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Berehove, Ukraine Берегове, Yкраïна
also known as: Beregszász [Hun], Berehovo [CZ], Beregovo [Rus] 48°13' N / 22°39' E
~ Introduction ~
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Berehove   was part of the Kingdom of Hungary (11th century - 1920) with the name of Beregszász   in the Bereg megye (county) and was the capital of Bereg megye prior to WWI. Next, it was part of Czechoslovakia (1920 - 1938) with the name of Berehovo   in Podkarpatská Rus (Sub-Carpathia). During the period 1938 - 1944, it was again part of the Kingdom of Hungary, but after WWII, it became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1945-1991) with the name of Beregovo   and, since 1991, known as Berehove in the Berehove rayon (district) of Zakarpats'ka oblast (county) of the Ukraine. Other spellings/names for Berehove are Berehowo, Beregsaz, Bergsaß, Berekhovo and Sächsisch-Bereg. Berehove is located 16 miles S of Mukacheve (Munkács) and is 3 miles (5 km) from the border crossing point to nearby Hungary (on the Great Hungarian Plain).
~ Maps ~
Zakarpats'ka oblast, Ukraine Map: Copyright ©2010 by Marshall J. KATZ
NOTE: Clicking a link will open a new page.
1910 Map: Bereg megye/Beregszász (Click map to enlarge it) 1910 Map (Topographical): Bereg megye/Beregszász Austro-Hungary Military Map: Bereg megye/Beregszász (Click map to enlarge it) Street Map: Berehove (Click map to enlarge it)
~ History ~
Berehove was mentioned for the first time as a royal town with the name of Lampertsas in a Latin text dated 1247. In 1284, it was mentioned as Beregsas, derived from the Slavonic words of berek-wood and sas-a German tribe. Later, Beregszász, as it was called, was in Hungary. Szász means Saxons.
The territory of the town has been inhabited for ages. Legend is that Lampertháza (villa Lamperth), owned by Prince Lampert, the son of King Béla I, ruled the territory after the death of the king. The settlement was devastated in 1141 by the Cumanians and Petschenegs.
In 1247, the new Saxonian settlers from the Rhine Lands gave it the name of Lampertszásza, a city and it became a Free Royal City in 1342.
The town name of Beregszász was used first in 1504.
On 17 June 1657, Beregszász was set on fire by the Polish and in 1686, it was destroyed by the Hapsburg Army.
In 1768, a Jewish settlement was established and four Jewish families were recorded and by 1830, the Jewish population grew to 200.
By 1877, the population of Beregszász was 6,929 made up of Hungarians, Rusyns, Germans and Jews which comprised Roman Catholic (1,516), Greek Catholic (824), Eastern Orthodox Catholic (7), Agnostic (25), Reformed (2,762) and Jewish (1,795 - 26% of the total).
In 1910, Beregszász was a town and the capital of Bereg County. In 1910, the inhabitants numbered 12,933; 12,432 (96,1%) Hungarian, 221 (1,7%) Ruthenians, 140 (1,0%) German and 140 (1,0%) others by mother tongue. The religious distribution in 1910 was 4,344 (33,6%) Calvinist, 3,909 (30,2%) Jewish, 2,724 (21,1%) Roman Catholic and 1,956 (15,1%) other (most of whom were Greek Catholic).
By 1921, the Jewish population grew to 4,592 and by 1941, the Jewish population was 5,865 (30% of a total 19,379 inhabitants).
In addition to trade and crafts, Jews were represented in the professions (22 doctors, 17 lawyers) and they also owned two banks, 16 factories and three flour mills. A few dozen Jewish families worked on three Jewish farms.
The Treaty of Trianon allocated it to Czechoslovakia (Sub-Carpathia) as Berehovo, but after the Decision of Vienna (1938), the city again became Beregszász, part of Hungary. A few dozen Jews emigrated to Palestine before Hungary annexed the city in fall 1938.
After WWII, the Treaty of Paris (1947) allocated the city to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1945-1991) as Beregovo, based on the Soviet-Czechoslovakian Agreement. Since 1991, it has been part of the Ukraine and known as Berehove.
