Alternate names: Tîrgu Lăpuş [Rom], Magyarlápos [Hun], Targu Laposului, Targu Lopus, Targul Lapush, Targul Lapusului, Tirgiu Lapus, Târgu-Lăpuş, Tîrgu Lăpuş, Târgul Lăpuşului, Târgul Lăpuşul, Lăpuş, Lăpuşul-Unguresc. 47°27' N, 23°52' E, NW Romania, 20 miles SE of Baia Mare (Nagybána), 50 miles NNE of Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár). Jewish population: 425 (in 1891). The town administers thirteen villages: Boiereni (Boérfalva), Borcut (Borkút), Cufoaia (Kohópatak), Dămăcuşeni (Domokos), Dobricu Lăpuşului (Láposdebrek), Dumbrava (Kisdebrecen), Fântânele (Lápospataka), Groape (Groppa), Inău (Ünőmező), Răzoare (Macskamező), Rogoz (Rogoz), Rohia (Rohi) and Stoiceni (Sztojkafalva).
- JewishGen Hungary SIG
- JewishGen Romania SIG
- Dés..., Bethlen, Magyarlápos, Retteg, Nagyilonda és környéke
(Tel Aviv, 197-) - Album hazahav: Zichronot miyaldotenu arba dorot shel kehilat Magyarlapos vehasviva
(Jerusalem, 1982)
- Dés..., Bethlen, Magyarlápos, Retteg, Nagyilonda és környéke
- video . Site of something unidentified and trash filled. [Feb 2012]
- local government website. [Mar 2013]
US Commission No. ROCE-0377
Alternate Hungarian names: Magyarlapos and Tîrgu-Lapus/Lapus/Targul Lapusului/ Targu Laposului/ Targu Lopus/Targul Lapush/Tiriu Lapus. Located in Maramures County at 4727 2352, 32.1 kilometers SE of Baia Mare. Cemetery address: Str. Mihai Eminescu nr. 6. The cemetery in Tîrgu Lapus (Magyarlapos) is the largest in the region known as 'tara lapusului', the area of Maramures south and east of Baia Mare, with 470 grave stones. --Responsible for site: Comunitatea Evreilor (Baia Mare), Str. Somesului Nr. 5, 4800 Baia Mare, Jud. Maramures, Romania. Tel: (40-62) 211-231 and Comunitatea Evreilor (Bucuresti), Str. Sf. Vineri 9-11, Bucuresti, Tel: (40-1) 157-441.
- Key and caretaker paid by contributions: Mrs. Anna Pohlman, Str. Mihai Eminescu nr. 6, Tîrgu Lapus 4875, Jud. Maramures. Tel: (40-62) 466-893.
The Jewish community that used this isolated, urban, hillside cemetery was Orthodox. Razoare and Damacuseni also used this cemetery. No sign or maker. The cemetery is well cared for by Mrs. Anna Pohlman, whose father cared for the cemetery before the war and up to his death. She was born in the late 1930s and speaks Romanian and Hungarian. An ohel has been re-built recently by visitors from Israel and contains the head stones of two rabbis. Visitors have restored several other graves, either with concrete footings for the graves, or with cleaning and painting of the gravestones. Mrs. Pohlman herself has re-painted the lettering in several other stones and would like to undertake further steps to paint and otherwise protect the stones (e.g. setting upright those that are leaning and stabilizing others with concrete foundations). Although she receives sporadic contributions from visitors to the site, more substantial funds would be necessary for complete renovation. She says that 339 stones are in need of some kind of repair and that 31 have fallen to the ground completely. Mrs. Pohlman identified the oldest grave in the cemetery (which was photographed) and the most recent burial was in 1972 (Laife Kaufman). The cemetery contains a variety of stone forms - double stones, obelisks, multiple stone monuments, etc. and appears to reflect a relatively wealthy, prosperous community before W.W.II. Theft of stones is not currently a problem, although one section of the site (approximately 300-sq. m) was annexed to a neighboring garden shortly after the war (the stones were removed and were at one time seen in the foundation of the adjoining house). Mrs. Pohlman believes it was annexed in 1944. Most of the small numbered stones that were found next to a majority of the graves have also disappeared over time. More recently, an engraved metal plaque was stolen by a group of visiting art students.
A fence erected in 1990 and a locked gate protects the cemetery from most unwanted intruders, but children from the neighboring school are eager to get in an play amongst the stones. Thus, security is a slight threat. Weather erosion continues to take its toll. In light of the fact that the cemetery is so large, a caretaker's fee would be particularly appropriate in this case. Mrs. Pohlman confirmed our information that the name Sajovics was well known in the village of Ungureni, and reports that there were many with that name in Tîrgu Lapus. When asked to confirm the existence of a cemetery in Razoare, she said that there were only a few families in that village and that the only two people she knew of had been buried in Tîrgu Lapus. Because she grew up in a family of cemetery caretakers, Mrs. Pohlman is a knowledgeable informant on pre- and post-war Jewish life in Tîrgu Lapus. Jewish families employed her. She told one story of travelling to Baia Mare every week to have chickens koshered for local, elderly Jews after the war. It is clear that she has much to say about the cemetery and about Jewish culture in general - she would be an ideal informant for further oral history research.
The cemetery is reached by turning directly off a public road. Access to the cemetery is open with permission. A fence and a locking gate surround the cemetery. Size: on-site guess - 2,500-sq. m. The cemetery contains 470 marble, granite, limestone, or sandstone gravestones, regardless of condition or position with 439 in original location, regardless of condition. 66% of the stones are leaning. 31 stones are broken or toppled. 31 stones are not in original location. Vegetation and water drainage are not a problem. A photograph will determine the date of the oldest known gravestone. The cemetery contains tombstones that are flat shaped, smoothed and inscribed in Hebrew and/or Hungarian as well as gravestones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, multi-stone monuments, obelisks, and horizontal placement. Some have traces of paint on their surface. Some have iron decorations or lettering. Some have cement footings for stones or cement grave boundaries. The cemetery owner is the national Jewish community. Adjacent properties are agricultural and residential. The cemetery is a bit smaller than in 1939 due to annexation of a small area for a kitchen garden. The cemetery is visited occasionally by organized Jewish group tours or private visitors. Theft of stones is the primary problem encountered between 1945 and the present. Maintenance: re-erection and cleaning of stones, clearing vegetation, painting stones, 1999 rebuilding ohel. Maintenance was by local caretaker and Federation and Jewish individuals from abroad. The ohel was re-constructed in 1999. Vegetation clearance is seasonal. The fence and gate were put up in 1990. Other repair work has been carried out occasionally over the last ten years. Within the cemetery are an ohel and other storage 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 8 April 2000 and interviewed Mrs. Anna Pohlman, Str. Mihai Eminescu nr. 6, Tîrgu Lapus 4875, Jud. Maramures. Tel: (40-62) 466-893.