Although less than 40,000 Jews are officially registered, experts estimate there are between 80,000 to 100,000 Jews in Budapest today, making it the largest and liveliest community in Central Europe. Three day schools, more than a dozen functioning synagogues, and a half dozen youth clubs are all well attended.
All our Hungarian interviews were conducted in Budapest. That's because the overwhelming majority of Jews in the provinces were deported to their deaths in 1944. Most of those who returned to Hungary chose to settle in Budapest, so there was little reason for us to work in Szeged, Debrecen and other cities.
We also conducted Hungarian-language interviews in Novi Sad and Subotica in Serbia, in southern Slovakia and in Transylvania in Romania. Elderly Jews in these communities still speak Hungarian as their mother tongue.
Centropa's interview methodology was created by Eszter Andor and Dora Sardi, who headed a team of nearly a dozen interviewers, editors, transcribers, transcribers and scanners. Together, they secured more than 200 interviews and digitized 5,000 pictures.
Although less than 40,000 Jews are officially registered, experts estimate there are between 80,000 to 100,000 Jews in Budapest today, making it the largest and liveliest community in Central Europe. Three day schools, more than a dozen functioning synagogues, and a half dozen youth clubs are all well attended.
All our Hungarian interviews were conducted in Budapest. That's because the overwhelming majority of Jews in the provinces were deported to their deaths in 1944. Most of those who returned to Hungary chose to settle in Budapest, so there was little reason for us to work in Szeged, Debrecen and other cities.
We also conducted Hungarian-language interviews in Novi Sad and Subotica in Serbia, in southern Slovakia and in Transylvania in Romania. Elderly Jews in these communities still speak Hungarian as their mother tongue.
Centropa's interview methodology was created by Eszter Andor and Dora Sardi, who headed a team of nearly a dozen interviewers, editors, transcribers, transcribers and scanners. Together, they secured more than 200 interviews and digitized 5,000 pictures.
Although less than 40,000 Jews are officially registered, experts estimate there are between 80,000 to 100,000 Jews in Budapest today, making it the largest and liveliest community in Central Europe. Three day schools, more than a dozen functioning synagogues, and a half dozen youth clubs are all well attended.
All our Hungarian interviews were conducted in Budapest. That's because the overwhelming majority of Jews in the provinces were deported to their deaths in 1944. Most of those who returned to Hungary chose to settle in Budapest, so there was little reason for us to work in Szeged, Debrecen and other cities.
We also conducted Hungarian-language interviews in Novi Sad and Subotica in Serbia, in southern Slovakia and in Transylvania in Romania. Elderly Jews in these communities still speak Hungarian as their mother tongue.
Centropa's interview methodology was created by Eszter Andor and Dora Sardi, who headed a team of nearly a dozen interviewers, editors, transcribers, transcribers and scanners. Together, they secured more than 200 interviews and digitized 5,000 pictures.
We conducted 15 interviews in Greece, all under the stewardship of Dr Rena Molho, one of the leading experts in the history of Salonica's Jews (the name Jews use for Thessaloniki).
More than 90,000 Jews lived in Salonica at the turn of the last century, and Salonica had remained an open port city as part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912. It had never before been a Greek city.
In this fascinating ethnically mixed city, Jews held the majority. Since Jewish porters and merchants dominated the harbor trade, foreigners were often shocked to find the harbor activities closed from Friday evening until Saturday evening.
Almost wholly wiped out during the Holocaust, there are few Jews alive today who recall the time when Ladino, Turkish, Bulgarian and Greek were all spoken on the streets of this bustling port city, and neither the federal government nor the city government recognizes the contributions of Jews in Salonica.
Rena and her team conducted interviews in both Salonica and Athens (where they sought out Jews who had been born in Salonica).
We conducted 15 interviews in Greece, all under the stewardship of Dr Rena Molho, one of the leading experts in the history of Salonica's Jews (the name Jews use for Thessaloniki).
More than 90,000 Jews lived in Salonica at the turn of the last century, and Salonica had remained an open port city as part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912. It had never before been a Greek city.
