Alternate names: Ariniş [Rom], Egerhát [Hun], Arghihat, Arghihatu. 47°30' N, 23°14' E, 26 miles SE of Satu Mare (Szátmar), 20 miles SW of Baia Mare (Nagybána). Jewish population: 42 (in 1877), 92 (in 1920).
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 54: "Aranis".
- Pinkas HaKehilot, Romania, Vol. 2 (1980), p. 85: "Aranis".
US Commision Reference Number: RO/MM/55.
Summary: The size of the cemetery's fenced in area in Arinis is a bit misleading. While the cemetery is listed as being well over three thousand meters squared the portion covered with stones is actually less than a quarter of that area. The family that takes care of the cemetery has been taking care of the site since the 1950's. They have good reason to visit the site on a regular basis as the remainder of the site is planted with potatoes and other vegetables. It is our belief that this is a good relation as it provides increased security and a reason for the caretakers to actually attend to the well being of the site. The Tamasean's have not only cut the grass and cleared the brush on a regular basis, but have taken it upon themselves to repair a number of the stones that have be toppled or broken due to natural causes. The one potential threat is that site is actually open to anyone as there is no gate at the entrance that lies along a frequently traveled road at an intersection with a gas station and café/ bar. A small donation from interested individuals or organizations would be sufficient for the family to purchase a large swinging gate that locks. The Tamaseans told us that members of the Jewish community in Baia Mare and a family from abroad that has relatives buried here visit annually. Ioan Tamasean, the oldest living member of the caretaker's family, stated that the town mill was owned and operated before the war by a Jewish man named Adolf Frenkle. Mr. Tamasean's mother and grandmother both worked for Mr. Frenkle at the mill.
The cemetery is located immediately before the road from Baia Mare drops down into the village. A Peco gas station is on the right. The cemetery is visible from the parking lot of the café beside the station. Alternate/former Hungarian name of town or village is Égerhát.
- Local religious authority: Comunitatea Evreilor (Baia Mare), Str. Someşului Nr. 5, 4800 Baia Mare, Jud. Maramureş, Romania. Tel: (40-62) 211-231.
- National religious authority: Federation of Jewish Communities Romania, Str. Sf. Vineri 9-11, Bucureşti, Tel: (40-1) 613-2538, 143-0010-100. Contact: Mr. Alex Silvan
- Caretaker: Maria Tămăsan, and husband and father in law Ioan. Address: Ioan Tămăsan, Com. Ariniş nr. 115, Jud. Maramureş 4800, Romania
From stones in the cemetery: Frenkel Adolf, Ferencz Sighismond, Izsak Serena, Ferencz Martin, Frenkel Irina, Ferencz Susana, Lampel Jozsef, Kolb Benone, Friedman Elias, Lax Mose Lazslo, and Lax Jozef. Stonemakers: Grosz I. Satmar, Hohl F. Baia M. Frankel Adolf owned a mill in the village; and the mother and grandmother of the elder Ioan Tamasan worked for him. Probably no other communities used this cemetery. The isolated rural (agricultural) flat land has no sign or marker. A public road reaches the cemetery. Access is open to all via a fence and a gate that does not lock. Present size of cemetery is 3,338 square meters (Baia Mare list), on-site estimate - 80m x 80m. 31 gravestones are in the site: 19 standing straight up, 3 toppled, 7 leaning, 2 broken. The vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is not a problem. Water drainage at the cemetery is good all year.
The marble, granite, limestone, sandstone memorial markers are flat and shaped, smoothed and inscribed, carved relief decorated, multi-stone monuments, and Obelisks. Some tombstones traces of painting on their surfaces, recent cement footing for stones, and cement grave boundary. Inscriptions on tombstones are in Hebrew, Hungarian and Romanian. No known mass graves.
The cemetery property is now used for agricultural use (crop field in area not covered by graves.) Properties adjacent to the cemetery are agricultural in a village residential setting, e.g. very near to houses with adjacent gardens, orchards and pastures) Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries probably are the same. Rarely, private visitors (Jewish) stop. Care of the cemetery has been re-erection of stones, cleaning stones, and clearing vegetation by local non-Jewish residents and Jewish individuals within country. Seasonal clearing of vegetation is twice a year minimum. The family has occasionally re-erected stones that have fallen. Visitors paid for the concrete footings around some graves. A regular unpaid caretaker tends the site. No structures. No threats.
John DeMetrick and Christina Crowder, formerly of Romania and now in the USA visited the site and completed the survey 30 June 2000 using List of Cemeteries known by Jewish Community in Baia Mare. Further inquiries about the site could be addressed to the Jewish community in Baia Mare or the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities in Bucuresti. They interviewed the caretaker family Tamasan.
[UPDATE] Photos by Charles Burns [July 2018]