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Mukachevo (, ; , ; see name section) is a city in
Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...
, western
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. It is situated in the valley of the Latorica River and serves as the
administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...
of Mukachevo 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 The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, 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 Rusyn ( ; ; )http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2781/1/2011BaptieMPhil-1.pdf , p. 8. is an East Slavic language spoken by Rusyns in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, and written in the Cyrillic script. The majority of speakers live in Carpathian Rut ...
, and the population of Mukachevo is officially reported as 77.1% ethnic Ukrainian.Ukraine Census
There are also significant minorities of:
Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...
(9.0%);
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
(8.5%);
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
(1.9%); and Roma (1.4%). While Uzhhorod is the main administrative city in the region, Mukachevo is a historic spiritual center of the region and center of the former Eastern Orthodox eparchy of Kyivan Metropolis. In 17th century it united with Catholic church by the Union of Uzhhorod, similar to the
Union of Brest The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...
. Up until World War II and the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, Mukachevo was primarily a Jewish town, and half the population was Jewish (see below), the rest of the population being Russians, Hungarians, Slovaks, and other minorities. Formerly in Czechoslovakia, and before that in Hungary, it was incorporated into
Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. Under the Soviet one-party m ...
after World War II.


Name

Most probably, the name derives from the Hungarian surname "Muncas"—munkás (worker)—which later transformed into Munkács. Another version points that the name contains the proto-Slavic root word "Muka" meaning "flour". On 23 May 2017, the
Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...
officially renamed Mukacheve (') into Mukachevo ('), 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 (''Mukachevo''), as well as a name adopted by the local authorities and portrayed on the city's coat of arms. The name of the city in other languages include: * ; * (''Mukachovo''), * (''Mukačava''), * ; * Polish: ''Mukaczewo''; * Slovak and
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
: ''Mukačevo''; * ; * (''Munkatsh', local pronunciation 'Münkatsh').''


History


Early history

Archaeological excavation suggest that early settlements existed here before the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. 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 The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...
fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
of the
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
(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 The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
from the area. The
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
settled the territory in the 6th century.


Hungarian rule

In 895 the Hungarian tribes entered the Carpathian Basin through the Veretskyi Pass, about north of present-day Mukachevo. In 1397, the town and its surrounding was granted by
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elect ...
, to his distant cousin, the exiled prince of Grand Duchy of Lithuania Fyodor Koriatovych, who used to administer 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 A ''Ruthenian'' and ''Ruthene'' are exonyms of Latin language, Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common Ethnonym, ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term ...
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
royal free city A royal free city, or free royal city (Latin: ''libera regia civitas''), was the official term for the most important cities in the Kingdom of Hungary from the late 12th centuryBácskai Vera – Nagy Lajos: Piackörzetek, piacközpontok és város ...
. It was also granted
Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...
. 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 Emeric 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 The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
. In 1726, the
Palanok Castle The Palanok Castle or Mukachevo Castle (; or ; ) is a historic castle in the city of Mukacheve in the western Ukrainian oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belaru ...
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 Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
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 Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
national hero Alexander Ypsilanti was imprisoned at the Palanok Castle between 1821 and 1823.


Mukachevo during and after the wars

In 1919, after the Rusyn Americans agreed with
Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovaks, Czechoslovak statesman, political activist and philosopher who served as the first List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 191 ...
on the incorporation of
Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...
into
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, the whole of
Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...
was occupied by Czechoslovak troops. On 4 June 1920, Mukachevo officially became part of Czechoslovakia through the
Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...
. 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 The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, whic ...
. Without delay the new authorities decreed the expulsion of all 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 (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...
commando led by Friedrich Jeckeln. On 27 and 28 August 1941, they were all murdered by the Germans in
Kamianets-Podilskyi Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...
's
massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...
. Even so, Mukachevo's population still held an important Jewish component, up until 1944 when all remaining Jews were deported to the
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
by Adolf Eichmann. At the end of 1944, the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
stormed Carpathian Ruthenia. At first the territory was given to the re-established Czechoslovakia, which then became part of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
later in 1945 by a treaty between the two countries. The Soviet Union began a policy of expulsion of the Hungarian population. In 1945, the city was ceded to the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
, and is currently under the sovereignty of
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. Since 2002, Mukachevo has been the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mukachevo. The 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces has been based in Mukachevo since
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Geography


Climate

Mukachevo has a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Dfb'').


