Dombrád Jewish cemetery keys are held by the Reformed Church minister''s office. [March 2009]
Based on the 1770 census, Jews lived in Dombrad, attracted by large landowners.The majority of Dombrad's Jews were small merchants of local potatoes and tobacco with eighteen farmers (three large landowners), some shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths, butchers and carpenters, a pharmacist, and civil servants. One of the three Jewish physicians was the town's medical officer. Jews owned the distillery, mill, sawmill and a factory for decocting medicinal herbs. The congregation established in the second half of the 18th century joined the Orthodox movement in 1868 . Reported to Dombrad's Jewish community: Tiszakanyar, Borgaszka (5 Jews), Karahalom (9 Jews), and Rekhaloma (4 Jews). The congregation had a Chevra Kaddisha, sisterhood, gemilat hesed, tiferet bahurim, and chevra shas with a rabbi, two teachers, a cantor /ochet, and a gabbai. The congregation had a yeshiva and an elementary school. The synagogue (built at end of the 18th century) was renovated and enlarged. Some were quiet Zionists because of government and community/religious disapproval. Several Jews from Dombrad fought in the 1848 uprising and twelve died lives fighting in WWI after which Dombrad was briefly under Romanian occupation whose whose soldiers ("White Terror") looted Jewish homes and businesses. An extensive anti-Semitic campaign urged Christians to boycott Jewish stores and businesses. In 1935, a new organized peasant party called "Spade and Sickle" began by looting Jewish stores. A Jewish former military officer organized a militia that end to these offenses. 1938 laws deprived Dombrad Jews of their livelihood as the state summarily expropriated both small and large landholdings. Jewish officials were fired. Business licenses were not renewed. The government insisted that they pay taxes for a year with no means of livelihood. In 1942 the men were pressed into labor camps and sent to the Ukraine. Some of them were captured by the Russians, but most died of cold and hunger or were shot by soldiers. In April 1944, the remaining Dombrad Jews were herded into the Kisvarda synagogue yard and robbed. Shortly after, they were deported to Auschwitz where the old, the children, and mothers with children were immediately gassed. After the war, not a single Jew returned to Dombrad. The congregation's buildings were sold; and survivors made aliyah. [February 2009]
US Commission No. 000039
Dombrad is located in Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (48º14 21º56), 10km from Kisvarda. The cemetery is in part of closed public cemetery. (Land Record B 1264 hrsz.) Town population is 5,000-25,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Local: Polgarmesteri Hivatal of Pomlorad Rakoozi ut 36 Ph: 1.
- Regional: Budapesti Orthodox Hitkozseg, of Dob u.35, H-1075 Budapest Phone: (011-361) 132-4333.
- Interested: Izraelita Hitkozseg of Nyiregyhaza Martirok tere 6.
1930 population (census) was 234. Goldmann Samuel and Rabbi Leichtag Efraim (1920-44) are buried here (see below for refutation). The Jewish cemetery was established in 18th century. Reb Friedman was later transferred to the Holy Land. The last known Sephardic Orthodox Jewish burial was 1941. Tiszakanyar and Borgaszka (both 20km away) used this rural/agricultural hillside in a municipal cemetery with no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall or gate. Pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.18 hectares.
100-500 gravestones, less than 25% toppled or broken., date from 18th-20th century. The marble and limestone finely smoothed and inscribed stones or flat stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew and Hungarian inscriptions. No known mass graves or structures exist. The national Jewish community owns the cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural, cemetery, and waste dump. The cemetery was vandalized between 1945 and ten years ago, but not since local or municipal authorities cleared vegetation in 1990. Authorities clean or clear occasionally. Security and vandalism are moderate threats; erosion and vegetation are serious threats.
Riczu Zoltan of Nyiregyhaza, Vasvari ut 74, completed survey and visited site on 10/22/91 using: Kisyarda es Kornyeke Zsidosaga (Szerk. Jolesz Icaroly). Interviewed was Gal Gyorgy at Dombrad, Petofi on 22/10/1991 at Utca 13.
UPDATE: I have photos of all the legible stones, however, they do not scan well. I have no negatives (the minister of the town sent them). I have asked him to rephotograph them and send me a map. I have undertaken to identify these stones in English as part of a sefer zicharon I am compiling. Also, during a recent visit to the museum in Sefat, I compared my photos and noted that I have many stones that they do not have. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
UPDATE: "Rabbi Leichtag, Efraim is not buried in Dombrad. Rabbi Leichtag was my grandfather and rabbi of Dombrad. He was killed in Auschwitz...and is presumably buried there." Rabbi Efraim Leichtag was rabbi of Dombrad from 1920 to 1944. For further information, contact Robert E. Sutton, NY, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [August 2001]