Fabianhaza Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Hungary
Region
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg
District
Mátészalkai
Settlement
Fábiánháza
Site address
The cemetery is located on Micsurin Street, between houses No.4 and No.7.
GPS coordinates
47.851000, 22.359790
Perimeter length
153 meters
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fence.
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
The territory has been partially overbuilt, however there is a large empty area that can be fenced. No traces of cemetery remain today.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Private
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The Jewish cemetery of Fábiánháza existed as early as 1892, since it appears on the cadastral map of that year. The cemetery was demolished and is now partially built over.

Jews settled in the area around 1800, with the permission of the Count Karolyi family who owned the land. Most of the Jews worked in trade, particularly in grain and handcrafts. The Jewish community defined itself as Orthodox, and for most of its existence came under the jurisdiction of the Mátészalka Jewish community. There was a synagogue, a burial society (Chevra Kadisha), a yeshiva, and a Talmud Torah.

In the 1920’s, there were frequent robberies and looting of the village’s Jews and, as a result, many left. In 1941, ten young Jewish people from the village were recruited for forced labour, eight of whom perished in the course of work. At midnight on the night of April 12, 1944, the Jews of the village were rounded up and accused of hiding a secret radio transmitter in the synagogue. They were then transferred to the Mátészalka Ghetto, where about 18,000 Jews from the area were concentrated and were sent to Auschwitz a few weeks later.