Demographics

In 1910, the Hungarian Statistical Report recorded 17,275 inhabitants in Mukachevo. Of those, 12,686 persons, (73,44%) declared themselves Hungarian, 3078 (17,82%), German, and 1394 (8,07%) Rusyn. In terms of religious affiliations, 7675 persons (44,43%) were Israelites/Jewish, 4081 persons (23,62%) were Greek-Catholic, 3526 persons (20,41%) were Roman-Catholic, 1771 persons (10,25%) were Reformed Protestants /Calvinists and 190 persons (1,1%) were Evangelical Protestants/Lutherans. In 1921, 21,000 people lived in Mukachevo. Of these, 48% were Jewish, 24% were Rusyn, and 22% were Hungarian. In 1966, 50,500 people lived in Mukachevo. Of these, 60% were Ukrainian, 18% were Hungarian, 10% were Russian, and 6% were Jewish. According to the 2001 census, 82,200 people live in Mukachevo. The population in 1989 was 91,000, in 2004, 77,300 and in 2008, 93,738. Its population includes: Residents in seven villages of the Mukachevo Raion have the option to learn the Hungarian language in a school or home school environment.


Economy

Fischer Sports Fischer Sports is an Austrian Winter sports, winter sports equipment manufacturing company, more specifically Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing and ice hockey equipment, ice hockey equipment. Winter sports equipment include skis, ski boot, boots, ski b ...
, an
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n company that produces
Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe to heel. Re ...
,
Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...
, and
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
equipment, has a factory in Mukachevo. The firm benefits from provisional application on January 1, 2016 of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area provisions of the
European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement The European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement is a European Union Association Agreement between the European Union (EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), Ukraine and the EU's 28 Member States of the European Union, member stat ...
.


