Vésztő is a town in Békés county, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary.
Vésztő | |
|---|---|
 Vésztő, Csolt Monastery | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Vésztő | |
| Coordinates: 46°55′26″N 21°15′43″E / 46.924°N 21.262°E | |
| Country |  Hungary |
| County | Békés |
| District | Szeghalom |
| Area | |
| • Total | 125.76 km2 (48.56 sq mi) |
| Population (2015) | |
| • Total | 6,855[1] |
| • Density | 54.5/km2 (141/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 5530 |
| Area code | (+36) 66 |
| Website | www |
Geography
editIt covers an area of 125.76 km2 and has a population of 6855 people (2015).[1] The town is situated in the Tisza plain.
History
editNorth of the modern town there is the archaeological site of a neolithic tell. At its top the medieval Csolt monastery is located.
The jewish community
editIn the 19th century, a Jewish community lived in the village. Most of them worked as merchants and later became industrialists. Their non-Jewish neighbors trusted them and some Jews were even elected to the city council and were also active in the town's culture. Relationships with their neighbors were generally good. The community had a Jewish school. The community synagogue was built in 1934 after the previous synagogue was destroyed in a flood. In 1920, 181 Jews lived in the community.[2]
In May 1944, after the German army entered Hungary, all the Jews were concentrated in a ghetto that included only two buildings in the city center, which were declared ghettos.
On June 21, all Jews were sent to the Solnok Ghetto, where the author, Ida Lang, was murdered as a result of torture. Most of the Jews were transferred from Solnok to the Auschwitz extermination camp. After the war, 34 survivors returned to the city, erected a monument in memory of the murdered, and tried to rehabilitate the community without success.[3]
Twin towns – sister cities
editVésztő is twinned with:
Notable residents
edit- Menyhért Lakatos (1926 — 2007), Hungarian Romani writer
- László Hajdu (1947-), Hungarian economist and politician
References
edit- ^ a b Gazetteer of Hungary, 1st January 2015. Hungarian Central Statistical Office. 3 September 2015
- ^ Hungarian Jewish census
- ^ The Jewish Community of Veszto in The Museum of the Jewish People website
External links
edit
- Official website in Hungarian, English and German
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