Among these significant historical milestones is also the arrival of the Jewish population in Levoča after 1840, following the adoption of a law that allowed Jews to settle in all towns, including royal towns, with the exception of mining towns. While permanent Jewish settlement in Spišská Nová Ves began only eight years later (although the first mention of a Jewish family in Spišská Nová Ves dates back to 1504), Levoča welcomed its first Jewish families soon after 1840.

The emancipation of Jews in the Kingdom of Hungary came after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867. This was not a democratic process in the modern sense, since democracy in our region was still in its infancy. Rather, it was an effort to modernize a backward Hungary. Jews, who for centuries had been pushed out of many common professions and restricted in land ownership and even in where they were allowed to live, naturally concentrated on trade, banking, and lending—because they often had no other options. Social prejudice, especially rooted in the feudal era, further reinforced these restrictions. At the same time, through banking, commerce, and (in many cases) links to German markets, Jews also helped move the Kingdom of Hungary forward.

In the mid-18th century, about 12,000 Jews lived in the Kingdom of Hungary, but by the mid-19th century their number had risen to 241,000. This growth was not caused only by natural increase, but also by massive migration from Poland and Russia—areas where Jews were often persecuted, forced to convert, or faced repeated pogroms. One lesser-known but significant event was the pogrom in Polotsk (in today’s Belarus) in 1563, when Ivan the Terrible ordered more than 300 Jews to be drowned because they refused to convert to Orthodox Christianity. Although the Kingdom of Hungary was not without pogroms (for example, the Bratislava pogrom of 1848, which is hardly mentioned in history textbooks), in several periods it was more tolerant than Russia or Poland.

Before Jews arrived in Levoča, the Jewish population in the Spiš region was concentrated mainly in villages such as Huncovce, which became the seat of a rabbinate as well as a center of cultural, economic, and educational life for Jews living in Spiš. Jews settled there in the years 1725–1730. A significant rabbi, Samuel Rosenberg, served there; he was the author of the work Be’er Shmuel (“Samuel’s Well”), published after his death in 1923.

By 1848, 45 Jews lived in Levoča (about 0.8% of the population, roughly ten families). One of these was the family of Abraham Winter, the founder of the Jewish religious community in Levoča and its first chairman. He can be regarded as one of the most important figures in local Jewish history—someone who truly established this community.

Later, the Jewish community in Levoča also owned a cemetery on Stará Hrhovská cesta (next to today’s allotment gardens). The oldest readable grave is dated 1868, although there are indications of another grave bearing the year 1854—however, this year is not fully legible. Before establishing their own cemetery, Jews from Levoča were buried mainly in Spišské Podhradie, which had an older, established cemetery. Spišské Podhradie was viewed as a friendlier Jewish center, where families—especially from Pavlovce and Huncoviec—lived, generally poorer than those who settled in Levoča.

In the second half of the 19th century, several Jewish families from eastern Slovakia moved to Levoča. By 1869, 365 Jews lived in the town (5.3% of the population). In 1880, the Jewish community formed as much as 6% of Levoča’s inhabitants—about 400 people. The community chairman at that time was Samuel Winter. By then, Levoča already had its own Chevra Kadisha (burial society), which took care of funerals and the maintenance of the cemetery. It is likely that the community also had its own tahara facility—Beit Tahara (mortuary). Today, only the foundations and part of the western retaining wall survive.

A major milestone was the year 1890, when Levoča became the seat of a rabbinate. The synagogue was completed in 1899 on the site where the Secondary Vocational School for pupils with special needs stands today. Before its construction, the community had only a prayer house (beit ha-knesset), probably in a rented building or in the private home of a community member. Alongside the synagogue, built in a classicist style, a Jewish elementary school was established in Levoča on Ružová Street. According to the 1930 census, its address was Ružová 32, corresponding to today’s private house right by the town fortifications—the largest building on the entire street.

As early as 1867, great changes came to Jewish communal life—full emancipation and equality with the Christian population, and thus the possibility to work freely in the learned professions, such as medicine and law. The opportunity to study also expanded, opening the way for many young Jews—among them Dr. Bartolomej Rosznyai, son of the Levoča rabbi Adolf Rosenzweig. It should be noted that differences in surnames arose from the strong push for national unification in Hungary, the so-called Magyarization efforts. This affected not only Slovaks but also Jews who wished to maintain their social or economic status. Dr. Rosznyai enjoyed great respect not only within the Jewish community but also in the wider region. From 1917 he served as the chief county physician of Spiš, was a recognized specialist in tuberculosis, and also a member of the municipal council. His sons likewise became important physicians in the Spiš region. Dr. Rosznyai died in 1933 and is buried with his family in the Jewish cemetery in Levoča. His grave was recently cleaned and is awaiting further work, including the re-erection of a preserved, well-legible matzevah (tombstone).

