Kecskemét synagogue in 1986 and a view of the synagogue in the courtyard in 1986. The Jewish cemetery, founded in 1875, is located on Budai Road. Caretakers: Mrs. Antalné Kara (Bethlen város 3.) and Ms. Erika Straub (Nyíri Street 45.). The old cemetery, located near the train station, was closed in 1879. The remains were reinterred in the new one. [February 2009]
US Commission No. 000005
Kecskemet is located in Bacs-Kiskun at 46º54' 19º42', 85km from Budapest. Population is over 100,000. 1400 Jews lived here before WWII with fewer than 100 Jews in 1991. Cemetery: on the western edge of town along the main road to Budapest.
- Mayor: Merasz Yozsef; Town clerk: Dr. Erdei Attila.
- Local: Polgarmesteri Hiyatal of Kecsketiet Kossuth ter 1. Ph: 483683.
- Regional: MAZSIHISZ of Sip U.12, H-1075, Budapest Phone: (011-361) 122-6475/78.
- Caretaker: Dr. Galantai Laszlo of Kecskemet Kaszap utca 2.
A big earthquake in 1911 destroyed the synagogue and other buildings. The Jewish cemetery was established in 1828, with the oldest known burial in 1825 and the last known Neolog Jewish burial in 1990. No other towns or villages used this cemetery. The suburban flat land near other cemeteries has signs in Hungarian and Hebrew. Located directly off a public road, a continuous fence and no locked gate surround the 1.18-hectare cemetery.
500-5000 graves all in original location. The cemetery is not divided into special sections. The marble, granite, limestone and sandstone tombstones are flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, or double tombstones or sculpted monuments have Hebrew, Yiddish, and Hungarian inscriptions. Some have traces of painting on their surfaces, bronze decorations or lettering and/or metal fences around graves. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims and Jewish soldiers but no known mass graves. The national Jewish community owns the exclusively Jewish cemetery. Adjacent areas are agricultural and residential with the same boundaries since 1939. Within the limits of the cemetery are a well and pre-burial house with a tahara (table) and a catafalque. The only known problems are security, pollution from a busy nearby road, and weather erosion. The cemetery has been restored with no later vandalism. Caretaker is paid by visitors' contributions.
Peter Tamas visited Feb. 1991 and completed survey on 10/14/91 using Land record M.Zs.L., Orban: Magyarorozag.