A Remnant from a Community that has Disappeared – a Letter Handwritten and Signed by the Last Rabbi of the Jewish ...

A Remnant from a Community that has Disappeared – a Letter Handwritten and Signed by the Last Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Zborów, Slovakia [Previously Hungary] – a Community that was Completely Destroyed in the Holocaust
Zborów is located in north-east Slovakia near the border with Poland, 11 km. north to Bardejov.
In a census that was held in 1726, only three Jews were listed as residents of Zborów, most likely members of one family, who leased the house and land of a local nobleman.
A larger Jewish community developed later. A small synagogue was established only in the early 20th century. In a larger building near the synagogue, there was a Beit Midrash and close to it, the rabbi's apartment. The children of the community studied in a Cheider and it is known that a Chevra Kadisha operated in the town.
Among the rabbis who served as the rabbis of the town are the She'agat Aryeh and the Nodah Bi'Yehuda, who served as rabbis during the 18th century. After them, Rabbi Yechiel Michel Lichtenstadt and his son Rabbi Yosef Lichtenstadt. Rabbi Ignetz Amsel was the last was the last rabbi of the community.
The community of Zborów was a religious one. In 1930, 467 Jews belonged to the community.
The Holocaust
The Munich Pact of September 1938, about a year before the outbreak of World War II, forced Czechoslovakia to give Sudetenland to Nazi Germany and the Czech Republic dissolved. Slovakia announced its autonomy and on march 15 1939 became an independent state, a satellite state of Germany. By anti-Jewish laws, the Jews were expelled from their land and during the war were handed over to the Germans and sent to death and concentration camps in Poland.
There is no detailed information about the Jews of Zborów during the war. However, unfortunately, nothing has remained today of the community.