History paper by Mazsu, János
Inside Borders - Jewish Settlement in Banned Cities: Jewish Immigration in Debrecen in the Periods between 1790-1870
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Most of the free royal cities and all mining cities of Hungary banned Jewish in-settlement by 1840. Nevertheless, we are first focusing our attention to the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, because in effect the roughly 50 years preceding the settlement permits for the inner areas of the indicated cities saw several waves of Jewish immigration in Hungary and it was the first important stage of mutual acculturation of the above-mentioned urban societies and Jewish communities. It was a period of time that is essential for the understanding of urban settlement, the subsequent integration and the controversial processes of assimilation/dissimilation and intra-urban spatial segregation.
The closing date of our study falls on the year of 1870 because my intent was to do an extensive survey of space and society structures relying on the data of the poll taken in that year, or to be more precise on the basis of the analytic sources of the Geoinformatic Social History Database of Debrecen (GISHDD) created by the digital processing of the manuscript maps and the statistical sheets of the age in Debrecen.
The present lecture also examines the fundamental legal, economic and social contexts of the immigration process and draws a comprehensive picture of the specific chronological segmentation and the various aspects of the settlement process in the environs of cities starting from the 1790’s and in the inhabited inner urban areas after 1840.
The second part of the lecture is devoted to the presentation of the spatial patters of Jewish settlement in Debrecen according to the following points of views:
• Initial steps of settlement, moving in the settlements in the vicinity of the city (-1840);
• Aspects and waves of settling to cities (1840-1867);
• Housing conditions and residence segregation, neighbourhood relations, rented and owned family homes, family structure and residence patterns of Jewish families (1869/70);
• The spatial layout of the established Jewish ritual and community institutions (1840-1870).
• Comparison of Debrecen Jewish settlement case to the others in Hungarian banned cities (urban in-settlements types in Hungary)
Apart from the comparative summary of the various research conclusions, the closing part of the final section of the lecture strives to raise and reconsider the research methodology issues of integration, acculturation and urban residence segregation on the basis of the study based on the findings and resources of the Geoinformatic Social History Database of Debrecen (GISHDD).
Research results provide a way to rethink the interpretations of the birth of modern Hungarian Nation, acculturation/integration, inside borders, segregation or/and cooperation of communities creating Hungarian Nation inside or outside of the National State.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
János Mazsu is Professor of Social and Economic History at Debrecen University (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration), Debrecen, Hungary. He is an expert in Social and Intellectual History, he served as Ránki György Chair (Indiana University) and has been active in the Jean Monnet program. Selected publications: "The Social History of the Hungarian Intelligentsia, 1825–1914". Atlantic Research and Publications, Boulder. Atlantic Studies on Society in Change 89. New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 292.p. G. Szabó-Módi-Mazsu. "Debrecen, a cívis város" (Debrecen, the civis city). Hungarian, English, German). Budapest, 2003. 320.p. "A jó polgár" (The good citizen) with Setényi János. Debrecen, 1996. "Iparosodás és modernizáció"(Industrializations and modernization) ed. and co-author, Debrecen, 1991.