Hidden Hungarian Jewish Ancestry

The world of genealogy and ancestry testing is really blowing up. In some cases, people realize they have Jewish ancestry through building family tree and in some cases the news arrives through an ancestry test report. Millions of people are building trees and getting their ancestry testing done. Because companies are literally processing millions of DNA tests, discoveries are being made about whole populations. 

The Hungarian Crypto Jewish story is one such example. My Heritage processed 1,800,000 anonymized tests and made an astonishing discovery. According the Hungarian national census, there are 10,695 Jews living in Hungary. The results of the My Heritage study revealed that in fact 130,000 people living in Hungary are 50% Ashkenazic Jewish. That means there are about 11,000 people in Hungary with known Jewish ancestry and another 120,000 people who are at least hidden 50% Askhenazic Jewish Ancestry. If you took the percentage down from 50% Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, that number would at least double. 

So, in this case, contemporary research has revealed there are A LOT of Hungarians who have hidden Jewish ancestry. Hungary has the highest rate of Ashkenazic Jewish ancestry following Israel! 

I will investigate this story more to find some useful direction for Hungarians who want to explore their Jewish ancestry. In the meantime, below is the article provided by My Heritage. Fascinating stuff.