Tuzser Jewish Cemetery 2

Cemetery Information

Country
Hungary
Region
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg
District
Záhonyi
Settlement
Tuzsér
Site address
The Jewish cemetery is located on Temető Street, behind the municipal cemetery, on the left hand side.
GPS coordinates
48.338285, 22.111614
Perimeter length
233 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The site has been abandoned, however it has not been vandalized. It is partially overgrown.
Number of existing gravestones
10
Date of oldest tombstone
1902
Date of newest tombstone
1941
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

There were two Jewish cemeteries in Tuzsér. This cemetery was established as early as 1902, since the oldest tombstone found in the cemetery dates to that year. The cemetery remained in operation until at least 1941 – the year in which the latest tombstone was erected. The cemetery has not been fenced.

The first mention of Jews in Tuzsér was recorded in the 1747 census and by 1836 37 Jews were living in the village. The number of Jews in the village later decreased, and in 1880 Jews accounted for 82 people of the village’s total population of 1,060. By 1941, only 55 people of the village’s population (2,019) were Jews. The Jews of Tuzsér worked as stillmen, retailers, and draymen, and later as craftsmen, smallholder farmers, horse traders, and merchants. The community joined the Orthodox community of Mándok in 1885. In 1941, the Kewish youth of Tuzsér were drafted into forced labour. In mid-April 1944, the Jews were forcibly gathered in the synagogue with a minimal supply of food and clothes. After Passover, Hungarian policemen arrived and transported them to the Kisvárda Ghetto on the carriages of other locals. The Jews were not permitted to take any of their possessions and their houses were closed with red wax seals. At the end of May, they were deported to Auschwitz. Only about 10 people returned after the war, some of whom were saved and hidden by their Christians friends. By the beginning of 1949, only 3 Jews remained in Tuzsér.