Bystré (, until 1899: ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Vranov nad Topľou District Vranov nad Topľou District () is a district in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia. Until 1918, the district was mostly part of the county of Kingdom of Hungary of Zemplén, apart from an area around Hanušovce nad Topľou which formed ...

in the

Prešov Region The Prešov Region (, ; ), also Priashiv Region (, ), is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 13 districts (okresy) and 666 municipalities, 23 of which have town status. The region was established in 1996 and is the mos ...

of eastern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

History

In historical records, the village was first mentioned in 1312. Bystré is also the birthplace of writer, poet and

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

Albert Marenčin Albert Marenčin (26 July 1922 in Bystré, Vranov nad Topľou District – 9 March 2019) was a Slovak writer, poet, surrealist, essayist, screenwriter, editor, collage artist, translator and critic. Early life He was a participant in the Slova ...

Geography

The

lies at an

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

of 175 metres and covers an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of 13.211 km².

Population

According to the 2011

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the municipality had 2,669 inhabitants. 2,313 of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

, 305

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and 51 others and unspecified.

Jewish community

Historically, the town was once home to between 80 and 110 Jews. In 1828, there were 100 Jews living there. The community had a synagogue, cemetery,

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

, and employed a religious teacher/ ritual slaughterer who also served several neighbouring communities. By the latter half of the 19th century, the number of Jews in the village was diminishing, as young people moved to larger cities. At the beginning of the 20th century, about 100 Jews still remained in the village, and by 1940, only 70 remained. In 1942, most of the remaining Jews were sent to extermination camps. After liberation, no Jews returned to settle in the village.

References

Genealogical resources

The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive "Statny Archiv in Presov, Slovakia" * Roman Catholic church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1853-1910 (parish B) * Greek Catholic church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1803-1942 (parish B)

External links

* *
of living people in Bystre
Villages and municipalities in Vranov nad Topľou District Šariš Historic Jewish communities in Slovakia {{Prešov-geo-stub