Kallosemjen Jewish Cemetery 1

There were two Jewish cemeteries in Kállósemjén. This cemetery, which is, according to some sources, the newer of the two, was in use as early as 1872, since it appears on the cadastral map from that year. The cemetery remained in operation until at least World War I, as the latest date found on a tombstone in the cemetery is 1941. The cemetery is currently included in the territory of a local Christian cemetery.

The first Jews settled in Kállósemjén in the mid-18th century. The Jewish population in 1785 was 29, and later decreased in 1828 to 19 individuals. In 1880 the Jewish community numbered 167 people. By this time, the population began to decrease again, later numbering 101 people. In 1869, the community declared itself Orthodox and, following another increase in the Jewish population in 1885, they became a subsidiary community of the Nagykálló Jewish community. The community also had a Chevra Kadisha (burial society), a women’s association, a Cheder, a Mikveh, and a Talmud Torah, as well as an engraving house with an engraver, a synagogue attendant, and a chazzan (cantor). The synagogue was built in the second half of the 19th century, before which Jews prayed in a private house. During World War I, 9 Jews were killed in action. In 1918, a group of retreating soldiers passed through the settlement and, along with the gentiles in the village, broke into Jewish shops and houses. In 1941, young Jewish men were called up for forced labour service. In 1944, the Orthodox community numbered 107 people. The registrar rabbi was Adolf Lőwy – the Rabbi of Nagykálló, and the caretaker was Abraham Deutsch. On April 22, 1944—according to testimonies—immediately after Passover, the Hungarian gendarmes gathered 94 Jewish people at a corner-lot house surrounded by a wire fence, and two days later they were all taken to the Nyíregyháza Ghetto and then to a farm in Nyírjestanya. The farm was liquidated in three stages from mid-May, and the Jews were transported to Auschwitz. 21 Jews from Kállósemjén survived the war. The synagogue was looted and damaged and, by 1949, 6 Jews lived in the village.