The following article is adapted from a presentation the coauthors gave at the IAJGS conference in Los Angeles in July 2010—Ed.

Jewish History in Maramaros     Before the Holocaust, the Jewish population of Maramaros County, Hungary, and its capital city, Sziget (today, Sighetu Marmatei, Romania), was the second-largest in Hungary. Today, the former Maramaros County is split between Maramures County in northern Romania and the Zakarpatska (Zakarpattya) Oblast, an administrative region in what is known as the sub-Carpathian region of southwestern Ukraine. Whatever records remain of the former Jewish population are correspondingly divided geographically between the two countries. Unlike other formerly communist regions of Central and Eastern Europe, where the LDS (Mormon) Family History Library has filmed extensive collections of Jewish archival records, the LDS (Mormon) Family History Library has not succeeded in filming any Jewish records from this area. Jewish genealogists with ancestral ties to Sziget and vicinity must explore a variety of diverse sources for data about their families. This article discusses such sources.

    Jews first appeared in Sziget, located on the Tisza River in northern Transylvania, at the beginning of the 18th century. A 1728 Hungarian land census lists only four Jews; a 1746 census reports 10 families with 39 persons. The first partition of Poland in 1772 gave southeastern Poland to the Austrian Empire, which it renamed Galicia, and the Jewish population of Maramaros megye (county) swelled as Galician Jews migrated south into Maramaros through the north-south Carpathian Mountain passes. By 1787, the Jewish population of Sziget had grown to 142 souls, and in 1828, Sziget recorded 46 Jewish households representing 11 percent of the population. Maramaros was a center of Orthodox and Hasidic life throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1891, Sziget’s Jewish population of 4,960 accounted for 30 percent of the total in that city.¹ On the eve of its extermination, Sziget’s Jewish population was 10,144, representing 39 percent of the total—the largest percentage of any Hungarian city.² (Note: The Kingdom of Hungary and the Austrian Empire merged into the so-called Dual Monarchy in 1848 and renamed itself the Austro-Hungarian Empire.)

During the so-called “golden era” of Hungarian Jewish history (1867 to World War I), many Transylvanian Jews, like their co-religionists in other parts of the country, eagerly adopted the Hungarian language and culture and assumed an increasingly large role in business, government, and the professions. At the same time, Sziget was affected by the religious schism between the Orthodox and the Neologs (reform) denominations that embroiled all of Hungarian Jewry. The majority resisted modernization and remained faithful to the Orthodox traditions that they had brought from Galicia. A few became wealthy from investments in land, timber-related businesses, furs, and alcoholic beverages, and a substantial number were merchants and business owners. But the majority of Yiddish-speaking Jews remained poor and earned their living as traders, peddlers, unskilled laborers, artisans, and farmers.³

Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory in the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, which divided Maramaros between Romania and the new nation of Czechoslovakia. Hungary regained most of its lost land, including much of Transylvania, with the onset of World War II but reverted to its Trianon borders at the end of the war. The southern part of Maramaros, including the city of Sziget, once again became part of Romania—but the northern part of what was formerly Maramaros County, was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

In 1941, after Hungary joined the war against the Soviet Union, it enacted a law that required Hungarian Jews to prove their citizenship by providing documentation showing uninterrupted residence in Hungary since 1851 and proving that their ancestors were listed among Hungarian taxpayers. Some of the wealthier Jews managed to obtain such documents, but many did not. In the summer of 1941, approximately 18,000 Sziget Jews who could not prove Hungarian citizenship, some of whom had fled across the Carpathians to Hungary from Poland, were deported to Kamanets Podolski, where about 16,000 of them were murdered late in August.⁴

The Germans occupied Hungary on March 19, 1944, and implementation of the master plan to liquidate all the Jews of Maramaros began in April with the round-up of Jews from rural communities and small towns and their transfer to two ghettos in Sziget. Mass deportations began on May 15, 1944. Four transports between May 16 and May 22, 1944, removed 12, 849 Jews. The Szlatina ghetto across the Tisza River, including Jews from neighboring villages, was liquidated on May 25, 1944, with the deportation of another 3, 317 Jews. ⁵ Approximately 160 survivors from Sziget are listed in the 1981 register of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors. In 1947, the Jewish population of Sziget was 2,308, some of whom had come from other areas in Romania.

Available sources of Jewish genealogical information for Sziget and Maramaros County include some vital rec­ords held in Baia Mare, Romania; burial records from Sziget; two business directories, one from 1897, another from 1924/25; a list of miscellaneous data from various sources in Israel; and Shoah-related information at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Yad Vashem, and the International Tracing Service of the Red Cross (ITS).

