Mukachevo (, ; , ; see name section) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated in the valley of the Latorica River and serves as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion. The city is a rail terminus and highway junction, and has beer, wine, tobacco, food, textile, timber, and furniture industries. During the Cold War, it was home to Mukachevo air base and a radar station.

Mukachevo lies close to the borders of four neighbouring countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Today, the population is The city is a traditional stronghold of the Rusyn language, and the population of Mukachevo is officially reported as 77.1% ethnic Ukrainian. There are also significant minorities of: Russians (9.0%); Hungarians (8.5%); Germans (1.9%); and Roma (1.4%). Another version points that the name contains the proto-Slavic root word "Muka" meaning "flour". Previously, it was usually spelled in as Мукачево (Mukachevo) by locals, and this name is typical for the Ukrainian language in forming city names, while Мукачів (Mukachiv) was sometimes also used. The city's name portrayed on the city's coat of arms. The name of the city in other languages include:

  • Russian: (Mukachevo),
  • ;
  • (Mukachovo),
  • (Mukačava),
  • ;
  • Polish: Mukaczewo;
  • Slovak and Czech: Mukačevo;
  • ;
  • (Munkatsh', local pronunciation 'Minkatsh').

History

Early history

Archaeological excavation suggest that early settlements existed here before the Middle Ages. For example, a Celtic oppidum and metal works center that existed in the 3rd-1st century BC were found between the Halish and Lovachka mountains. A Thracian fort of the Iron Age (10th century BC) was found on the mountain of Tupcha. Around the 1st century the area was occupied by the Carpi people who displaced the local Celts from the area. The Slavs settled the territory in the 6th century.

Hungarian rule

In 895 the Hungarian tribes entered the Carpathian Basin through the Veretskyi Pass, about north of present-day Mukachevo. In 1397, the town and its surrounding was granted by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, to his distant cousin, the exiled prince of Grand Duchy of Lithuania Fyodor Koriatovych, who used to administer the Ruthenian Podolia region of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, until was exiled for disobedience by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great in 1392. Theodor therefore became a vassal of Hungary and settled many Ruthenians in the territory. Other sources, however, state that Theodor bought the town and the surrounding area in 1396. During the 15th century, the city prospered and became a prominent craft and trade center for the region. In 1445, the town became a Hungarian royal free city. It was also granted Magdeburg rights.

During the 16th century, Munkács became part of the Principality of Transylvania. The 17th century (from 1604 to 1711) was a time of continuous struggle against the expansionist intentions of the Habsburg Empire for the Principality. In 1678 the anti-Habsburg Revolt of Emeric Thököly started out from Munkács. The region also played an important role in Rákóczi's War of Independence.

thumbnail|240px|St Nicholas Monastery (1772-1806)

Austrian control and revolts

After the defeat of Francis II Rákóczi the city came under Austrian control in the mid-18th century as part of the Kingdom of Hungary and was made a key fortress of the Habsburg monarchy. In 1726, the Palanok Castle and the town, before 1711 owned by the Rákóczi family, was given by the Habsburgs to the Schönborn family, who were responsible for an expansion of the town. They also settled many Germans in the territory, thereby causing an economic boom of the region. During 1796–1897, the city's castle, until then a strong fortress, became a prison. The Greek national hero Alexander Ypsilanti was imprisoned at the Palanok Castle between 1821 and 1823.

Mukachevo during and after the wars

thumb|The Scala cinema in the centre of Mukachevo, 1942. Fortepan archive

In 1919, after the Rusyn Americans agreed with Tomáš Masaryk on the incorporation of Carpathian Ruthenia into Czechoslovakia, the whole of Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied by Czechoslovak troops. On 4 June 1920, Mukachevo officially became part of Czechoslovakia through the Treaty of Trianon. In November 1938, a part of the territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary was re-annexed by Hungary as part of the First Vienna Award.

Without delay the new authorities decreed the expulsion of all Jews without Hungarian citizenship. As a consequence, Polish and Russian Jews, long-term residents of the now Hungarian-controlled Transcarpathian region, and also from Mukachevo, as well as the native Jews who could not prove their citizenship, were deported over the Ukrainian border where they were turned over to the German Einsatzgruppe commando led by Friedrich Jeckeln. On 27 and 28 August 1941, they were all murdered by the Germans in Kamianets-Podilskyi's massacre. Even so, Mukachevo's population still held an important Jewish component, up until 1944 when all remaining Jews were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp by Adolf Eichmann.

At the end of 1944, the Red Army stormed Carpathian Ruthenia. At first the territory was given to the re-established Czechoslovakia, which then became part of the Soviet Union later in 1945 by a treaty between the two countries. The Soviet Union began a policy of expulsion of the Hungarian population. In 1945, the city was ceded to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and is currently under the sovereignty of Ukraine. Since 2002, Mukachevo has been the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mukachevo. The 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces has been based in Mukachevo since World War II.

PostUkrainian independence

2015 far-right clash with Ukraine's special security service

thumb|Vehicle with a DUK insignia, 2015

On 10 July 2015, Ukrainian government forces clashed with far-right Right Sector paramilitary forces, killing two people. According to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko's ally Yuriy Lutsenko, these events "result[ed from] the conflict of interests between illegal armed groups and a mafia overtly cooperating with law enforcers." Some local leaders indicated the conflict ensued when Right Sector forces attempted to clamp down on the lucrative illegal cigarette smuggling trade to Western Europe, in which local law enforcement had been complicit. Immediate fallout from the events included the sacking of the leadership of the local Zakarpatya district customs service. Ukrainian MP Mykhailo Lanyo, fingered in the smuggling ring, reportedly fled Ukraine. Right Sector leader Yarosh called for calm, and denied that Right Sector troops were being withdrawn from eastern Ukraine.

