Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was located in the city of
Dej
Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...
( hu, Dés) in
Cluj County
Cluj County (; german: Kreis Klausenburg, hu, Kolozs megye) is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat ( ro, Oraș reședință de județ) is Cluj-Napoca (german: Klausenburg).
Name
In Hungarian, it is known as ''Kolozs megye ...
,
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, now part of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
but administered as part of
Szolnok-Doboka County
Szolnok-Doboka was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northern Romania (northern Transylvania). The capital of the county was Dés (now Dej, Romania).
Geography
Szolnok-Doboka county shared ...
by the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
from the 1940
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...
's grant of
Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...
until late 1944. The ghetto was active in the spring of 1944, following
Operation Margarethe
Operation Margarethe (''Unternehmen Margarethe'') was the occupation of Hungary by German Nazi troops during World War II that was ordered by Adolf Hitler.
Course of events
Hungarian Prime Minister Miklós Kállay, who had been in office from ...
.
History
The ghetto included most of the Jews from Szolnok-Doboka, corresponding to the pre-war
Someș County
Someș County is one of the historic counties of Transylvania, Romania. The county seat was Dej.
In 1938, the county was disestablished and incorporated into the newly formed Ținutul Crișuri, but it was re-established in 1940 after the fall of ...
. Prefect Béla Bethlen was the county's administrative chief, and at the ghettoization planning conference in
Satu Mare
Satu Mare (; hu, Szatmárnémeti ; german: Sathmar; yi, סאטמאר or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the ...
László Endre
László Endre (January 1, 1895, Abony – March 29, 1946) was a Hungarian right-wing politician and collaborator with the Nazis during the Second World War.
Early years
Born into a wealthy Abony family, Endre obtained a degree in political scien ...
, local representatives included: János Schilling, assistant to the prefect; Jenő Veress, mayor of Dej; Lajos Tamási, mayor of
Gherla
Gherla (; hu, Szamosújvár; german: Neuschloss) is a municipality in Cluj County, Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located from Cluj-Napoca on the river Someșul Mic, and has a population of 20,203. Three villages are a ...
; Gyula Sárosi, chief of police in Dej; Ernő Berecki, his counterpart in Gherla; and Pál Antalffy, commander of the county's gendarmerie. On April 30, in a special meeting called and chaired by Schilling, the goals and decisions of this conference were imparted to the heads of the county's civil service, gendarmerie and police.
As elsewhere, the ghettoization process started on May 3, led by Antalffy. The ghetto was among the region's most wretched, being located in the Bungur forest some 3 km from the city center, at the insistence of virulently anti-Semitic local officials. At its peak, there were 7,800 inhabitants, including the 3,700 Jews from Dej. The remainder came from the county's rural communities, with many of them initially assembled in the district seats of
Beclean
Beclean (; Hungarian and German: ''Bethlen'') is a town in Bistrița-Năsăud County, in north-eastern Transylvania, Romania. The town administers three villages: Coldău (''Goldau''; ''Várkudu''), Figa (''Füge''), and Rusu de Jos (''Alsóoros ...
,
Chiochiș
Chiochiș ( hu, Kékes) is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of ten villages: Apatiu (''Dellőapáti''), Bozieș (''Magyarborzás''), Buza Cătun (''Buzaifogadók''), Chețiu (''Ketel''), Chiochiș, Jimbo ...
, Dej, Gherla,
Ileanda
Ileanda ( hu, Nagyilonda) is a commune located in Sălaj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of thirteen villages: Bizușa-Băi (''Büdöspataka''), Bârsăuța (''Kisborszó''), Dăbiceni (''Kisdoboka''), Dolheni (''Ilondapatak''), Ilea ...
and
Lăpuș
Lăpuș (formerly ''Lăpușul Românesc''; hu, Oláhlápos) is a commune in Maramureș County, Transylvania, Romania, on the Lăpuș River, at 12 km from the town of Târgu Lăpuș. It is composed of a single village, Lăpuș. Etymologicall ...
. The most fortunate ghetto residents sheltered in improvised barracks, while the rest either made their own tents or stayed under the open sky. Prior to being taken to Bungur, the city's Jews were taken to three areas in the city center, where they were searched bodily for valuables."Ghettoes" at the Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum site; accessed October 25, 2013
Surrounded by barbed wire, the ghetto was guarded by local police, who were aided by a special unit of forty gendarmes brought from
Zalău
Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: ro, Zălau (; german: Zillenmarkt or , hu, Zilah, tr, Zile) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2011, its estimated population was 56,202.
History
Ancient times
Zalău is situated in the a ...
. The camp commanders were József Gecse and Emil Takács; they prevented the non-Jews from Dej and nearby areas from bringing food to the detainees. Internal administration was managed by a
Judenrat
A ''Judenrat'' (, "Jewish council") was a World War II administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied Europe, principally within the Nazi ghettos. The Germans required Jews to form a ''Judenrat'' in every com ...
composed of respected leaders of the local community. Lázár Albert was its president, and other members included Ferenc Ordentlich, Samu Weinberger, Manó Weinberger and Andor Agai. Dr. Oszkár Engelberg provided medical care, while Zoltán Singer was the economic representative in charge of provisions.
Sanitary conditions were lamentable, likewise basic services and provisions. This situation was largely due to ill will from Mayor Veress and the city's chief doctor, Zsigmond Lehnár. The teams that searched for valuables were as cruel as elsewhere. Among the searchers were József Fekete, József Gecse, Mária Fekete, Jenő Takács, József Lakadár and the policemen Albert (Béla) Garamvölgyi, János Somorlyai, János Kassai and Miklós Désaknai. Due to the poor conditions in which the Jews were held in the Dej ghetto, 25 people died and many became seriously ill.
The ghetto was liquidated in three transports: 28 May (3,150), 6 June (3,160) and 8 June (1,364), with a total of 7,674 Jews sent to the
Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
site; accessed October 25, 2013 A few Jews managed to escape, including Rabbi József Paneth of Ileanda, who, together with nine family members, reached safety in Romania.