Somotor

History

In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1214. The town was given a charter as a town in 1263 in a document mentioning "terrum Zomothor." The current Hungarian name of Szomotor was adopted in the late 1800s and even after the partitioning of Hungary, leaving Szomotor now in the new country of Czechoslovakia. The name remained Szomotor until 1927 when the Czech government changed it to Somotor to conform with Czech and Slovak spelling. [Historical records state that] Slavic linguists say that the name of the town comes from the word "cmotr" (to look) however when the town was founded there was no evidence of Slavic inhabitants. Hungarian linguists say it comes from Szomoru Tor, which means sad funeral (wake) which took place after the death of Chief Ond (after the arrival of the Magyars in the 980s.) The area was inhabited by the Magyars after their arrival. A Jewish community did exist in this town prior to World War II, which was destroyed in 1944 by Nazi Germany. A Jewish cemetery exists in this town (the name of the town is spelled in Hebrew: סאמאטאר