Geography

Climate

Mukachevo has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb).

Demographics

In 1910, the Hungarian Statistical Report recorded 17,275 inhabitants in Mukachevo. Of those, 12,686 persons, (73,44%) declared themselves Hungarian, 3078 (17,82%), German, and 1394 (8,07%) Rusyn. In terms of religious affiliations, 7675 persons (44,43%) were Israelites/Jewish, 4081 persons (23,62%) were Greek-Catholic, 3526 persons (20,41%) were Roman-Catholic, 1771 persons (10,25%) were Reformed Protestants /Calvinists and 190 persons (1,1%) were Evangelical Protestants/Lutherans.

In 1921, 21,000 people lived in Mukachevo. Of these, 48% were Jewish, 24% were Rusyn, and 22% were Hungarian.

Residents in seven villages of the Mukachevo Raion have the option to learn the Hungarian language in a school or home school environment.

Economy

thumb|Railway station

  • Mukachevo (air base)
  • Mukachevo Radar Station
  • Mukacheve-Kapusany Line, 400kV
  • 400 kV substation

Fischer Sports, an Austrian company that produces Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing, and ice hockey equipment, has a factory in Mukachevo. The firm benefits from provisional application on January 1, 2016 of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area provisions of the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement.

Jewish community

There are documents in the Berehove (Beregszász) State Archives which indicate that Ashkenazi Jews lived in Munkács and the surrounding villages as early as the second half of the seventeenth century. The Jewish community of Munkács was an amalgam of Galician and Hungarian Hasidic Jewry, Orthodox Jews, and Zionists. The town is most noted for its Chief Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira who led the community until his death in 1937.

By 1851, Munkács supported a large yeshiva, thereby demonstrating the community's commitment to Talmudic learning and piety.

Materially impoverished, yet wealthy in ideological debate, the Jews of interwar Munkács constituted almost half of the town's population. The Munkács Jewish community was famous for its Hasidic activity as well as its innovations in Zionism and modern Jewish education.

The Jewish population of Munkács grew from 2,131 in 1825 to 5049 in 1891 (almost 50 percent of the total population) to 7675 in 1910 (about 44 percent). By 1921, the 10,000 Jews still made up about half the residents, though by 1930, the proportion had dropped to 43 percent, with a little over 11,000 Jews. The Jews of Munkács constituted 11 percent of the Jewry of Subcarpathian Rus'. (Kugel later got to Mandatory Palestine and eventually became mayor of the Israeli city of Holon).

Government policies were covertly directed against Jews, who bore a heavy share of taxes and had difficulty getting high civil service positions.

  • Celldömölk, Hungary
  • Dabas, Hungary
  • Eger, Hungary
  • Humenné, Slovakia
  • Kisvárda, Hungary
  • Mátészalka, Hungary
  • Nyírmeggyes, Hungary
  • Mielec, Poland
  • Pag, Croatia
  • Pelhřimov, Czech Republic
  • Prešov, Slovakia
  • Senta, Serbia

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  • Várkerület (Budapest), Hungary

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Греко-католицький Успенський Собор P1370824.jpg| Dormition Cathedral

File:P1380225 вул. Ярослава Мудрого, 10.jpg| A historical building on Yaroslava Mudroho Street

File:Будинок Мукачівського російського драматичного театру.JPG|Mukachevo drama theater

File:Munkacs Academia.jpg| Palace of Culture and Arts (Old Trade Academy Munkacs)

File:Вул.Ілони Зріні.Мукачево.jpg| A street in the old town (Ilona Zrínyi Street)

File:Парк ім. Горького, Мукачеве.JPG| Andriy Kuzmenko Park in Mukachevo

File:Aero Замок Паланок.jpg| Aerial view of Palanok Castle

File:«Ловачка». Погляд із мукачівського замку P1380061.jpg| Northern outskirts of Mukachevo, Halish and Lovachka mountains

File:Мукачеве.Миколаївський монастир.jpg|A church in Mukachevo

File:Мукачево, центр.jpg|Central square of Mukachevo

File:Римо-католицький храм "Хреста Спасителя". Мукачево.JPG|Roman Catholic cathedral

File:Православна церква Мукачево.jpg|Orthodox Church of Pochaiv Icon of Virgin Mary

</gallery>

See also

  • Zakarpattia Oblast
  • Eparchy of Mukachevo and Prešov
  • Saint Nicholas Monastery (Mukachevo)
  • Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo
  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Mukachevo

References

Further reading

  • Jelinek A. Yeshayahu, The Carpathian Diaspora : The Jews of Sub-Carpathian Rus' and Mukachevo, 1848-1948, New-York, Columbia University Press -East European Monographs, 2007, 412p.
  • The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
  • Mukachevo City Council - Mukachevo City Council website
  • mukachevo.net – Mukachevo city portal
  • Newspaper "Mukachivsjka Ratusha" Official news Mukachevo Mayor
  • Mukachevo News, Panorama Mukachevo - http://panorama-mukachevo.com
  • Mukachevo, Ukraine (Munkács, HU) ShtetLink on JewishGen.org
  • The Palanok Castle - Pictures of the Palanok castle and view on Mukachevo from Sergey Sorokin - a private mountain guide
  • Mukachiv in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Jewish Community of Munkacs
  • A Jewish Community in the Carpathian Mountains- The Story of Munkács - Yad Vashem
  • A Film of Jewish Life in Munkacs
  • security agency "schit"
  • Mukachevo Survey City tour
  • Mukacheve - ShtetLink
  • Mukacheve Mukachevo, historical information, archival and contemporary photos, landmarks