The Siebengemeinden (Hebrew: שֶבַע קְהִלּוֹת; English: Seven Communities, Hungarian: Hét hitközség[1]) were seven Jewish communities located in Kismarton (today Eisenstadt, Austria) and its surrounding area. The groups are known as Sheva Kehillot in Hebrew.[2]
The Siebengemeinden (now in AustrianBurgenland, which formerly belonged to Hungary) were composed of communities in Kismarton, Nagymarton (Mattersburg, old German name: Mattersdorf), Kabold (Kobersdorf), Lakompak (Lackenbach), Boldogasszony (Frauenkirchen), Köpcsény (Kittsee), and Sopronkeresztúr (Deutschkreutz, Hebrew: Tzeilem, Yiddish: Zelem). All together there numbered around 3,000 Jews, who were predominantly of Orthodox Jewish persuasion.
The most pious lived in Nagymarton and Sopronkeresztúr, where there were important yeshivas. Another community developed in Nagymarton under the leadership of Rabbi Moses Sofer (1763–1839). All seven communities fell victim to the persecution of the Jews under the government of the National Socialists.
People
Samson Wertheimer (1658–1724), chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, and rabbi of Kismarton
^"Magyar Zsidó Lexikon: Hét hitközség". MEK-OSZK.hu (in Hungarian). 1929.
^Austria-Forum: Siebengemeinden
^N. Vielmetti: Schreiber (Sofer, Hatam Sofer) Moses. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Band 11. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2803-7, S. 197 f.
Further reading
Johannes Reiss (ed.): Aus den Sieben-Gemeinden. Ein Lesebuch über Juden im Burgenland. Eisenstadt 1997. ISBN 978-3-900907-05-1
Hugo Gold (ed.): Gedenkbuch der untergegangenen Judengemeinden des Burgenlandes. Tel Aviv 1970.