International Jewish Cemetery Project - Romania C The cemetery is located at Chesereu, 3759, judet Bihor, Romania, 4726 2207, 281.9 miles NW of Bucharest and 12 km from Sacueni. Alternate name: Erkeseru (Hungarian), Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Mayor Dienes Istvan, 3759 Cherechiu, No. 78
- The Jewish Community of Oradea, Mihai Viteazu Str. no. 4, 3700 Oradea, Romania, tel. 0040-59-134843 (132587)
- The Federation of The Jewish Communities of Romania, Sf. Vineri Str. no. 9-11, sect. 3, Bucharest, Romania
- Interested: "Dr. Moshe Carmilly" Institute for Hebrew and Jewish History, Universitatii Str. no. 7-9, room 61, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Director: Ladislau Gyemant, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Caretaker with key: Kis Jozsef, Str. Noua, No. 325, 3759 Chesereu
The 1880 Jewish population by census was 61 and 42 in 1900. In May 1944, the Jews were gathered in the Oradea ghetto and on May 23, 25, 28-30, and June 1-5, 27 were deported to Auschwitz. The unlandmarked Orthodox cemetery was established in the second half of the 19th century. Last known burial was 1943.
The isolated rural/agricultural flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by a public road, access is open with permission. A fence with a gate that locks surrounds the site. Approximate pre- and post-WWII size is 5 x 25 m. 1-20 stones are visible, some not in original location. Less than 25% of the stones are toppled or broken. Location of stones removed from the cemetery is unknown. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is not a problem. Water drainage is good all year.
No special sections. The oldest known gravestone dates from the second half of the 19th century. The 19th and 20th century marble and limestone flat shaped, smoothed and inscribed, and carved relief-decorated gravestones have Hebrew and Hungarian inscriptions. Some have metal fences around graves. The local Jewish community owns the property used for an orchard. Adjacent properties are agricultural. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose a smaller area due to new roads and agriculture. Rarely, private Jewish or non-Jewish visitors stop. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. Maintenance has been cleaning stones and clearing vegetation by local non-Jewish residents in 1995. Current care is occasional clearing or cleaning by unpaid individuals. No structures. No threats.
Ursutiu Claudia, Pietroasa Str. no. 21, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, tel: 0040-64-151073 visited the site and completed the survey on 29 June 2001 using the following documentation:
- Recensamantul general al populatiunei Romaniei din decembrie 1899 (The General Census of the Population of Romania from December 1889), Bucuresti,
- Lito-tipografia L. Motzatzeanu, 1900
- Carmilly-Weinberger, Moshe. History of the Jews of Transylvania (1623-1944), Bucuresti, 1994, in Romanian
- Recensamantul general al populatiei Romaniei din 29 decembrie 1930, vol. II (The General Census of the Population of Romania from 29 December 1930, vol. II), Bucuresti, 1938
- Coriolan Suciu, Dictionar istoric al localitatilor din Transilvania (The Historical Dictionary of Localities in Transylvania), vol. I-II, Bucuresti, 1967
- Otto Mitelstrass, Historisch-Landeskundlicher Atlas von Siebenburgen, Ortsnamenbuch, Heidelberg, 1992
- Microsoft Auto Route Express 1999
Claudia and Adrian Ursutiu interviewed Kis Jozsef, Chesereu. [January 2003]