Jewish community

There are documents in the
Berehove Berehove (, ; , ) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated near the border with Hungary. It is the cultural centre of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, and Hungarians constitute roughly half (a plurality) of its popula ...
(Beregszász) State Archives which indicate that Ashkenazi Jews lived in Munkács and the surrounding villages as early as the second half of the seventeenth century. The Jewish community of Munkács was an amalgam of Galician and Hungarian Hasidic Jewry, Orthodox Jews, and Zionists. The town is most noted for its Chief Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira who led the community until his death in 1937. By 1851, Munkács supported a large
yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
, thereby demonstrating the community's commitment to
Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic learning and piety. Materially impoverished, yet wealthy in ideological debate, the Jews of interwar Munkács constituted almost half of the town's population. The Munkács Jewish community was famous for its Hasidic activity as well as its innovations in
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and modern Jewish education.One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...
, and has been released under the
GFDL The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the rights ...
:
The Jewish population of Munkács grew from 2,131 in 1825 to 5049 in 1891 (almost 50 percent of the total population) to 7675 in 1910 (about 44 percent). By 1921, the 10,000 Jews still made up about half the residents, though by 1930, the proportion had dropped to 43 percent, with a little over 11,000 Jews. The Jews of Munkács constituted 11 percent of the Jewry of Subcarpathian Rus'. Interwar Munkács had a very large Jewish population, which was most visible on
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
. On that day most stores were closed and, after services, the streets filled with Hasidic Jews in their traditional garb. The first movie house in the town was established by a Hasidic Jew, and it too closed on the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The Chief Rabbi of Munkács, Chaim Elazar Spira (who led the community from 1913 until his death in 1937) was the most outspoken voice of religious
anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...
. He had succeeded his father, Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Spira, who had earlier inherited the mantle of leadership from his father Rabbi Shlomo Spira. He was also a Hasidic
rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...
with a significant number of followers. Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rabbi Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz. Along with the dominant Munkácser hasidic community there co-existed smaller yet vibrant Hasidic groups who were followers of the rebbes Belz, of Spinka, Zidichov, and Vizhnitz. By the time of the Holocaust there were nearly 30
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
s in town, many of which were ''shtibelekh'' (" mallhouse" - small asidicsynagogues). The Hebrew Gymnasium (high school) was founded in Munkács five years after the first Hebrew speaking elementary school in Czechoslovakia was established there in 1920. It soon became the most prestigious Hebrew high school east of
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. Zionist activism along with Hasidic pietism contributed to a community percolating with excitement, intrigue and at times internecine conflict. In 1935, Chaim Kugel, formerly director of the Munkács gymnasium (Jewish high school) and then Jewish Party delegate to the Czechoslovak Parliament, gave a speech during a parliamentary debate: "…It is completely impossible to adequately describe the poverty in the area. The Jews… are affected equally along with the rest…. I strongly wish to protest any attempt to blame the poverty of the Subcarpathian Ruthenian peasantry on the Jews" (Kugel later got to
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...
and eventually became mayor of the Israeli city of Holon). Government policies were covertly directed against Jews, who bore a heavy share of taxes and had difficulty getting high civil service positions. In 1939, the Hungarians seized and annexed Subcarpathian Rus—including Munkács—taking advantage of the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Though antisemitic legislation was introduced by the Hungarian authorities, Subcarpathian Rus, like the rest of Hungary, remained a relative haven for Jews until
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
occupied Hungary in 1944. In the spring of 1944 there were nearly 15,000 Jewish residents of the town. This ended on May 30, 1944, when the city was pronounced ''Judenrein'' (free of Jews after ghettoization and a series of deportations to Auschwitz). Today, Mukachevo is experiencing a Jewish renaissance of sorts with the establishment of a supervised kosher kitchen, a
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, ...
, Jewish summer camp in addition to the prayer services which take place three times daily. In July 2006, a new synagogue was dedicated on the site of a pre-war hasidic synagogue.


Architectural landmarks

*
Palanok Castle The Palanok Castle or Mukachevo Castle (; or ; ) is a historic castle in the city of Mukacheve in the western Ukrainian oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belaru ...
, 14th century. The castle of Munkács played an important role during the anti-Habsburg revolts in this territory and present-day
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 ...
(1604–1711), especially at the beginning of the anti-Habsburg Revolt of Imre Thököly (1685–1688), as well as at the beginning of the revolt of Ferenc II. Rákóczi (early 18th century). This important fortress became a prison from the end of the 18th century and was used until 1897. The Greek national hero Alexander Ypsilanti was imprisoned in Munkács castle from 1821 to 1823. * Saint Nicholas Monastery *Wooden church built in the Ukrainian architectural style, 18th century


Sport

The main soccer team is MFA Mukachevo, which play in
Ukrainian Second League The Ukrainian Second League (, ''Druha Liha'') is a professional football league in Ukraine which is part of the Professional Football League of Ukraine, a collective member of the Ukrainian Association of Football. As the third tier it was establ ...
.


Notable people

* Lojza Baránek * Samuel Gottesman * Ihor Kharatin * Fyodor Koriatovych * Lolita Milyavskaya * Ivan Mozer * Mihály Munkácsy * Rio Preisner * Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz * Moshe Leib Rabinovich * Ludvík Ráža * Ján Strausz * Svyatoslav Vakarchuk * Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss * Joseph Meir Weiss * Yuri Yukechev * Naomi Blake * Ilona Zrinyi


