Levelek Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish cemetery in Levelek was established as early as 1870, since it appears on the cadastral map of that year. The cemetery’s territory was gradually enlarged over time. The latest tombstone found in the fenced part of the cemetery dates to 1944.

Over the course of several decades, the Jewish population in Levelek was as follows: 114 in 1880, 203 in 1910, 184 in 1920, 103 in 1930, and 100 in 1941. The Orthodox community had a Chevra Kadisha (burial society) and a mikveh (ritual bath). The synagogue and the elementary school were built by a wealthy member of the community. The school later closed and only the cheder remained. In World War I, several Jews from the village died in service. In the fall of 1918, a few anti-Jewish movements targeted the Jews in Levelek. The village was later under Romanian occupation for some time in 1920. Jews were constantly blackmailed and harassed by the Romanians. During the White Terror, a group of officers broke into the synagogue and began to beat the Jews. Jews were also attacked at the school on numerous occasions. Several families fled the village in the wake of the violence. After a few years, the violence subsided and life in the village returned to normal for a period. In 1944, there were 91 Jews in the village. According to the 1949 census, there were merely 11 Jews in Levelek after the war, though they later left and not long after only one Jew remained in the village.