20th century tombstones are in original locations. The cemetery is divided into a special section for rabbis. The flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, double tombstones, and multi-stone monuments have Hebrew and Hungarian inscriptions. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments for Holocaust victims. Within the limits of the cemetery is a pre-burial house with wall inscriptions, tombs, and gravediggers house. The local Jewish community owns the property used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are residential. Private visitors visit frequently. Restoration: re-erection of stones, patching broken stones, cleaning stones, and clearing vegetation. The cemetery has a regular caretaker. Erosion is a moderate threat.

January 2009

Map of Town

Town Dunajská Streda (Dunaszerdahely)
	Address:	Phone:	00 421 31 590 39 11, 44
	Mestský úrad	Fax:	00 421 31 552 71 42
	Hlavná 50/16	Email:	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	929 01 Dunajská Streda SLOVAKIA	Web:	www.dunstreda.sk