International Jewish Cemetery Project - Romania C US Commission Reference Number RO/MM/03
Alternate Hungarian name: Kovarfured and Carbunar. Located in Maramures County at 47°34 23°39, 12.2 km SSE of Baia Mare at the turnoff for "drumul veche" (old road) and from there, an additional 2 km. Heading south on the main road through Carbunar away from Baia Mare, turn left before reaching the center of Carbunar onto a secondary road that runs parallel to the main road. This route is known as "drumul veche" (the old road) to local residents and leads to the churches and other public buildings in the village. Proceed about 2 km on this road. Pass a school on the left and then a church on the right before reaching a series of small red summer cabanas on the right. After the cabanas, begin asking local residents about the cemetery, which lies about .5 km up the hills to the left and beyond the prune orchards.
Locating this cemetery was a stroke of luck. Others will be lucky to find it even with the information that we are now providing. After inquiring of local residents, we drove from the crossroads of the village (at the bar/shop) up the "old road" of Carbunar (Kovarfured) and asked around for Mr. Pop Tanase (77) who lives in the last house on the left. He then lead us on a 1.5 kilometer walk above his orchards to a forest (which he believes is owned by the local Orthodox church) and revealed a 50 sq m area bounded by an overgrown hedge "fence" that once functioned as the local Jewish community's cemetery. The site has been completely neglected. There is but a single concrete foundation where a marker once stood; and one of the graves appears to have been dug up a number of years ago. Mr. Pop Tanase feels that what has happened to the cemetery is shameful and told us about a man that stole a number of the stones. That man is Ion Cimpean who, after collectivization ended, drove his cart and two horses up to the cemetery and removed several of the stones in order to construct the foundation of his home. Ion Cimpean died a few years ago. Mr. Pop Tanase recalls that there were at least three Orthodox families living in Carbunari before "they were taken away from us by the Hungarians" and that all three families were farmers. Two of the graves belonged to a pair of sisters from the Walter family. As far as he recalls, there were at one time four stones here.
This isolated hillside cemetery is not known to the Jewish community in Baia Mare, and is probably not known to exist by anyone aside from a few of the residents of Carbunar. The primary danger facing the cemetery is that it will be forgotten completely. The Jewish Community in Baia Mare was unaware of this site at the time of the survey. It is not known whether the Jewish Community in Bucuresti is aware of this site. Vegetation overgrowth is a constant problem. The primary danger facing the cemetery is that it will be forgotten completely.
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 12 April 2000 and interviewed.