JEWISH MONUMENTS IN SÁTORALJAÚJHELY
The Kaesztenbaum Jewish School building, memorial plaque
18 Rákóczi Street

The Israelites’ School, the first people’s school for Jews in Hungary, was opened on October 16, 1838 thanks to a donation made by Márton Kaesztenbaum.

Márton Raffael Kaesztenbaum, a smallholder from Pelejte, “was the humblest man in terms of his clothing and household, who deprived himself of anything that was non-essential to devote his incredible wealth, his ‘tiny fortune collected with great effort,’ as he claimed, for the noblest of goals.”

The Jewish people’s school served for more than one hundred years as an institution where Jewish children in Zemplén could pursue an education. Many of the children who studied at the school grew up to become famous doctors, scientist, and artists.

The building was rebuilt in 1856, when its façade was given its present form. In the same year, the school and the “Kaesztenbaum crowd” (a foundation) erected a headstone in Pelejte above “the holy ashes” and put a memorial plague on the façade of the school. The original plaque was placed on the wall by the entrance in the courtyard of the building in 2017.

As part of the Remembrance Program, in 2016, a Hebrew epigram was put up on the façade, which the school had originally placed on the building in 1856:

“This is the school Raphael built
His blessings following its foundations.
This is His house in Israel, His memory,
Its sons: His sons, its daughters: His daughters.”

Source:

• Sámuel Fodor: A Sátoraljaújhelyi Statusquo Izraelita Anyahitközség elemi fiú- és leányiskolájának 100 éves története (1839-1938) [A Hundred-Year History of the Elementary Boys’ and Girls’ School of the Status Quo Israelite Community (1839-1938)]

   

JEWISH MONUMENTS IN SÁTORALJAÚJHELY
The Kaesztenbaum Jewish School building, memorial plaque
18 Rákóczi Street

The Israelites’ School, the first people’s school for Jews in Hungary, was opened on October 16, 1838 thanks to a donation made by Márton Kaesztenbaum.

Márton Raffael Kaesztenbaum, a smallholder from Pelejte, “was the humblest man in terms of his clothing and household, who deprived himself of anything that was non-essential to devote his incredible wealth, his ‘tiny fortune collected with great effort,’ as he claimed, for the noblest of goals.”

The Jewish people’s school served for more than one hundred years as an institution where Jewish children in Zemplén could pursue an education. Many of the children who studied at the school grew up to become famous doctors, scientist, and artists.

The building was rebuilt in 1856, when its façade was given its present form. In the same year, the school and the “Kaesztenbaum crowd” (a foundation) erected a headstone in Pelejte above “the holy ashes” and put a memorial plague on the façade of the school. The original plaque was placed on the wall by the entrance in the courtyard of the building in 2017.

As part of the Remembrance Program, in 2016, a Hebrew epigram was put up on the façade, which the school had originally placed on the building in 1856:

“This is the school Raphael built
His blessings following its foundations.
This is His house in Israel, His memory,
Its sons: His sons, its daughters: His daughters.”

Source:

• Sámuel Fodor: A Sátoraljaújhelyi Statusquo Izraelita Anyahitközség elemi fiú- és leányiskolájának 100 éves története (1839-1938) [A Hundred-Year History of the Elementary Boys’ and Girls’ School of the Status Quo Israelite Community (1839-1938)]