US Commission No. ROCE-0376 : Reference Number: RO/MM/79
Alternate/former names: Miszmogyorós (Hungarian) and TĂUTII-MĂGHERĂUS. Located at 4739 2329, 255.0 miles NNW of Bucharest in Jud. Maramures. When approaching from Baia Mare, turn right onto the dirt road marked with the yellow turnpike. Head towards the Orthodox cemetery and park the car. The Jewish cemetery is approximately a hundred meters to the left beyond the field of grape trellises. Otherwise, park the car at number 59, Strada Principala, home of the caretaker Mr. ţura Vasile. The cemetery is located in the fields behind him home.
- LOCAL: Comunitatea Evreilor (Baia Mare), Str. Someşului Nr. 5, 4800 Baia Mare, Jud. Maramureş, Romania. Tel: (40-62) 211-231. Further inquiries about the site could be addressed to the Jewish community in Baia Mare or the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities in Bucuresti.
- REGIONAL: Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania, Str. Sf. Vineri 9-11, Bucureşti, Tel: (40-1) 613-2538, 143-008. Contact: Mr. Alex Silvan
- CARETAKER: Vasile ţura. Strada Principala No. 59, Com. Tăuţii-Măgherăuş, Judeţul Maramureş, Romania.
The cemetery is located within sight of the caretaker's house, amongst some small private agricultural holdings where we saw grapes, corn, and various vegetables planted. It is located, for the most part, along flat land, although it slopes down steeply at the back, and a few stones have toppled in that section. Most of the space no longer contains any markers though no one seems to recall it ever having been full. We were told that the cemetery looked exactly the same over forty years ago. However, while in the cemetery, we managed to uncover a number of stone stumps and a few toppled stones that had become buried over the years.
Caretaker Mr. ţura Vasile said that as a child he was told that a man named Avram Oegaş donated the land long ago for the Jewish cemetery. A relative named Victor ţura used to take care of the cemetery before Vasile inherited the role of caretaker. Vasile stated that visitors came on a fairly regular basis up until about three years ago, since then no one has come to visit. A concrete post and wire mesh fence was constructed sometime in the early 1990's by the Jewish community.
The isolated rural (agricultural hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by a public road and crossing private property, access is open with permission via a fence and a gate that locks. Present size of cemetery is roughly 300 sq.m. although it is difficult to measure the irregular shaped. 17 gravestones are in cemetery, regardless of condition or position: 5 toppled, 7 leaning, 2 broken, 3 moved, and two stumps that had become buried over time.) Vegetation and water drainage are not problems. The marble, limestone, and sandstone tombstones are flat shaped, smoothed and Hebrew inscribed, and obelisks with carved relief decoration and/or traces of painting on their surfaces. No known mass graves. The property is now used for an orchard. Properties adjacent to the cemetery are a village residential setting, e.g. very near to houses with adjacent gardens, orchards and pastures). Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose the same area (probable). The cemetery is never visited. Theft of stones is the primary problem encountered between 1945 and the present. The cemetery was vandalized at some point in time. Current care is seasonal cleaning by regular unpaid caretaker. No structures Weather erosion is a slight threat.
John DeMetrick and Christina Crowder, formerly of Cluj-Napoca, visited the site on 27 June 2002 and completed this survey on 29 June 2000 using a list of cemeteries known by Jewish Community in Baia Mare. They have no further information. Other documentation exists. They interviewed the caretaker.