CEMETERY:
US Commission Report:
Alternate name: Alsohagymas in Hungarian. Located at 46°30' 22°05' in Arad County, Banat-Crisana region, 96 km from Cluj-Napoca, 35 km from Dej and 95 km from Zalău, the cemetery is back of the courtyard of Leontina Petric at 4681, Hăsmas, comuna Rus, jud. [county] Sălaj, Romania. The present total town population is 730 with no Jews.
- Local officials: Mayor Ionel Cpean; Vice-Mayor Adinel Pop; and Secretary Victor Ciurean, Primăria comunei Rus, 4680 Rus, Jud. Sălaj, Romania.
- Farkas Iosif, President of Dej Jewish community, str. Înfrăþirii, nr. 8, 4650 Dej, Ph.: 40-64-215179, ph.: 40-64-212.807; Hirsch Edmund -Secretary of Dej Jewish community (ph.: 40-64-213.925) is responsible for the site.
- Regional officials: The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Romania, str. Sf. Vineri, nr. 9-11, sector 3, Bucharest, Romania, Ph.: 40-01-6132538 / 6132538, fax: 40-01-3120869, telex: 40-01-10798.
- Interested: Professor Ladislau Gyemant, Director of Dr. Moshe Carmilly Institute for Hebrew and Jewish History, str. Universitatii 7-9, cam. 61, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Mircea-Sergiu Moldovan, Ph.D. (Professor and architect), str. Parîng, nr. 1, bl. A4, ap. 12, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Ph.: 40-64-161261
- Caretakers with key: Ioan Cristea (caretaker) and Leontina Petric, 4681 Hăsmas, comuna Rus, judetul Sălaj, Romania.
The Census of 1850 registered 52 Jews of a total population of 747; in 1857, 67 Jews out of 770; and 1880 showed 29 Jews of 728. In 1930, there were 34 Jews. The whole Jewish population of the town was placed a ghetto in Dej in May 1944 then deported to Auschwitz on May 28 and June 6-8. The cemetery was established in the nineteenth century. According oral testimony, the last burial was in the 1980s in the garden of the last Jew of the village. An Orthodox Jewish community used this cemetery, 2 km. away, as did other towns. The isolated rural (agricultural) hillside with sign or marker is reached by crossing a private property (probably the old road was incorporated in the present property) by two roads and the agricultural fields. Access to the cemetery is open with permission. A continuous fence surrounds the cemetery and has a gate that is usually locked surround.
The approximate size of cemetery before World War II and now is 288 sq.m. Eleven gravestones exist, eight in the original locations and 3 fallen stones. The oldest known gravestone in the cemetery dates from about 1850. The limestone, sandstone, or slate flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones or flat stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew inscriptions. Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania owns the property used only as a Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural or residential. The cemetery is visited rarely by private visitors. The cemetery may have been vandalized during World War II but not in the last ten years. Care included clearing vegetation and annual repair of fence and gate by Dej Jewish community in the 1960s and 1970s and annually since controls ended. Dej Jewish community pays the caretaker. No structures. Weather erosion and vegetation are moderate threats. Trees extend in large parts of the cemetery. The caretaker is having a hard time getting rid of them. A serious threat is movement of the hill; some tombstones are inclined. It is necessary to take care before cutting vegetation or digging.
Mircea-Sergiu Moldovan, Ph.D. completed the survey form on October 15, 1998 after a visit on October 10. Ioan Cristea and Leontina Petric were interviewed on 1998 October 10, at Hăsmas.