Hajdusamson New Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Hungary
Region
Hajdú-Bihar
District
Debreceni
Settlement
Hajdúsámson
Site address
The cemetery is located on Szeder Street, about 40m north of the intersection with Zöldfa Street.
GPS coordinates
47.59715, 21.75677
Perimeter length
418 metres. Today’s perimeter is smaller than on the cadastral map. The northern part has been overbuilt.
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
There is a 2.5m high concrete fence.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is well maintained. The Ohel needs restoration.
Number of existing gravestones
94
Date of oldest tombstone
1864
Date of newest tombstone
1943
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Property of local community
Preserved construction on site
There is an ohel.
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

There were two Jewish cemeteries in Hajdúsámson. This cemetery was established as early as 1864, since the oldest gravestone found in the cemetery dates to that year. The cemetery remained in operation until at least 1943, the year in which the latest tombstone was erected. The cemetery has been fenced and there is one ohel.

Jews first settled in Hajdúsámson in the early 18th century and made a living trading in the local market. According to the community census of 1944, the community had a Chevra Kadisha (burial society), a cemetery, a synagogue, a school, and several charitable institutions. According to census records, there were 418 Jews in Hajdúsámson. This number continuously decreased beginning in the second half of the 19th century: 333 Jews lived there in 1880, 309 in 1910, 334 in 1920, 268 in 1930, and 216 in 1941. In May 1940, Jewish men from Hajdúsámson were recruited for forced labour and in the summer of 1941, forced labourers were sent to the Ukrainian front.

In April 1944, the Jews of Hajdúsámson were transferred to a concentration camp on a farm near Debrecen, where they were held with barely any access to food. In mid-June they were transferred to a brick factory near the city where all the Jews of the district were concentrated. On June 24, the Jews were divided into two groups: one—which included the majority of Jews from Hajdúsámson—was sent to the Auschwitz, while the other was first sent to Austria for forced labour, and then to the Theresienstadt camp in March 1945. Most of the people in the second group survived. After the war, 30 Jews who survived returned to Hajdúsámson and tried to re-establish the Jewish community, though they all soon left the town.