Issues of the Social History of Jews in 18th-19th Century Hungary Implications of a Comparative Regional Research Study
Issues of the Social History of Jews in 18th-19th Century Hungary Implications of a Comparative Regional Research Study

Summary/Abstract: The study, based on archival research covering a period of two centuries, concerned the settlement and social integration of Jewish families in towns of the Danube-Tisza region. The author attempted to present the history of these predominantly rural towns by an analysis of human interaction, that is, of changes in social structure. He conceives of historical place and time as a system, a network of mutual impacts. In addition to historical conditions, possibilities and requirements, it is essential to consider the spatial, economic, social characteristics of these settlements as well as those Jewish families which were first separate and alien groups, then gradually became members of these local communities. Rethinking his original hypothesis, he now contends that the following factors gave rise to the internal and external conflicts of the Jewish social group: 1. Their separate culture and religion. 2. The absence of legal equality. 3. The activities of a social group departing from their peripheral position and characterised by compulsion and tradition to fill a specific public need. 4. The responses and confusion of the integrating society. He addressed the following issues in the course of his research in regional social history: 1. The historical conditions of specific settlements. 2. Conditions of Jewish settlement: characteristics of their reception, their geographic mobility. 3. Size, occupation, household structure, property holdings of the Jewish population. 4. Other characteristics of lifestyle: housing conditions, marriage patterns. 5. Assimilation issues and statistical data. 6. Conflicts, anti-Semitism.

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