Ödön Hirschler Zalán

Valuable family information courtesy of:

Alsódomborún, meghalt 1890 ... [PDF]A domborúiak elyseum.hu/HirschlerekIV.pdf

Approximate translation of selected extracts:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"The Zrínyi were the lords of the town until 1691 ... In 1791 it was bought by Count György Festetics and then for 132 years it was owned by the Festnets of Tolna. The unique location of the village in development played an important role. In particular, the operation of Újlaki-Hirschler Rt. , founded in 1828, had a major impact on its development. At the end of the 19th century, Alsódomboru had a hospital, a pharmacy, a casino and several craftsmen's guilds In addition to the farm, the Hirschler family carried out numerous constructions in the village. In the centre there was a shop, the school, Zala palace, the hospital building and the magnificent park. In 1857, 200 students studied there. "

According to a Croatian historical site: "Donja Dubrava, thanks to a Jewish family, was able to become the largest city and most advanced industrial centre of the Muraköz by the end of the 19th century." It is clear from the extensive article on the Middle Ages, that "Jews from Burgenland could come to Muraköz. Immigrants settled in Csáktornya (Čakovec), Prelog, Drávavásárhely (Nedelišće), Kotor (Kottori, Kotoriba), Atlas and Alsódomboru villages. At first they engaged in farming and handicrafts, and later became involved in trade. The doctors, lawyers, artists and bankers of the Murax were also mainly Jewish. Jewish capital played an increasingly important role in the industrialisation of the Muraköz. After the First World War, when the Murakoz was part of the then Croat Kingdom of Serbia, the anti-Semitism was strengthened. As a result of press attacks and increasingly frequent atrocities many Jews left the area ... "

The article also writes in detail about the Hirschler family. The author knows that the first Hirschler (perhaps Henrik and his son, Gyula) came to the area at some point. Presumably they settled down in Alsódomboru, because of the very favorable traffic conditions. Gyula Hirschler was mainly engaged in building timber trading: the wood produced here was floated on the Dráva to the destinations. Soon afterwards, together with Jerome? Ujlaki, Ujlaki-Hirschler was first founded and then established branches in more and more cities. The company expanded in the second half of the 19th century when it railway construction gained pace, requiring plenty of sleepers, and the industrialisation of the region was a boost. Under the management of Gyula's sons , Miksa, Lipot, Jakab and Antal, large sawmills were built. At the turn of the century, about half a thousand people were employed, and dozens of industrialist facilities - mills, wood processing plants - and an extensive trading network were in their possession.

Miksa Hirschler became the second richest man in the region after Festetics. The popularity of the Hirschler family is not just due to a secure livelihood provided to the locals, the many social facilities and services that were funded, casino, theatre, inn, hospital built in the village, but also the improvement and use of the river Drava. After his death, his widow and two sons took the company further. However, a luxurious lifestyle, bad investment, unreliable fund managers and big business combined with the world crisis ultimately led to the once huge corporate empire collapsing and becoming bankrupt.

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After the disintegration of the Monarchy, Muraköz was placed under Croatian authority. In these years both Jews and non-Jewish Hungarians suffered many hardships - on top of economic and legal grievances came the atrocities eventually of physical harm . It is understandable then when in 1941 the Hungarian army recaptured it, the Muraköy (the lawfulness of the operation still controversial), the Hungarian-speaking population (and the rapidly deteriorating economic situation of many unhappy Croatians too) welcomed the change. Even for Jews this new state of affairs was initially a positive development but as Hungary became German after the occupation their position here quickly deteriorated, their businesses were looted and then, in April 1944, all Jews living in the area were deported to death camps. Several members of the Hirschler-Zalán family had served as soldiers in the First World War with merit or noble rank , many had converted and strongly demonstrated their Catholicism, but the deportations persisted. Two committed suicide and a few managed to survive, some moved to other towns of Yugoslavia after the war or left to emigrate abroad.

A teacher in Croatia, Mladen Tota, processed the story of the Middle Ages. In his work - from which above we have already quoted - dedicating a separate chapter to the Hirschler family of the Lower Saxony. Mladen was kind enough to send to us a collection of photographs found in the Hirschler / Zalán family's legacy, whose more interesting pieces - some together with additional information - included here.

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6. Ödön, whose name means "Fisherman"in Hungarian, was the kanizsai self-formation and other social secretary of organs, later generous as a donor news stories. His wife was Emma Kunfy, daughter of Adolf, the wealthy landowner son of Simon Kunfy. Adolf Garibaldi Kunffy fought in his legion, hence later He was arrested in Vienna, father was released. For the elderly, a nobleman Somogytúri prefix and the Kunffy name is twofold was given by Franz Josef himself. One of his sons, Lajos Kunffy (1869-1962), the turn of the century and XX. The first half of the 20th century is a significant part of Hungarian painting, with the Honorary Order of France shape.

And also ...

PDF]Kunffy Lajos - Rippl Rónai Múzeum www.smmi.hu/konyvek/pdf/72.pdf

LAJOS KUNFFY OF SOMOGYTÚR (1869-1962) Written by János Horváth Translated into English by Charles De Kunffy

"EMMA KUNFFY got married in 1894, in Kaposvár. Her son Antal was born in 1895.She lived in her parents' house at 9 Dózsa György Street. "