Vital Records

    A list of all known Jewish vital records from the former Maramaros County held at the branch of the Romanian National Archives in Baia Mare may be found at www. maramarosjewishrecords.com. Note that some register books, especially those that date from before 1886, may include records from more than one town in the same book. Registers include books from both the contemporary Romanian and contemporary Ukrainian portions of the former Maramaros County. Marriage registers are especially sparse, in part because civil registration of marriage was not required in Hungary until October 1895. Prior to that time, marriage registers were kept only by rabbis who were required to submit copies to the authorities periodically; and some couples never bothered to register the event. Another possible explanation for the relatively limited number of marriages recorded after 1895 is that many Orthodox Jews had only religious (and not civil) ceremonies. One consequence of the failure to register marriages with the civil authorities is that many children were registered with their mother’s maiden name as if she were unmarried.

Because the (Mormon) Genealogical Society of Utah—the acquisition arm of the Family History Library—has not filmed these register books, the only way to retrieve the information they contain is to:

• Go to the archives in person;
• Hire a researcher to go there; or
• Participate in the H-SIG (JewishGen’s Hungarian Special Interest Group) project to photograph the books, transcribe the records from Hungarian, and, ultimately, create an online database.

As of September 27, 2010, H-SIG had identified 115 specifically Jewish pre-1896 vital record books in the Baia Mare archives. Of these, 112 books have been photographed by the project, which hoped to acquire the remaining few by the end of 2010. Twenty-seven books with an estimated 7,600 records currently are being transcribed by volunteers; 15 books with 1,358 records, have been completely transcribed. An estimated 54,000 records will be available when the project is completed; as of this writing, no records had yet been uploaded to any public database.

Records include considerable genealogical information. The usual items such as gender; town of birth; father’s first and last name, occupation, and hometown; mother’s first name, maiden name, and hometown are included. Other less common data includes town of registration (which may be different from town of birth), other surnames mentioned in the record, other towns mentioned in the record and “notes” that may list a godfather’s name. Godfathers commonly were relatives, such as a grandfather.

A few registers from Tirgu Lapus beginning in 1772 are the oldest found so far. Surnames did not appear until 1829 and then only sporadically until the mid-1830s when they become the norm. Most of the oldest birth records, including registers from the period 1851–53, tend to omit the mother’s maiden name. Some also omit the father’s surname, suggesting that some did not yet have fixed family names. See the sidebar for information on how to help with the project to create an online database of information from this collection of registers.

Census Records

Early Jewish census and tolerance tax records, dating from 1771 to 1822, are held in the Hungarian National Archives in Budapest, but few genealogists with roots in Sziget and vicinity will find relevant information. Many of the Jews listed in these censuses are identified only by patronymics and the word Jud (Jew), although a surprising number of individuals with surnames do appear in the pre-1848 rec­ords. Some even include the maiden name of the wife. Additional information about these censuses may be found at www.JewishGen. org/databases/Hungary/Census Other.htm.

H-SIG volunteers currently are transcribing an additional set of Jewish census and tolerance tax records covering the years from 1772–1843 and 1834–43 that Professor Ladislau Gyemant found in the Hungarian National Archives in Budapest. They include some records from the Sziget jaras (district) as well as from other areas of Maramaros.

The JewishGen Hungary Database currently includes all of the Jewish names that transcribers found in records from the census of individuals owning taxable property. Hungary conducted a property census in 1828, which is held in the Hungarian National Archives and was microfilmed by the Mormons (FHL Intl Film 623056). The Jewish names from this census may be searched at www.jewishgen.org/ databases/Hungary/Census1828.htm.

The 1848 Jewish census, microfilmed by the Mormons, includes some towns from the Sziget district of Maramaros, including Breb, Desze, Falu-Sugatag, Fejérfalva, Fejéregyháza, Gyulafalu, Hernécs, Krácsfalva, and Somfalva. This data is available at www.jewishgen.org/databases/ Hungary/Census1848.htm. Census records from the town of Sziget, as such, are not in this collection, although some records from other places in Hungary include information about former residents of Sziget. To find those names, enter the name being searched into the Hungarian database search form and list Sziget as the place name. Use “Town is Exactly” Sziget (or Sighet) to avoid retrieving information about individuals from other, similar-sounding places.

Burial Records

After the Holocaust, a group of survivors transcribed the inscriptions on approximately 3,900 tombstones, dated circa 1750 to approximately 1895, in the Sighet Jewish cemetery. Vivian Kahn has transcribed approximately 3,000 names, all of which are written in Hebrew; 350 names are posted on the Jewish Online Worldwide Burial Register under Maramures. Kahn expects to post the remainder of the names in the near future.

Holocaust-Era Records

Many records of Jews from Sziget and vicinity may be found at Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), and the International Tracing Service of the Red Cross (ITS). Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Names is the pre-eminent source for data on victims; USHMM’s Register of Holocaust Survivors includes a large number from Sziget and vicinity. The ITS Central Database of Names reflects both victims and survivors and should not be overlooked. Note that at this time, information from ITS correspondence files may be obtained only from ITS.

