Reference Number RO/MM/0303
Alternate/former names: Laupusul Romanesc, in Hungarian: Olahlapos. Located in Maramures County at approximately 13 km from Tirgu Lapus. From Tirgu Lapus 4727 2352, turn right onto the first dirt road after the bridge in the village. Take the right fork when the road forks at a small green chapel. The cemetery is adjacent to the second house on the right after the chapel. Cemetery is reached by a fenced and gated access path about 40 m. long, just to the left of the second house (caretaker's house).
- Town officials: Ioan Toma, Mayor (address available from Jewish Community in Satu Mare).
- LOCAL: Comunitatea Evreilor (Baia Mare), Str. Somesului Nr. 5, 4800 Baia Mare, Jud. Maramures, Romania. Tel: (40-62) 211-231.
- REGIONAL: Comunitatea Evreilor (Bucuresti), Str. Sf. Vineri 9-11, Bucuresti, Tel: (40-1) 157-441. Mayor is caretaker.
Mr. Ioan Toma, who is the mayor of Lapus, cares for the cemetery. A Jewish family employed his mother-in-law before the war. He has cared for the site for twenty years. The site is just behind his house and relatively well tended. Visitors have come (about two years ago) from New York, Israel and Belgium to clean and repair the graves of their relatives. Mr. Toma said that the Jewish community erected the present 3-foot high fence in 1978. The concrete footing along one side has since crumbled badly, but he has requested funds from the Jewish community in Baia Mare to replace it. Gravestones stand in approximately 1/3 of the cemetery site. Most of the stones in the cemetery are larger than usual, and several have a concrete frame around the grave. 13 of the 28 standing stones have eroded to the point that no writing is visible. Several of the others have a great deal of moss and lichen growing on them. However, several stones are well cared for and have recently been re-painted. The cemetery is currently used as an orchard. The only serious threat to the cemetery is weather erosion, and tree saplings growing up around, and disturbing stones.
Jewish people known to have lived in the town are Heine and 'Shomo' Marmur. Evidence from interviews that Jews from Baut and Strimbu Baut were buried in this cemetery. The cemetery location is rural (agricultural), on flat land, and isolated with no sign or marker with no sign or marker. The cemetery is reached by turning off a public road and onto private property. Access is open with permission. A fence and a locking gate surround the cemetery. Present cemetery size is 63 square meters (B. Mare list), on-site guess - 12 x 25 m. 31 gravestones are in cemetery, regardless of condition or position, with 28 in original location, 3 fallen and 3 leaning. Nine stones have concrete boundaries around the stone and grave. Stones probably have been removed from the cemetery and incorporated in roads or structures. Vegetation might be a problem because young trees are moving some stones. Water drainage is a seasonal problem. The granite, limestone, and sandstone tombstones and memorial markers flat-shaped, smoothed and Hebrew- inscribed with traces of painting on their surfaces. The owner is the national Jewish community. The property is used as an orchard. Adjacent properties are agricultural and resident, a village residential setting very near to houses with adjacent gardens, orchards and pastures.) Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose about the same area. Rarely, private visitors visit the cemetery. The cemetery is known to have been vandalized between 1945 and ten years ago. Maintenance: Fence erected 1978 by Jewish Community (Baia Mare), local non-Jewish residents, and Jewish individuals abroad. Care: cleaning stones and clearing vegetation. Occasional visitors have painted and cleaned (repaired?) stones. Unpaid caretaker clears vegetation seasonally. Weather erosion is a slight threat.
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 7 April 2000 and interviewed Mr. Ioan Toma, caretaker (mayor).