Alternate names: Nagykanizsa [Hun], Groß-Kanizsa [Ger], Kaniža [Croa], Velika Kanjiža [Serb], Kanizsa, Großkirchen, Grosz Kanischa, Gross Kanischa; Somogyszentmiklós, Miklósfa, Korpavár, Bajcsa, Bagolasánc, Bagola. 46°27' N, 16°59' E, In SW Hungary, near the Croatian border. 65 miles NE of Zagreb. 1890 Jewish population: 3,573. JOWBR: burial listings.
Address: Ady Endre Street 74. Hours: 9-17.00 [February 2009]
The local Jewish community was given a plot for the Jewish cemetery by Count Batthyány in 1784. The cemetery began operating in 1796. In 1860, the site was taken to build the Railway Station so the cemetery was completely moved (with the old tombstones) to the current site on the west side of Ady Endre utca, about 1.5 km south from the city central square. The GPS location is 462640N165912E. The cemetery is well-marked from the road and has a large neoclassical ceremonial hall and office at the entrance. This hall was built about 1880-90 and was based on the plans of Architect Ludwig Schöne of Vienna. The tree-shaded cemetery, about 2.3 hectares in size, is very well-tended, surrounded by a high wall, and has a locked gate. The cemetery contains Holocaust memorials, numerous black marble obelisks, and many nineteenth-century tombs. It is open Sunday thru Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm and closed Saturdays. E-mail contact in Hungarian: Ibolya Levai at levaip-at-chello.hu , in English: Orsolya Levai at orsi0605-at-yahoo.com . Local telephone contact: (only in Hungarian): +36_93_316036 or +36 30 3852503 (mobile). The cemetery is organized in 29 Sections, and with about 200 grave sites per Section on the average; has a total of about 6,000 grave sites. There exist diagrams of each Section, prepared in 1947, on large sheets of paper. Copies of the diagrams are in the cemetery office. These section diagrams have names (Surname and Given name, but NO dates) entered in grave locations and identified by Row and Grave Number. Photos. Burial Names Book: Alphabetisch-Geordnetes Namen-Verzeichniss der israelitischen Friedhoefe zu Gross Kanizsa Verstorben, geht zum Jahre 1865 (Alphabetically arranged names index of those resting in the Gross Kanizsa Jewish cemetery until 1865), by Chevra Kadisha NagyKanizsa. NagyKanizsa, 1865, 46 pages, German and Hebrew. S59B1533. Notes: 711 names, 1780-1865. Source: Tagger, Mathilde. Printed Books on Jewish cemeteries in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem: an annotated bibliography. Jerusalem: The Israel Genealogical Society, 1997.Source: Ed Zwieback, Long Beach, CA and Orsi Levai, Budapest [May 2007]
Jewish Cemetery Map and photos. [September 2010]