Jews in Darda Estate
Eugene of Savoy
After the liberation of Baranja from the Turks and peace in Srijemski Karlovci in 1698, the area of Croatian Baranja was divided into two manors. The Belje estate, which belonged to the great victor at Senta, Eugene of Savoy, and the Dardanian Estate, which belonged to the Vienna Chamber. The owner of the Belje estate, Prince Eugene of Savoy, built a fortified castle in Bilje in 1702 and began to renovate villages and settle new inhabitants. The Dardanian manor included the towns of Darda, Baranjsko Petrovo Selo, Karanac, Jagodnjak, Bolman and several places in Hungary. The first landowners were Generals Johann and Friedrich Vetarani, but from 1749, the estate was given to Count Esterhazy, and in 1842 it was bought by Prince Schaumburg Lippe.
Jewish families in Darda
In the area of the Darda in 1785, there were nine Jewish families in Darda that did not have a permanent residence. Most of them were engaged in trade. Two of them were artisans and two were salesmen. They were not tenants. Two lived on the manor plot, and the others every now and then in peasant houses. They did not have a rabbi or a real synagogue, but met in one room. Neither of them was a surgeon or a doctor. Everyone was poor. [1]
The same source states that Jewish traders did not dare to sell harmful goods because they would be considered smugglers and that they mostly traded in Bosnia and Slavonia. In addition to Darda, the Dardjan manor, which belonged to the Esterhazy family, also included the village of Kozarac, where we have found a list of two Jews engaged in trade. There were no rabbis or synagogues in Kozarac either. In the village of Karanac, there was a Jewish family engaged in trade that had no permanent residence.
[1] Stjepan Sršan, Baranja, Osijek 1999, str 175
Civil rights
In the Baranja area, Jews were engaged in trade and crafts and went to fairs where they sold their goods. The Jews primarily traded in agricultural products and second-hand goods because they were only allowed to trade these products. Their number has been steadily increasing since the middle of the 19th century, when the process of modernization began in the Croatian lands, so the Jews in this progress gradually acquired civil rights and lived better altogether. It was especially unfavorable for the Jews that they could not own either a real estate or land.
Sinagog
The canonical visitations around Baranja from 1810 tell us that in the Jews had their own synagogue in Darda, including a rabbi and a school and that there were 135 souls [1]. As early as in 1829, the following canonical census shows that in the town of Darda, Jews had their own synagogue and a rabbi, as well as a school, and that there were 231 souls. [2] We can conclude that the conditions for the immigration of Jews in Darda were favorable taking into account that in 19 years their number in Darda almost doubled. We have not been able to find out exactly where the synagogue was situated, there is only an oral tradition that it was located not far from Lake Đola.
[1] Stjepan Sršan, Kanonske vizitacije, knjiga I, Osijek 2003, str 346
[2] Stjepan Sršan, Kanonske vizitacije, knjiga II, Osijek 2003., str 43
Full civil equality
Full civil equality was achieved by the Jews in 1873, which opened up new perspectives and encouraged dramatic changes: in the generation that immigrated to Croatia, there were mostly merchants who made households or opened shops in villages and small towns. In the next generation, having acquired a certain fortune, many moved to Zagreb. The second and third generations of immigrants started academic titles and established themselves in prestigious occupations. They mostly became doctors and lawyers, but there were also builders, architects and artists among them. In many cases, the trade activity turned into wholesale and banking, and craftsmen become real industrialists.
Census
According to the 1881 census, there were 42,762 inhabitants on the Belje estate.
As stated by the following book, the population was divided as follows:
By nationality: Hungarians Germans Croats Serbs Jews
22% 38% 29% 10% 1%
By religion: Roman Catholics Protestants Orthodox Jews
69,30% 19,67% 10% 1%
The following data on the number of Jews in the Baranya region tells us that in the diocese of Pécs in 1900 there were 99 Catholic parishes, 23 Orthodox communities belonged to the Buda diocese, 81 Calvinist communities and seven Jewish religious communities. [1]
[1] Ante Sekulić, Hrvatsko baranjski mjestopisi, Zagreb 1996. str 39.