In addition to Jewish emancipation in Hungary in 1867, a significant rift also occurred within Hungarian Jewry, as a result of new reform movements which the Hungarian government at the time tried to prevent. For this reason, a Jewish Congress was convened in Budapest, held from 16 December 1868 to 24 February 1869. The congress addressed the dispute between Orthodoxy and new ideological currents—reform trends that at the time were strongly influencing Judaism in Europe. The congress did not restore unity among Jewish communities, and therefore communities began to divide into Orthodox and Neolog. Some communities, however, did not wish to align with either camp and were later officially designated status quo ante—those that refused to take a position and maintained their previous practice. In this way, after 1869 the Jewish religious community in Levoča also became status quo ante.

In 1922, however, part of the members of the Levoča community separated and joined the Orthodox stream. At first they belonged under Huncovce and later under Spišské Podhradie, which had been a center of Orthodoxy in Spiš since 1872, thanks to the leadership of Rabbi Singer. Both groups—the Levoča status quo ante community and the Orthodox branch—shared the same cemetery as well as the school.

The Jews of Levoča have a rich and important history. For many decades, the Jewish community was an inseparable part of the story of our town. The last tangible testimony of their presence is the historic Jewish cemetery in Levoča, which is now in the process of restoration. Our Jewish neighbors had their homes, families, work, and businesses here—simply a full life that was a natural part of the town.

This article offers a brief overview of their history from around 1840 to 1922. During the interwar period, the Jewish community—both in Levoča and throughout Czechoslovakia—experienced a kind of flourishing of culture, freedom, and religious life. But this flourishing lasted for a shorter time than we would have wished—its tragic end will be the subject of the next article.

In the previous article, we outlined the brief history of the Jewish religious community in Levoča up to the year 1922. That year also brought significant changes: the number of community members fell to approximately 120 families, or about 650 people.

In 1922, the Jewish community’s budget in Levoča amounted to just over 80,000 Czechoslovak crowns. During this period, Vojtech (Béla) Berger (1882–1932), a prominent merchant who significantly influenced the southern part of today’s Námestie Majstra Pavla, became the community’s leader. This area is still known among Levoča’s inhabitants as “Bergerák.” According to the 1930 census, Béla Berger lived at what was then Námestie generála Štefánika 38 together with his wife Margit, née Pfeifer (1882–1942).

In these years, Levoča was also home to the well-known fencing talent Alexander Bárta (born 9 April 1892) – the first Slovak to participate in the Olympic Games, who was also of Jewish origin (a fact omitted from history textbooks). In 1920, he co-founded the Levoča Sports Club; in 1924, he represented Czechoslovakia at the Olympic Games in Paris, where he placed fourth; and in 1923, he finished third at the Czechoslovak national championships. In 1928, he moved to Spišská Nová Ves, where he founded a construction company together with Ing. Václav Holý.

In the interwar period, only 54.9% of Jews in Levoča declared Jewish or Israelite nationality; the others identified as Czechoslovak, German, or Hungarian. By 1930, this figure had fallen to 50.3%. The Jewish Party was also active in Levoča and gained several seats in the municipal council. Among its most prominent representatives were Dr Arthur Höflich, Dr Jozef Abrányi, and Dr Július Munk.

During the 1930s, the situation began to change. Antisemitism grew throughout Europe and in Czechoslovakia under the influence of Adolf Hitler. This trend also affected Slovakia and, unfortunately, Levoča. After the declaration of Slovak autonomy in October 1938, antisemitism intensified. The Jewish Party was banned in January 1939, and already in December 1938, Jews were excluded from the city council.

In March 1939, the Slovak State was proclaimed, led by later lawfully convicted traitors and collaborators Jozef Tiso and Vojtech Tuka. Its independence was merely formal – the state was bound by a protection treaty with Nazi Germany and had to align its foreign, military, and economic policies with the Third Reich. After the Salzburg Conference in 1940, Tuka openly promoted a political model of National Socialism based on the German example. The regime regarded the so-called “Jewish question” as one of its main issues and addressed it in a highly repressive and inhumane manner. Approximately 90,000 Jews lived in Slovakia; about 70,000 of them were murdered during the Holocaust.

In the Spiš region, antisemitic attacks gradually intensified. On 14 March 1939, supporters of the German political party Deutsche Partei (FS) stormed the synagogue in Poprad. Shortly thereafter, on the night of 1–2 April 1939, members of the local German minority smashed windows of Jewish homes in Podolínec. Similar incidents occurred in Spišská Nová Ves, where the local synagogue was set on fire, and in 1941 an anti-Jewish pogrom took place in Kežmarok.

