Modern Bratislava,In History Highlights this week, we take you to the city of Bratislava, once called Pressburg, in the country of Slovakia,History Highlights: Olden-Day Pressburg, Modern Bratislava,In History Highlights this week, we take you to the city of Bratislava, once called Pressburg, in the country of Slovakia
Welcome to Bratislava! Once known as Pressburg this city was the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that ruled Central Europe for many years. Many important non-Jews lived there including the Austro-Hungarian Queen Maria Theresa. Famous musicians like Beethoven and Mozart gave concerts there. It had many palaces and big buildings. But as we’ll see Jews remember Pressburg for other reasons.
The first Jews who came to Pressburg may have come there after the destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdash. It wasn’t easy for Jews to live in European cities then. Every so often, when the non-Jewish leaders decided they hated the local Jews, they’d throw them out of the city and the Jews would have to leave and start their lives over somewhere else.
In 1526, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost a war with the Ottoman Empire (now known as Turkey) and the non-Jews were so angry, they threw the Jews of Hungary out. Jews didn’t return for almost 200 years.
After World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated and ceased to exist. People in Europe didn’t want to be ruled by big empires anymore, so the rulers of Europe created smaller countries, and Pressburg now became one of the most important cities in a new country called Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia treated its Jews well, especially as its president, Thomas Masaryk, liked Jews very much. President Masaryk once traveled to Yerushalayim to meet with Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, who had learned in the Pressburg Yeshivah as a young man.
Create a free account to keep reading.
