Need Help Locating Marriage Record for Hungarian Great-Grandparents

Hezi Halpert

Hello, dear people of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Research,

I'm reaching out for assistance in locating the marriage record of my great-grandparents from Hungary, a pivotal detail missing from our family's narrative. Despite extensive research efforts, this particular record continues to elude us.

Here's what we know:

• József Alter (G54M-YLB): Born on September 4, 1896, in Szerencs, Hungary. His parents were Jonasz Alter and Katalin Pfirzich.
• Etelka Breuer (G549-34B): Born on April 15, 1896, in Kántorjánosi, Hungary. Her parents were Adolf Breuer and Regina Reintz. The Breuer family moved from Kántorjánosi to Kiskunfélegyháza around 1900.
• József and Etelka settled in Kiskunfélegyháza, Hungary, where they had five children. Only my beloved grandma survived the war.
• Based on our family timelines, we believe their marriage likely took place in Kiskunfélegyháza between 1914 and 1923.

Their Jewish heritage may provide clues to the location of their marriage record. However, despite searches through online databases we know like FamilySearch, JewishGen, the USHMM, and Geni, and inquiries to both local and national archives, we haven't found success.

Any tips, insights, or information about resources that could lead us to their marriage record or related documentation would be deeply appreciated. This quest to delve into our past holds great significance for us, and we value any assistance you can offer.

Warm thanks from the Halpert family for your time and for fostering such a supportive community. We eagerly await any guidance you might share!

Warmest regards,

The Halpert Family

Julia Szent-Györgyi

In 1997, Kiskunfélegyháza civil registers were apparently only filmed up to 1913 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/736589). The later death registers were digitized in 2013 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2549275), but I cannot find any trace of the later marriages online.

Theoretically, marriages up to 1938 should be public record currently, but you may need to hire someone to go to a registry office in person in Hungary to get a copy or extract of the record.

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A 1930 nationwide business directory lists Alter József as a grocer (literally "spice merchant") in Kiskunfélegyháza (https://library.hungaricana.hu/en/view/FszekCimNevTarak_16_037_12/?query=%22Alter%20J%C3%B3zsef%22&pg=211&layout=s), so you're probably on the right track for the location of the marriage.

For the date, the closest I can get is a newspaper real estate report from 1926 indicating that József Alter and wife purchased a house from Imre Kanyó and partners (https://adt.arcanum.com/hu/view/Kiskunfelegyhaza_FelegyhaziKozlony_1926/?pg=107&layout=s&query=%22Alter+J%C3%B3zsef+%C3%A9s+neje%22). I don't have a subscription to Arcanum, so I can only assemble the OCR-d text from search result snippets, but it appears that the purchase may have been paid in wheat rather than currency.

Hezi Halpert

Dear @Julia Szent-Györgyi,

Huge thanks for your help! The info you found about Josef Alter as a grocer and the house purchase in 1926 is super interesting and helpful.

I must say I'm a little bit confused from what you said about marriage record scanning in Kiskunfélegyháza only up to 1913. This is because I came along this collection with lists of marriage records in Kiskunfélegyháza for later years, including the years I'm searching for: 1914-1923. These are the lists where I got the marriage records of Josef's daughter Erenka (link to record) and Etelka's brother Nathan (link to record). I tried to find Josef and Etelka's marriage there too but had no luck. Maybe it's because the records aren't fully indexed or not indexed well? Do you think looking in person might work better?

Your findings make a lot of sense and have given me new leads to follow, especially the stuff from Arcanum. I'm going to look into getting the original copy.

Thanks again for all your help, it means a lot!

Best,

Julia Szent-Györgyi

I should've known better than to believe the Catalog's new-and-disimproved place searching algorithm!

But I can't get the search to cough them up from those films, either. Maybe they got married somewhere else? Or maybe they've been thoroughly misindexed, or their entry or page was missed, or someone tried to make a correction and the gremlin ate the permissions, so now they're missing from the index.

I just found a Szilárd misindexed as "Szihéret", so clearly a thorough misindexing is possible.

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I think you already have Etelka's little brother's birth and marriage, but just in case:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPD1-83B?i=449

Number 117. Dated in Kiskunfélegyháza, 31 January 1901

Informant: the below-named father, whose identity was confirmed by Vilmos ?iray.

Father: Adolf Breuer, Jewish, religion teacher, residence Kiskunfélegyháza, Báthory street 1, birthplace Nagy-Ruszka, age 32 years.

Mother: Mrs. Adolf Breuer Regina Reinicz, Jewish, residence husband's residence, birthplace Kántor Jánosi, age 30 years.

Birth: the parents' residence, 6 January 1901, 9 p.m.

Child: boy, Jewish, Náthán.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G96M-JXRD?i=51

Number 154. Kiskunfélegyháza, 23 June 1924.

Groom: Náthán Breuer, wine merchant, Jewish, born in Kiskunfélegyháza, 6 Jan 1901, res. Kiskunfélegyháza, III, Batthyányi street 30.

Parents: Adolf Breuer, Regina Reinicz.

Bride: Fanni Lichtenstein, homemaker, Jewish, born in Makó, 18 Aug 1904, res. Makó, Gróf Vay street 11.

Parents: Izsák Lichtenstein, Karolina Gombó.

Witnesses: Manó Weisz, Kiskunfélegyháza, Dávid Kun, Kiskunfélegyháza.

Hezi Halpert

Thank you Julia for your help and for the records! greatly appreciated.