Nyirlugos Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish cemetery of Nyírlugos was established as early as 1870, since it appears on the cadastral map of that year. The cemetery remained in use until at least 1944 – the year in which the latest tombstone was erected. The cemetery has been fenced.

The first Jews settled in Nyírlugos in the first half of the 18th century and by the end of the century whole families were settling in the village. In 1840, 14 Jews lived in the village, accounting for 0.9% of the whole population. Following the Jewish congress of 1869, the Jews of Nyírlugos joined the Orthodox community. In 1880, 116 Jews lived in Nyírlugos, accounting for 6.3% of the whole population. 163 Jews lived in the settlement in 1920, decreasing to 130 in 1941.1900, the rabbi of Nyírlugos was Rabbi Eliezer Meir Lazrus Schiffmann—one of the greatest sages of his era—who was one of the last students of the famous Gaon, Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke Klein of Nagyszőlős. After his studies, he worked as a merchant for 20 years in Felsőviso and became the head of the local Yeshiva. 1944, 136 Jews from Nyírlugos were confined into the Synagogue, then transported to the Nyíregyháza Ghetto and later to a farm called Hargond, from where they were deported to Auschwitz. No Jews from Nyírlugos survived the death camps, and only a few who survived forced labour returned to Nyírlugos for a while after the war. The synagogue of Nyirlugos was on Templom utca (street) and was demolished after the war.