THE MEMORIAL BOOK OF PÁPA JEWRY - JewishGen

The printing house of Ernő Stern on the Main Square is equipped with the most up-to-date
machinery. Their products satisfy the highest requirements and the same can be said about the
printing houses of Weisz and Drach.
We have not finished with the stores in Kossuth Street. There's the elegant tailor's shop of
Miksa Braun and at the corner of Eötvös Street there's the wild game store of Schlesinger where
you can get pheasants, guinea fowl and hare. On the other side, the (carpentry workshop of Samu
Böhm maintains its good name; few can compete with the products of this old reputable firm.
The glassware store of Lipót Breuer is next to the head post office. Opposite there is a two-storey
building on the corner, which houses the Parisien Department Store – since the owner is Jenő
Steiner, it is kept closed on Shabbat. Turn at the corner and you will see the second-hand book
store of Lajos Baum in Deák Ferenc Street. The personnel is made up of strictly observant girls
whose knowledge of world literature can be envied by the educated as well.
If you feel like having something nice to drink while enjoying your book, you can stop by
at the bar of Antal Singer for a shot of brandy.
When artisans belonged to guilds, Jews were not allowed to enter these professions.
Emancipation opened up this opportunity for them, and in a short time the ridiculed Jews who
used to wander around villages with their whistles, collecting rags, bottles or buying feathers,
were transformed into hard-working, skilful artisans. In Pápa you could find tailors, shoemakers,
woodturners, carpenters, tinmen, locksmiths, stocking-makers, furriers, hairdressers, wig makers,
bakers, confectioners, glaziers, butchers and electricians who were Jewish. If you want clothes
not made of shatnez, you should order them in the workshop of Adolf Schiffer in Bástya Street.
The bearded, lean tailor works there together with his two sons until late at night. He stops his
work only when the Chevra Kadisha calls him to conduct the ritual of tahara, for which he
volunteers. He reads the Torah in the Tiferet Bachurim Association and on Shabbat also for the
minyan at the Berger timber yard.
If you need a tailored suit, you should go to Móric Stern in Rákóczi Street, the always
cheerful tailor and adept storyteller, who wanted to raise the spirits of those on the death transport
with funny tales, even in Kassa, the last railway station in Hungary, when they were about to set
out on their way to face almost certain death.
In addition to business and artisanship, the manufacturing industry also profited greatly
from Jewish work and talent.
Workshops and factories smaller than the large factories of Perutz and Leipnik were the
following:
the chemical plant of Dr. Pál Breuer
the cement factory of József Kohn
the brick factory of Ignác Wittmann in Kéttornyúlak
the brick factory of Steiner in Tapolcafő
the pipe factory of Boskowitz
the calico factory of Blum
the weaving mill of Jenő Balogh
80