# Elek

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This article is about the town. For people with the given name, see [Elek (given name)](/source/Elek_(given_name)). For people with the surname, see [Elek (surname)](/source/Elek_(surname)).

**Elek** (German: *Renndorf*, Romanian: *Aletea*) is a town in [Békés County](/source/B%C3%A9k%C3%A9s_County), in the [Southern Great Plain](/source/Southern_Great_Plain) region of south-east [Hungary](/source/Hungary).[1] Until the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II), the town was home to the largest concentration of [Germans](/source/Germans_of_Hungary) in the county, with its population consisting almost entirely of [Swabians](/source/Danube_Swabians). Jews lived in the city as early as the 19th century and in 1944 many of them were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.[2][3]

## Geography

The town covers an area of 54.94 km2 (21.21 sq mi) and had a population of 5,567 in 2002.

## History

- 1232 : First mentioned
- 1566-1696 : [Ottoman](/source/Ottoman_Empire) rule ([Ottoman wars in Europe](/source/Ottoman_wars_in_Europe))
- 1724 : settling of German colonists (predominantly from [Franconia](/source/Franconia))
- 1739 : [Bubonic plague](/source/Bubonic_plague)
- 1894 : [Artesian aquifer](/source/Artesian_aquifer)
- 1920 : Elek becomes border town ([Treaty of Trianon](/source/Treaty_of_Trianon))
- 1946 : [Expulsion of German inhabitants](/source/Flight_and_expulsion_of_Germans_during_and_after_WWII)
- 1996 : Elek gains town status

Year Population 1802 1,200 1835 2,500 1890 5,700 1930 8,400 1940 9,300 2000 5,500 2010 4,985 2019 4,816

### Twin towns

Elek is [twinned](/source/Town_twinning) with:

- [Gerolzhofen](/source/Gerolzhofen), Germany (1990)
- [Alerheim](/source/Alerheim), Germany (1992)
- [Leimen](/source/Leimen_(Baden)), Germany (1992)
- [Sebiș](/source/Sebi%C8%99) (Borossebes), Romania (1992)
- [Gerlingen](/source/Gerlingen), Germany
- [Laudenbach](/source/Laudenbach_(Rhein-Neckar)), Germany (1994)
- [Veľké Kapušany](/source/Ve%C4%BEk%C3%A9_Kapu%C5%A1any) (Nagykapocs), Slovakia (1996)
- [Grăniceri](/source/Gr%C4%83niceri) (Ottlaka), Romania (1997)
- [Dumbrava](/source/Dumbrava,_Timi%C8%99) (Igazfalva), Romania (2019)

## References

1. ["City (town) Elek: map, population, location"](http://www.tiptopglobe.com/city?n=Elek&p=5465). *www.tiptopglobe.com*. Retrieved 8 May 2017.

1. [Documentation of the city's Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust](https://yvng.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=he&s_id=&s_lastName=&s_firstName=&s_place=Elek&s_dateOfBirth=&cluster=true)

1. [Hungarian Jewish census](https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/NEDA_nemzetisegi_Zsido_1840-1941/?pg=133&layout=s&query=Elek)

## External links

- [Official website](http://www.elek.hu/) in Hungarian

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elek) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elek?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.