The city of Berehove is situated on the banks of the Verke, a small river connecting the river Borzhava with the Latorica river. The nearby mountains have its slopes planted with vineyards. The area is known for its old traditions cultivating grapes and wine production. Transcarpathian branded wines are normally bottled in the Beregovskaja wine factory. Berehove is also known for other industries such as furniture, instruments, sewing and other trades.
Today, the city is the center of the Hungarian inhabitants in Transcarpathia (46% of a total 29,110 inhabitants - 1990 census) and they have proposed becoming a Hungarian Autonomous District (referendum 01.12.1991). The city has one Russian, two Ukrainian and three Hungarian high schools; one Ukrainian and one Hungarian grammar school; one professional and one medical school. There is a professional Hungarian national theater and an amateur folk theater.
Of particular note, all of the clocks in Berehove are set to Hungarian time (1 hour behind the Ukraine) and Hungarian is the prevailing language. Also, Berehove is a border crossing point from the Ukraine to Hungary that is not as busy as the Chop (Csap) border crossing. You'll need to keep that in mind should you have the occasion to visit Berehove.
Very few Jews live in Berehove today (2010).
Notable citizens: Rabbi Hugo GRYN (1930 - 1996) became well-known as a broadcaster in Great Britain. The parents of Nobel Prize winning economist Milton FRIEDMAN, Jenő Saul and Sára Eszter (née LANDAU) FRIEDMAN, lived here before emigrating to the United States. Julius REBEK (1944 - ) became an American chemist who was an expert on molecular self-assembly. Aranka SIEGEL (1930 - ), a Holocaust survivor and writer, was the recipient of the prestigious Newbery Honor (1982) and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (1982). Dr. Bartholomew KUBAT, MD (formerly Berl KLEIN, 1917 - 2003) was a Holocaust survivor and a noted Czechoslovak surgeon, as well as a refugee from Communist Czechoslovakia. Miroslav KUBAT, JD (formerly Manhart KLEIN, 1910-2001) practiced law during the First Republic of Czechoslovakia (1918-38) and, from 1942 through 1945, he was an officer in the Czechoslovak Army in exile under Soviet command and took part in some of the toughest campaigns on the eastern front, including the capture of the Dukla Pass. After the war, he resumed his law practice in Prague and emigrated to the United States in 1948 and lived in New York City until his death. Piroska REICHART (1884 - 1943) was a poet who studied and doctored at the Pázmány Péter University in Budapest, then she was a teacher in secondary schools. She wrote poems, novels and studies, most of them published in the famous literary journal, the "West." She committed suicide in 1943. Sándor JÁK (JAKUBOVITS) was born here and was a writer (TV dramaturgist) and also wrote a Holocaust novel about Beregszász. Judy CASAAB (formerly Judit KASZAB born in Vienna, 1920 - ) lived in Beregszász and after the war, moved to Australia. She is the only woman to have won the Archibald Prize twice for Stan Rapotec (1960) and for Margo Lewers (1967). She has held more than fifty solo art exhibitions in Australia as well as others in Paris and London. Her additional honors are: Commander of the Order of the British Empire in "recognition of service to the visual arts" (1969), Officer of the Order of Australia in "recognition of service to the visual arts" (1988) and she was awarded a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) from Sydney University (1995). She also illustrated the Beregszász Yiskor Book. Géza KALOCSAY (1913 - 2008) was a former Hungarian national team and Czechoslovak national team footballer and manager of teams such as Standard Liege and Górnik Zabrze, both world-wide acclaimed teams. Nina Romanivna LOBOVA (1957 - ) was a former Soviet/Ukrainian handball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal with the Soviet team. She played in all five matches. Sir Alex Sandor ALEXANDER (formerly Korda KESZTENBAUM, 1916 - 1994) was born here and as a refugee from Czechoslovakia in the United Kingdom, built a remarkable life as an industrialist, financier and patron of the arts. He became chairman of numerous British companies, including Imperial Foods Limited and in his retirement, successfully rebuilt J. Lyons as Allied-Lyons. Dr. Ernő HARTMAN was born here and was a revered doctor who was posthumously awarded the first Pro Urbe (the Development of the City) Award. article Nandor "Cunci" WEISS was born here and after the Holocaust, he returned to Berehove and became the "Keystone" of the Jewish Community. He is revered for his tireless efforts, against all odds under Soviet dictatorship, to further Jewish observance and pride. Michael IOSIPOVICS was a member of the national handball team of Ukraine, and later, the handball team of Israel. Dr. Amalia BRAUN was the first female Doctor in the Carpatian Region and in Beregszász. She also attended the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, with Theodore HERZL. Gabor FUCHS, an acclaimed concert pianist and teacher, was born here. He has frequently played for many humanitarian causes in U.S. and Europe. Among his ancestry are famous rabbis in Europe: Pinchas Chaim KLEIN of Nagyszőllős (Vynohradiv), Josef Nehemiah KORNITZER of Krakow, Pinchas ROSENBAUM of Kisvarda and Geneva, and Moses SOPHER of Pressburg (Brataslava). He is fluent in six languages.
