International Jewish Cemetery Project - Romania D-F US Commission number: RO/MM/0301. also see TIRGU LAPUS
Alternate Hungarian name: Domokos. Located at 47°27' 23°55' in Maramures County about 2 km from Tirgu Lapus. Cemetery: Coming from Tg. Lapus, the cemetery is reached by turning right off the main road at the 'Y' junction at the center of the village. The main road turns to the left; and a dirt track continues to the right. The cemetery is visible on the right, 100m from the road, approximately 400m after the last house in the village. Present total town population: 900-1,000. No Jewish population.
- Local Officials: Comunitatea Evreilor (Baia Mare), Str. Somesului Nr. 5, 4800 Baia Mare, Jud. Maramures, Romania Tel: (40-62) 211-231.
- Regional officials: Comunitatea Evreilor (Bucuresti), Str. Sf. Vineri 9-11, Bucuresti; Tel: (40-1) 157-441.
Cemetery is not locked. Listed on Satu Mare community list, the cemetery receives relatively good care by the Molnar family. Although there is no fence or gate, the Molnars attempt to prevent flock grazing in the cemetery and regularly clear vegetation from the site. Stones are found in 20% of the cemetery area. The Molnars say that it was never 'full', but it is likely that some stones have been removed. Caretaker: Maria Molnar, Damacuseni #94, 4886 Damacuseni Jud. Maramures, Romania. Tel: (40-62) 465-007. Ildico and Sandor Molnar currently care for the cemetery, Maria Molnar is Sandor Molnar's mother. Damacuseni residents are mostly Hungarian; and the most common surname is 'Molnar'. Jewish people known from the town were Dr. Salamon (pediatrician), who left for Israel sometime before 1990, and Mr. Lazar, who had three sons - Shloim, Moise and Hershe. Moise played 'all kinds of music', but left for Israel (with his family?) in 1965 or 1966. There was a synagogue in the village at one time.
The isolated rural (agricultural) hillside with no sign or marker is reached by public road and is open to all. A hedge, trees or bushes and no gate surround the cemetery. Present size is approx. 302 square meters. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose the same area probably. The greatest threat to the cemetery is weather erosion. Most of the stones are of soft stone. Much of the writing is worn away.22 limestone and sandstone gravestones are in the cemetery with 18 in original location, 3 not in original location and 7 broken or toppled. Some stones may have been removed from the cemetery and incorporated in roads or structures in Damacuseni. Vegetation overgrowth is not a problem. Water drainage at the cemetery is good all year. The common gravestones are shaped and smoothed with Hebrew inscribed. No known mass graves. A private individual owns the property now used for animal grazing. Properties adjacent to the cemetery are agricultural and residential because the cemetery is located in a village residential setting, e.g. houses with adjacent gardens, orchards and pastures. The cemetery is visited rarely by private visitors. The cemetery was vandalized occasionally in the last ten years. Theft was primarily a problem encountered between 1945 and the present. Current care is clearing vegetation. Fallen stones were moved to the side of the hedge boundary. Care by local non-Jewish residents and unpaid caretaker is seasonal clearing vegetation. No structures. Security (uncontrolled access) and weather erosion are slight threats.
Completing this survey on 17 April 2000 were John DeMetrick and Christina Crowder, (formerly of Cluj, they have no further information) . They used a list of known Jewish cemeteries in Baia Mare. Other documentation will be supplied later. They visited the site in April 2000 and conducted interviews with Ildico and Sandor.