Yehuda Bacon

With all due respect to Yehuda Bacon, who is a Holocaust survivor, a renowned artist, and, as of this writing, still kicking at the age of 96, we would be rather unlikely to write this profile if his name wasn't Bacon. But it is!

How does such an obvious Jew get to be a Bacon? Believe it or not, this is the second time we're diving into Czech surnames. (The first one was goyishe hockey player Marek Zidlicky.) Alas, Yehuda Bacon is not really Bacon... the original, Czech spelling of his name was (Jehuda) Bakon. Darn.

Sadly, all research to the origins of Bakon (in both Czech and Yiddish form) leads to dead ends and loose speculation. One meaning that keeps popping up is the Hungarian "Bakó", meaning "executioner", which... err... seems unlikely? Yehuda was from Ostrava, which is close to the Polish border and is pretty far from Hungary, so let's hope not.

So, the origin of Jewish Bacon will remain a mystery. That kinda adds up!