In this fascinating ethnically mixed city, Jews held the majority. Since Jewish porters and merchants dominated the harbor trade, foreigners were often shocked to find the harbor activities closed from Friday evening until Saturday evening.
Almost wholly wiped out during the Holocaust, there are few Jews alive today who recall the time when Ladino, Turkish, Bulgarian and Greek were all spoken on the streets of this bustling port city, and neither the federal government nor the city government recognizes the contributions of Jews in Salonica.
Rena and her team conducted interviews in both Salonica and Athens (where they sought out Jews who had been born in Salonica).
We conducted 15 interviews in Greece, all under the stewardship of Dr Rena Molho, one of the leading experts in the history of Salonica's Jews (the name Jews use for Thessaloniki).
More than 90,000 Jews lived in Salonica at the turn of the last century, and Salonica had remained an open port city as part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912. It had never before been a Greek city.
In this fascinating ethnically mixed city, Jews held the majority. Since Jewish porters and merchants dominated the harbor trade, foreigners were often shocked to find the harbor activities closed from Friday evening until Saturday evening.
Almost wholly wiped out during the Holocaust, there are few Jews alive today who recall the time when Ladino, Turkish, Bulgarian and Greek were all spoken on the streets of this bustling port city, and neither the federal government nor the city government recognizes the contributions of Jews in Salonica.
Rena and her team conducted interviews in both Salonica and Athens (where they sought out Jews who had been born in Salonica).
Although we have not yet secured grants to translate many of our Austrian interviews into English (we are still looking), our German-language website is devoted to our 98 Austrian and 2 German interviews, most of which were conducted by Tanja Eckstein in Vienna.
Through these life stories and the 1,700 privately-held digitized and annotated images, we now have a portrait of Jewish life in what was once one of the most well established and integrated Jewish communities in Europe.
Many of our Viennese interviewees were born elsewhere, and they have brought with them a colorful collection of pictures of growing up in Czernowitz, Lemberg, Budapest and in Romanian cities. A few of our interviewees hail from rural Austria, providing us with a unique view of small town Jewish life.
Nearly every one of our Viennese interviewees survived the war by fleeing to the USSR, the UK, the US or Palestine. All returned-for a variety of reasons-in the years after. Today, the number of Jews living in Austria is estimated at around 8,000-10,000, with the vast majority living in Vienna.
Although we have not yet secured grants to translate many of our Austrian interviews into English (we are still looking), our German-language website is devoted to our 98 Austrian and 2 German interviews, most of which were conducted by Tanja Eckstein in Vienna.
Through these life stories and the 1,700 privately-held digitized and annotated images, we now have a portrait of Jewish life in what was once one of the most well established and integrated Jewish communities in Europe.
Many of our Viennese interviewees were born elsewhere, and they have brought with them a colorful collection of pictures of growing up in Czernowitz, Lemberg, Budapest and in Romanian cities. A few of our interviewees hail from rural Austria, providing us with a unique view of small town Jewish life.
Nearly every one of our Viennese interviewees survived the war by fleeing to the USSR, the UK, the US or Palestine. All returned-for a variety of reasons-in the years after. Today, the number of Jews living in Austria is estimated at around 8,000-10,000, with the vast majority living in Vienna.
Although we have not yet secured grants to translate many of our Austrian interviews into English (we are still looking), our German-language website is devoted to our 98 Austrian and 2 German interviews, most of which were conducted by Tanja Eckstein in Vienna.
Through these life stories and the 1,700 privately-held digitized and annotated images, we now have a portrait of Jewish life in what was once one of the most well established and integrated Jewish communities in Europe.
Many of our Viennese interviewees were born elsewhere, and they have brought with them a colorful collection of pictures of growing up in Czernowitz, Lemberg, Budapest and in Romanian cities. A few of our interviewees hail from rural Austria, providing us with a unique view of small town Jewish life.
Nearly every one of our Viennese interviewees survived the war by fleeing to the USSR, the UK, the US or Palestine. All returned-for a variety of reasons-in the years after. Today, the number of Jews living in Austria is estimated at around 8,000-10,000, with the vast majority living in Vienna.