Nyircsaholy Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish cemetery of Nyírcsaholy was established as early as 1855, since the oldest tombstone found in the cemetery dates to that year. The latest found tombstone was erected in 1939. The cemetery is currently in the territory of the municipal cemetery.

Nyírcsaholy is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county. In the early 19th-century estate owners encouraged Jews to settle and promote trade in the area. After the construction of the Nyíregyháza – Vásárosnamény railway line in 1904, it became a local commercial hub, and subsequently the Jewish population grew. An official Jewish community was organized in 1832 and a synagogue was built in 1849. In 1890 the Jewish population stood at 105 and grew to 126 by 1941. (Alternative sources report that in 1941, Jews accounted for 101 people of the village’s total population of 2,016). Following World War I, demobilized soldiers attacked the Jews and Jewish property. The Zionist movement was active in the Jewish community between the world wars. In 1941, 32 Jewish men who were taken for forced labour perished either in Ukraine or in the Mauthausen and Günskirchen concentration camps. In May 1944, the Jews of Nyírcsaholy were deported to Auschwitz after being detained in the Mateszalka Ghetto since April 23rd of that year. The memorial wall of the synagogue in Mateszalka contains the list of 91 Jews who perished in the war.