A German language Chevra Kadisha record from Kőszeg (19th century)

Jews settling in Hungary during the 18^th and 19^th centuries primarily spoke Yiddish and German. Modernizing communities often found Yiddish backward, the “vernacular of the ghetto” and aspired to use a “clean” German language. These aspirations were soon replaced by the urge of Hungarianization. Jews were faster than other ethnic or religious minorities in adopting the Hungarian language at the turn of the century. Regional differences existed though. In big cities and regions with Hungarian speaking majority, this process was faster. Jews living in small villages and areas populated by peoples of non-Hungarian ethnicity were slower to change their first language. For the Neologue, the issue of Hungarianization was that of principle and an expression of the “love for the homeland”.