With the growing hatred came the deliberate economic destruction of the Jewish population. This period saw the gradual onset of so-called “Aryanisation,” which culminated in Government Decree No. 136/1940 Sl. z. on Jewish enterprises. Issued on 25 July 1940, this decree mandated the compulsory transfer of Jewish businesses to “Aryan” administrators. It represented a systematic, state-organised confiscation of Jewish property – in practice, a legislatively sanctioned theft for the benefit of non-Jewish operators. In the districts of Poprad, Kežmarok, Levoča, and Spišská Nová Ves, the declared value of Jewish property amounted to approximately 227 million crowns. By 1 October 1941, all businesses owned by Jews were either Aryanized or completely liquidated. In Levoča, 70 firms and trades were Aryanised, with an annual turnover of approximately 13 million crowns. In the entire district, a total of 138 shops and craft workshops were Aryanised or liquidated.

A tragic day in the history of Levoča is 22 March 1942. On this day, members of the Hlinka Guard, together with the German FS, rounded up approximately 80 girls from the entire Levoča district and forcibly transported them to the collection camp in Poprad. From there, they were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Shortly thereafter, further deportations of men and women followed; they were assembled in the deportation centre in Žilina and transported to the Majdanek camp in occupied Poland.

According to archival documents from the Arolsen Archives (formerly the ITS archive), on 29 May 1942 a transport departed from Levoča, consisting of cattle cars carrying 522 persons from Levoča and surrounding villages. This train was subsequently joined in Spišská Nová Ves by another transport with approximately 510 deportees. Among those deported was Margit Berger, the wife of Vojtech (Béla) Berger, listed under number 427 on the deportation list. Together with her, her daughter-in-law, Gertrud Berger, née Heller (1909–1942), the wife of Albín Berger, was deported. The destination of the transport is recorded in the documents as Lublin, which at that time encompassed several camps, including Majdanek.

In many cases, selection took place upon arrival in the region, as a result of which some individuals were transferred directly to the Majdanek concentration camp. It is probable that Margit Berger perished there. During the Shoah, other members of her family were also murdered – her daughter Lenke, Lenke’s husband Herbert, and their son Ladislaus.

After the outbreak of the Slovak National Uprising and the subsequent arrival of the German army in Slovakia, even the few exemptions that had allowed some Jews to remain “at liberty” lost all validity. These included mainly yellow and white identification cards issued by the Slovak State regime to individuals deemed economically indispensable. After Nazi units occupied Levoča on 1 September 1944, many Jewish families attempted to go into hiding. Despite these efforts, the Nazis carried out extensive raids in the autumn of 1944, during which around 300 people were arrested, predominantly Jews from Levoča and nearby villages.

Approximately 120 of them were later deported to concentration and extermination camps. Among them was the last rabbi of Levoča, Julius Klein, together with his wife Johanna, née Hallas. Both were deported to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. Of their children, all survived the war except their daughter Lili, who was deported already in 1942 as part of the first transport. The Nazis murdered the remaining detainees on the spot or in the surrounding area.

An interesting fact is that Rabbi Julius Klein has a recorded grave at the cemetery, but the tombstone (matzevah) has not been preserved. It is therefore not possible to state with certainty whether this is an actual burial site or merely a symbolic grave. The family circumstances of the last rabbi of Levoča are currently under discussion with his descendants.

During this period, Karol Adler, a dental technician from Levoča and the commander of a partisan unit, was also murdered; the Nazis hanged him on 20 December 1944. Nazi units also damaged the local synagogue, destroyed the Jewish school, and desecrated the Jewish cemetery.

After liberation, only a small number of Jews who survived persecution and concentration camps returned to Levoča. Although the Jewish religious community was briefly re-established after the war, its fate was already irreversible. In 1948, only 37 Jews lived in the town, and in 1949 most of them left – for larger cities, for Israel, or for other countries such as the USA or Great Britain.

Today, in 2025, the Jewish religious community in Levoča no longer exists, although some descendants of prominent Jewish families still live on. This is a chapter of our shared history, because Slovakia’s history is not divided into “theirs” and “ours.” It is one common story. The stories of families who lived here, worked, traded, prayed, and buried their loved ones are inseparable from this town’s story.

After the Holocaust and communism, very little remains of the once-rich Jewish presence in Levoča. The synagogue disappeared, houses changed owners, and names faded from memory. The only things that remain are remembrance – and the Jewish cemetery, the last tangible cultural monument of this community. If we cease to value memory, we lose not only an image of the past but also a part of our own identity. And if we fail to protect the last place where these memories still breathe – the last physical proof of their presence – we will lose even that little which still reminds us of them.

That is why it is essential for our generation to protect the cemetery, to restore it, and to return the respect it deserves, not as “their” memorial, but as part of our shared heritage. The history of the town without its Jewish chapter is incomplete – and it is up to us whether this chapter remains forever erased, or whether we manage to preserve it for the future.