Twin towns – sister cities

Mukachevo is twinned with: * Celldömölk, Hungary * Dabas, Hungary *
Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...
, Hungary * Humenné, Slovakia *
Kisvárda Kisvárda (; , ) is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary near the border of Slovakia and Ukraine. It is the 3rd largest town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg after Nyíregyháza and Mátészalka ...
, Hungary *
Mátészalka Mátészalka is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. It is on the Kraszna River, 52 kilometers from the city of Nyiregyhaza. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 17 ...
, Hungary * Nyírmeggyes, Hungary *
Mielec Mielec () is the largest city and County seat, seat of Mielec County. Mielec is located in south-eastern Poland (Lesser Poland), in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Województwo Podkarpackie). The population of Mielec in December 2021 was 59,509. ...
, Poland * Pag, Croatia *
Pelhřimov Pelhřimov () is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monument reser ...
, Czech Republic *
Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...
, Slovakia * Senta, Serbia * Várkerület (Budapest), Hungary


Gallery

File:Греко-католицький Успенський Собор P1370824.jpg, Dormition Cathedral File:P1380225 вул. Ярослава Мудрого, 10.jpg, A historical building on Yaroslava Mudroho Street File:Будинок Мукачівського російського драматичного театру.JPG, Mukachevo drama theater File:Munkacs Academia.jpg, Palace of Culture and Arts (Old Trade Academy Munkacs) File:Вул.Ілони Зріні.Мукачево.jpg, A street in the old town (
Ilona Zrínyi Countess Ilona Zrínyi (Croatian language, Croatian: ''Jelena Zrinska'', Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Zrínyi Ilona'') (1643, Ozalj – 18 February 1703, Izmit) was a noblewoman and heroine. She was one of the last surviving members of th ...
Street) File:Парк ім. Горького, Мукачеве.JPG, Andriy Kuzmenko Park in Mukachevo File:Aero Замок Паланок.jpg, Aerial view of
Palanok Castle The Palanok Castle or Mukachevo Castle (; or ; ) is a historic castle in the city of Mukacheve in the western Ukrainian oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belaru ...
File:«Ловачка». Погляд із мукачівського замку P1380061.jpg, Northern outskirts of Mukachevo, Halish and Lovachka mountains File:Мукачеве.Миколаївський монастир.jpg, A church in Mukachevo File:Мукачево, центр.jpg, Central square of Mukachevo File:Римо-католицький храм "Хреста Спасителя". Мукачево.JPG, Roman Catholic cathedral File:Православна церква Мукачево.jpg, Orthodox Church of Pochaiv Icon of Virgin Mary


See also

*
Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...
* Eparchy of Mukachevo and Prešov * Saint Nicholas Monastery (Mukachevo) * Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo * Roman Catholic Diocese of Mukachevo


References


Further reading

*Jelinek A. Yeshayahu, The Carpathian Diaspora : The Jews of Sub-Carpathian Rus' and Mukachevo, 1848-1948, New-York, Columbia University Press -East European Monographs, 2007, 412p. * * * The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine


External links

* * * *
Mukachevo City Council
- Mukachevo City Council website
mukachevo.net
– Mukachevo city portal
Newspaper "Mukachivsjka Ratusha"
Official news Mukachevo Mayor
Mukachevo News, Panorama Mukachevo - http://panorama-mukachevo.comMukachevo, Ukraine (Munkács, HU) ShtetLink on JewishGen.org
- Pictures of the Palanok castle and view on Mukachevo from Sergey Sorokin - a private mountain guide

in th
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
*United States Holocaust Memorial Museu
Jewish Community of MunkacsA Jewish Community in the Carpathian Mountains- The Story of Munkács
- Yad Vashem
A Film of Jewish Life in Munkacs

security agency "schit" Mukachevo Survey City tourMukacheve - ShtetLinkMukacheve Mukachevo, historical information, archival and contemporary photos, landmarks
{{Authority control Cities in Zakarpattia Oblast Historic Jewish communities in Ukraine Cities of regional significance in Ukraine First Vienna Award Holocaust locations in Ukraine