US Commission No. ROCE-0364
Alternate Hungarian name: Kovarremete. Located in Maramures County at 4732 2333, approximately 15 km S of Baia Mare. Entering village from Satu Mare, the road leading to the cemetery is on the right, adjacent to a small beige chapel about half a km. from the edge of the village. Follow the right branch of the road at the next intersection, and near the last house, an Orthodox cemetery is visible on the left. The cemetery is about 200m above the Orthodox cemetery farther up the hill.
- LOCAL: Comunitatea Evreilor (Baia Mare), Str. Somesului Nr. 5, 4800 Baia Mare, Jud. Maramures, Romania. Tel: (40-62) 211-231.
- REGIONAL: Comunitatea Evreilor (Bucuresti), Str. Sf. Vineri 9-11, Bucuresti, Tel: (40-1) 157-441. The cemetery is not locked.
- Caretaker: Mr. Stefan Voivod, Remetea Chioarului #192, Jud. Maramures, Romania.
Mr. Voivod estimated about 15 Jewish families before W.W.II.The cemetery in Remetea Chioarului (Kovarremete) is protected by a fence and well cared for by the family of Mr. Stefan Voivod (although the gate was unlocked at the time of the site visit). It is used as an orchard and regularly cleared of vegetation. The cemetery is on a hillside and there is a slight threat that more stones will fall over because of soil erosion. Otherwise, other threats are weather erosion and possible theft of those stones that remain. Mr. Voivod said that a journalist with two other guests had visited the site two years ago from Baia Mare. Otherwise, the cemetery is unvisited.
The rural (agricultural)hillside, separate, near other cemeteries with no sign or marker is reached by a turning off a public road onto private property. Access to the cemetery is open to all. The cemetery is surrounded a fence and a gate that does not lock. Present cemetery size is 690 (B. Mare list) square meters, on-site guess - 30 x 90 m. 13 Stones are in cemetery regardless of condition or position. 4 are leaning, 3 are broken or toppled. Half of the stones are legible. Missing stones probably were incorporated into road or structures. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is not a problem. Water drainage is good. The cemetery contains tombstones that are flat-shaped, smoothed and Hebrew-inscribed common gravestones. Present owner is the national Jewish community. The property is used as an orchard. Properties adjacent to the cemetery are agricultural. The cemetery is known to have been vandalized occasionally in the last ten years and between 1845 and ten years ago, theft of stones as the primary problem encountered between 1945 and the present. Care: cleaning of stones, clearing of vegetation. Major clearing of vegetation and a fence erected in 1990 by the Jewish Community of Baia Mare and the unpaid caretaker. Local authorities and local non-Jewish residents are responsible for the cemetery. No structures.
John DeMetrick and Christina Crowder, (formerly of Cluj, they have no further information), completed this survey on 22 April 2000 using a list of cemeteries known by the Jewish Community in Baia Mare. They visited the site on 7 April 2000 and interviewed Mr. Stefan Voivod, caretaker.