Sources (portions): The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, (2001), p. 113. FOTW Flags Of The World Text (portions) Copyright ©2000 by István MOLNÁR and Dov GUTTERMAN Hungarian Bibliographical Lexicon
~ Hungarian Melody: "Beregszász" ~ Szöveg (Artist): Ottó SHÓBER Zene (Music): Vlagyimir BALÁCZKY
Click the black arrow below to listen to the song.

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Compiled and created by: Marshall J. KATZ, USA with assistance from Beregvideki Museum, Berehove Book: Berehovo, Beregszáz, Zsidósága Képekben M.Y. EHRENREICH, USA Leo FEIGENBAUM, USA Genealogy Indexer hwd Media Share Dov GUTTERMAN, Israel Hungarian Banknote Catalogue FOTW - Flags Of The World Hungarian Bibliographical Lexicon JW Player Karpatinfo.net Nikoli KATZ, USA Magic Toolbox Rabbi Joel MEISELS, USA Memorial Museum of Hungarian Speaking Jewry, Israel István MOLNÁR, Ukraine National Library of Australia Nevek-Klarsfeld Dima PILIPENKO, Ukraine Sefone Project Mathew SHUGART, USA David WEINSTOCK, USA Wikipedia www.o2-Photo.com Yad Vashem Archives YouTube Amos Israel ZEZMER, France and the following JewishGen members/descendants and contributors of Berehove Jewish families: Iris (née GOLDBERG) BASS, USA Tova BECK-FRIEDMAN, USA Mary BLUMENSTEIN, Australia Reuven (Ray) BOXMAN, Israel Eva (née BRAUN) BERKOVITS, Israel Sydelle (née WEISS) COHEN, USA M.Y. EHRENREICH, USA Gabor FARKAS, Switzerland Michael and Linda FARKAS, Netherlands David FRIEDMAN, USA Bracha (née BECK) GHILAI, Israel Stephen GOLD, USA Dr. Tamás GOLDBERGER, Hungary Erica GOLDENBERG, USA Fred GROSS, USA Hugo GUTMAN, USA [The family of] Jehoshua HALEVY, Israel Dr. Yehuda HEIMLICH, Israel Daniel KATZ, USA Nikoli KATZ, USA Rudolf "Milu" KATZ, USA Samuel (Sasha) KATZ, USA Kati KISS, Israel Jill KLEIN, USA Michael J. KUBAT, USA Dr. Bruce LEIMSIDOR, Italy Yitzhak LIVNAT, Israel Avrom Shaya MALIK, USA Julian REINHEIMER, USA Betty L. ROSEN, USA Sandor SCHECHTER, USA Roslyn SNOW, USA Ari TESLER, Belgium Joseph VAYS, USA Tibor WEISS, USA
Updated: June 2020
Copyright ©2010 Marshall J. Katz All rights reserved.

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