Munkács

Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city itself does not belong to the raion and is designated as a city of oblast significance, with the status equal to that of a separate raion. The city is a rail terminus and highway junction, and has beer, wine, tobacco, food, textile, timber, and furniture industries. During the Cold War, it was home to Mukachevo air base and a radar station.

Mukachevo lies close to the borders of four neighbouring countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Today, the population is . The city is a traditional stronghold of the Rusyn language, and the population of Mukachevo is officially reported as 77.1% ethnic Ukrainian.Ukraine Census
There are also significant minorities of: Russians (9.0%); Hungarians (8.5%); Germans (1.9%); and Roma (1.4%).

Up until World War II and the Holocaust, Mukachevo was primarily a Jewish town, and half the population was Jewish (see below), the rest of the population being Russians, Hungarian, Slovak, and other minorities. Formerly in Czechoslovakia, and before that in Hungary, it was incorporated into Soviet Ukraine after World War II.

Name

Most probably, the name derived from the Hungarian surname "Muncas" - munkás (worker) which later transformed into Munkács, while another version points that the name contains proto-Slavic root "Muka" which means (flour).

On 23 May 2017 the Ukrainian parliament officially renamed Mukacheve (''Мукачеве'') into Mukachevo (''Мукачево''), a year after the city council had decided to rename the city. Previously, it was usually spelled in Standard Literary Ukrainian as Mukacheve while Мукачів (''Mukachiv'') was sometimes also used.Mukachiv
in th
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
/ref> The city's name in Russian is Мукачево (''Mukachevo''), which is also the Russian transliteration (russian: Мукачево) as well as a name adopted by the local authorities and portrayed on the city's coat of arms. Other names are hu, Munkács; Rusyn: ''Мукачово'' (''Mukachovo''), ro, Muncaci, Munceag; Polish ''Mukaczewo''; Slovak and Czech: ''Mukačevo''; german: Munkatsch; yi, מונקאַטש (''Munkatsh'').

History

Early history

Archaeological excavation suggest that early settlements existed here before the Middle Ages. For example, a Celtic oppidum and metal works center that existed in the 3rd-1st century BC were found between the Halish and Lovachka mountains. A Thracian fort of the Iron Age (10th century BC) was found on the mountain of Tupcha. Around the 1st century the area was occupied by the Carpi people who displaced the local Celts from the area.

Hungarian rule

In 895 the Hungarian tribes entered the Carpathian Basin through the Verecke Pass, about north of present-day Mukachevo. In 1397, the town and its surrounding was granted by King Sigismund of Hungary to his distant cousin, the exiled prince of Grand Duchy of Lithuania Theodor Koriatovich, who used to administrate the Ruthenian Podolia region of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, until was exiled for disobedience by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great in 1392. Theodor therefore became a vassal of Hungary and settled many Ruthenians in the territory. Other sources, however, state that Theodor bought the town and the surrounding area in 1396. During the 15th century, the city prospered and became a prominent craft and trade center for the region. In 1445, the town became a Hungarian free royal town. It was also granted the rights of Magdeburg law.

During the 16th century, Munkács became part of the Principality of Transylvania. The 17th century (from 1604 to 1711) was a time of continuous struggle against the expansionist intentions of the Habsburg Empire for the Principality. In 1678 the anti-Habsburg Revolt of Imre Thököly started out from Munkács. The region also played an important role in Rákóczi's War of Independence.

Austrian control and revolts

After the defeat of Francis II Rákóczi the city came under Austrian control in the mid-18th century as part of the Kingdom of Hungary and was made a key fortress of the Habsburg monarchy. In 1726, the Palanok Castle and the town, before 1711 owned by the Rákóczi family, was given by the Habsburgs to the Schönborn family, who were responsible for an expansion of the town. They also settled many Germans in the territory, thereby causing an economic boom of the region. During 1796–1897, the city's castle, until then a strong fortress, became a prison. The Greek national hero Alexander Ypsilanti was imprisoned at the Palanok Castle between 1821 and 1823.

Mukachevo during and after the wars

In 1919, after the American-Rusyns agreed with Tomáš Masaryk on incorporating Carpathian Ruthenia into Czechoslovakia, the whole of Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied by Czechoslovak troops. On June 4, 1920, Mukachevo officially became part of Czechoslovakia through the Treaty of Trianon. In November 1938, a part of the territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary was re-annexed by Hungary as part of the First Vienna Award.
Without delay the new authorities decreed the expulsion of all the Jews without Hungarian citizenship. As a consequence Polish and Russian Jews, long-term residents of the now Hungarian-controlled Transcarpathian region, and also from Mukachevo, as well as the native Jews who could not prove their citizenship, were deported over the Ukrainian border where they were turned over to the German Einsatzgruppe commando led by Friedrich Jeckeln. On August 27 and 28 1941 they were all murdered by the Germans in Kamianets-Podilskyi's massacre.
Even so, Mukachevo's population still held an important Jewish component, until in 1944 all the Jews were deported to Auschwitz by the Nazi German Eichmann

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