Other lesser-known sources worth examining are the Records of the 8th Gendarmerie District, Kassa, Hungary, 1944–45, Reel 2. These are records of the confiscation process, shipping, handling, storing, inventorying, and distribution of valuables that belonged to the Jewish victims from Maramarossziget. The original records are held in the Hungarian National Archives (MOL Z 936). See USHMM Archives catalogue (RG-39.005M) for other locations in Maramaros. Lists of Jews from Maramures district who were deported and interned in camps also may be found at the USHMM archives as well ( RG-25.004M).

Additional Lists for Sziget Research

Israeli Menachem (Nechi) Keren-Kratz has assembled considerable information about Sziget in the course of researching his Kratz family. He has prepared lists of names from various sources in Israel, including Shoah victims and survivors, members of Zionist organizations, members of chevra kadisha (burial) and bikur cholim (visiting the sick) societies, Jewish soldiers in World War I and prenumerantn (literally “prior numbers” meaning those who ordered copies prior to publication) lists, as well as names from various sources organized by occupation, religious and political activity. His collection is posted at www.jewishgen. org/Hungary/Data.htm. Scroll to Maramaros County to view.

Maps

Maps of the Maramaros region online include:

• Máramaros Varmegye (county) 1910,   http://lazarus. elte.hu/hun/maps/1910/gonczy/maramaros.jpg
• http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/maps/1910/maramar.jpg;
• Third Military Mapping Survey of Austria-Hungary, about 1910, http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/200e/ 42–48.jpg
• Judeþul Maramureº/Maramures county, www.hiszi- map.hu/catalog/thumbnails.php?album=103

Braham, Randolph L, “The Jews of Transylvania: A Historical Overview,” Genocide and Retribution: The Holocaust in Hungarian-Ruled Northern Transylvania, Springer-Verlag New York, 1983.   Ibid, pp. 40-42. Also see http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/maramures/mar093. html.

Selected Print Publications and Websites

Alfassi, Yitzhak, et. al., Eds. The Heart Remembers: Jewish Sziget. Matan, Israel: Association of Former Szigetans in Israel, 2003 (out of print but available at USHMM and some libraries).

Braham, Randoph L. Genocide and Retribution: The Holocaust in Hungarian-Ruled Northern Transylvania. Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff , 1983.

Dicker, Herman. Piety and Perseverance: Jews from the Carpathian Mountains. New York: Sepher-Hermon Press New York, 1981.

Gross, S.Y. and Y. Yosef Cohen, ed., Sefer Marmarosh; mea ve-shishim kehilot kedoshot be- yishuvan u-ve-hurbanan (The book of Maramaros; in memory of a hundred and sixty Jewish communities). Beit Maramaros, Tel Aviv, 5743. See www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/maramures/

Lavi, Theodore, Ed., Pinkas HaKehillot Hungary (Encyclopedia of Jewish communities). Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1975, www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/pinkas_hungary/hun 348. htm.

Rashkin, Peter, “The Jews of Sighetu-Marmatiei,” http://thedagger.com/1400ml/romania/jews.html.

Schon, Dezso. Isetenkeresok a Karpatok alatt. A hasszidizmus regenye. (God-seekers under the Carpathians: The story of Hassidism). Kolozsvar, 1935. Republished in, Budapest, by Mult es Jovo, 1997.

Weisel, Elie. “Life in Sighet, Romania, 1920-1939,” Public Broadcasting System, 2002. www.pbs.org/eliewiesel/ photo/index.html.

Notes

1. Gross, S.Y. and Y. Yosef Cohen, ed., Sefer Maramaros (The Book of Maramaros), pp. 3–40, Beit Maramaros, Tel Aviv, 5743.
2. Yehuda Marton and Paul Schveiger, Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 18. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. p 568.
3. Yitzhak Alfassi, et. al., Eds. The Heart Remembers: Jewish Sziget, Matan, Israel: Association of Former Szigetans in Israel, 2003, pp. 19–20
4. See Randolph L. Braham, “The Jews of Transylvania: A Historical Overview”, Genocide and Retribution: The Holocaust in Hungarian-Ruled Northern Transylvania, Springer-Verlag New York, 1983.
5. Ibid, pp. 40–42. Also see www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ maramures/mar093.html

Vivian Kahn is coordinator of JewishGen’s Hungarian SIG, moderates the Hungarian SIG discussion list, and serves as JewishGen’s Vice President of SIG Affairs. As a great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Rebbe Yehuda ben Yosef Kahana (Kuntras HaSfeikos), one of the first rabbis of Maramarossziget, Hungary, she has particular interest in the Jewish community of Maramaros and has done extensive research on the Kahan family creating a database that now includes more than 2,000 individuals. Kahn lives in California.

    Rony Golan is a professional genealogist based in Israel and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. He is a graduate of the Tel Aviv University Law Faculty and a member of the Israel Bar (1986), and serves as an expert witness on genealogy in Israeli courts. An educator and lecturer on genealogy in various forums, Golan is a legal advisor to the International Institute for Jewish Genealogy and Paul Jacobi Center (IIJG) in Jerusalem and has presented at several IAJGS conferences. His genealogy Internet site is www.genealogy.co.il. He has a blog at www.mishpachtoblogia.co.il.