ABSTRACT
In 1943, the Jews were evacuated from the various Jewish communities in Hungary into German concentration camps. Upon their arrival in the United States they settled in Williamsburg, which was already the center of the more religious Hungarian Jews in America. Most of the adult members of the community were born in Hungary and were married after their liberation from the concentration camps. This Hasidic community is now a fast-growing body, and as of 1959 its population was estimated at between ten and twelve thousand. The residence of the Hasidic group is limited to a few neighborhoods, some of which are changing in ethnic composition. The group maintains its own culture and its own cultural values. Within the Hasidic community the members did not lose their status because of their habits, customs, traditions, language, dress, social ritual, sentimental ideals, interests, and other values. All of these expressed self- and group-consciousness provides them status and recognition in the group.
