When we traveled to Romania in 2017 or Slowakia in 2020, it was still easy: go to Google Maps and search for synagogue in the area you want to visit.
That has changed in 2024. When we planned this trip, it was suddenly impossible. Jewish sites where not shown. Only if you know exactly where to look, you would find it in Google maps.
So we had to look for other ways of research. Wikipedia is a good source.
In Hungary there is a list of synagogues on Wikimedia, which was our best starting point.
And of course books.
Rudolf Klein‘s book on synagogues in Hungary we could not yet get hold on, but it seem to the be the best source.
National geography: Jewish Heritage Travel. A Guide to Eastern Europe
This book is a good overview to relevant Jewish sites in many countries. Good to read!
Ferenc Orbán’s Book “discovering Jewish Culture in the Carpathian Basin” is in English and Hungarian language and covers Hungary and neighbouring areas. It is more detailed and offers background information.
In Google we started a list of synagogues. So in future, if Jewish sites are not searchable, we will find them.
Other resources:
Wikimedia Landkarte für Ungarn. Biggest problem with this map: the city names are in German language. So, today not really usable.
Sometimes useful hints can be found at sites themselves, such as this map of synagogues in Hungary found in Pécs.
