Mezoladany Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
The Jewish cemetery of Mezőladány was established as early as 1870, since it appears on the cadastral map of that year. The latest tombstone found in the cemetery was erected in 1936. The cemetery has been fenced.
Mezőladány is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County in the Northern Great Plain region of Eastern Hungary. The village was created in the 19th century following the merger of three small villages: Őrladány, Őrmező, and Endes. While there is no recorded evidence as to when Jews first settled in the area, there were seven Jews living across the three villages in the 18th century. The first Jews likely came to Mezőladány from Galicia to participate in the weekly markets in Kisvárda. They were welcomed by the local noble people and became tenants and later owners of the noble’s properties. Most Jews were merchants whose shops were in the centre of the village. At the beginning of 1900, the largest lumber yard in the area was built by the Reismann family. The Jewish community also had a synagogue.
In 1880, Jews constituted more than 10% of the village’s population (135 of 967). The Jewish population later declined and by 1941, of the town’s total population of 1,420, 133 people were Jews. In 1940, the right-wing came into power, following which Jews were no longer safe in the villages (many of them had already left before the antisemitic legislation came into force). In April 1944, there were 106 members in the Orthodox community. The Jewish community was ltaken to a local man’s stable and on April 20, were moved to the Kisvárda Ghetto. They were later deported to Auschwitz. There are no records regarding survivors from Mezőladány. In 1949, merely 6 Jews lived in the village.