The 1941 Miskolcs, Hungary Talmud Printing

 Life for Jews in the first years of the Holocaust in Hungary can often appear to be constructed from two very different opposing scenarios. The destruction of the Jewish Communities and the methodical killing of its Jewish residents in nearly all surrounding countries was seen, and the effects of the war were intimately felt. On one hand, there were a noticeable minority of people who foresaw the coming danger and heroic and selfless efforts were made to assist those seeking to escape to safer countries, and to raise awareness in Western Countries of the atrocities being committed.

On the other hand, for many in the Jewish Community though, life went on almost entirely as normal until the very days when the communities were rounded up and sent to their deaths in the concentration camps. When Hungary was given to the control of the Nazis, there was a feeling in the air that the Germans were losing the war and it was only a matter of time until the Allies were victorious. Unfortunately, despite that being the case, from May 1944 thru the end of the Holocaust, over 565,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered.

A fascinating and as yet not properly studied phenomenon during this period, is the steady and varied continuation of Hebrew printing of Sefarim in Hungary throughout this period, up and through 1944. Many of the sefarim published during this period describe the situation at the time and the threat of death hovering over them. Despite this or perhaps because of this, there was a continued demand for sefarim and many titles were published throughout the communities of Hungary.

One such publication I acquired this week is of a Talmud volume, Masechet Pesachim, published in the city of Miscolc, Hungary in 1941. This volume includes an approbation from R. Yoel Teitelbaum, the Av Bet Din of Satmar at the time, who writes in his Haskamah, "Being that due to our many sins the Jewish communities have been destroyed, those that were involved in the publishing of Sefarim were taken from us, and those involved in holy printing were obliterated from this world, may God the merciful have pity on us. Thus, there is a lack of sefarim and gemarot for the rabbis, the Yeshivot and the students, and we must worry for the decline of Torah study....therefore he is publishing individual tractates to supply the need.."

The father of the publisher, R. Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich, the Rabbi of Miskolc wrote similarly in his Haskamah, "Due to our great sins, the wars and destruction currently raging in the world have caused many thousands of sefarim kedoshim and shasin to be burned and destroyed. In addition, the printing in the country of Poland has halted..."