Nyirkata Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish cemetery of Nyírkáta was established as early as 1858, since the oldest tombstone found in this cemetery dates to that year. The latest tombstone was erected in 1941. The cemetery used to be divided into two separate sections, but they have since been merged and are now enclosed with one fence.

Nyírkáta was called Gebe until 1955. The first Jews settled in the village at the end of the 18th century. 160 Jews lived there in 1820, increasing to 250 in 1880. In 1910, the community population decreased to 209, and 133 by 1941. The Jewish community joined the Orthodox stream following the Schism in Hungarian Jewry between the Orthodox and Maskilim at the Jewish Congress in 1869. The community had a Chevra Kadisha (burial society) and a synagogue (built in 1840). In 1944, following the German occupation and immediately after Pesach, the Jews were sent to the Mateszalka Ghetto and were deported to Auschwitz at the beginning of June. After the war, there was no longer a Jewish community in Nyírkáta.