The Jews in Vișeul de Sus during the Holocaust

The Jews settled in Viseu de Sus from the middle of the 18th century, coming from Galicia. The available data indicate an increase in their number between 1840 and 1910, increasing from 239 people in 1840, to 1,946 in 1880 and 3,667 in 1910. In 1941, 4,269 Jews lived in Vişeu de Sus. During the two centuries of living in the city, the occupations of the Jews shifted from itinerant trade and the provision of agricultural work to activities related to logging. According to existing information, in the 19th century all the wood processing factories in Vişeu de Sus were owned by Jewish owners. In the interwar period, the owner of the largest sawmill, which had over 150 workers, was Sandor Elefant. He was both a member of the General Council of Maramureș County and of the Central Orthodox Bureau of Israel. At the beginning of the 20th century, in Vişeu de Sus there were three synagogues, five houses of prayer, and several religious and social associations, as well as a “Talmud-Torah” school.

Shortly after the city came under Hungarian rule in September 1940, Jews in Viseul de Sus fell victim to repressive practices. To begin with, a series of provisions were introduced aimed at marginalizing Jews and diminishing their economic potential. Thus, their authorizations for practicing various trades were revoked. In time, they began to be arrested, using various charges as pretexts. The most common were the accusations that they were communists or even that they supported the former Romanian administration. Some of them were also detained for illegal trade. From 1942, like the Jews in Hungary, those in Viseu de Sus were concentrated for forced labour and sent to Ukraine, where many died.

In April 1944, the ghettoization of the Jews from Viseu began. The ghetto was established between April 16th  and 23rd, 1944, during which time both the Jews living in Vişeu de Sus and those from the district of the same name were interned here. The number of Jews interned in the ghetto, arranged in the city centre, was of 9,000 people. It is estimated that about 35,000 Jews passed through this ghetto on their way to Auschwitz.

The regime of those from Vişeu de Sus was similar to that of other ghettos: beating the inmates, robbing them, starving them and interrogating them to find the alleged valuables they might have hidden. Those who were extremely ill and could not move were executed. The humiliation of religious Jews was another measure used by the ghetto administration. Their beards were shaved.

Between 19th and 25th May 1944, all Jews from the ghetto were deported to Auschwitz, along with Jews from the ghetto in Sighetu Marmației and those in Vişeu de Jos. They were transported in overcrowded trains, with between 70 and 90 people in each car.

After the end of the war, several survivors returned to the city, originating both from Vişeu de Sus and from the neighbouring localities or from Bukovina. In 1947, there were 700 Jews in the city. During the communist years, most emigrated to Israel. In 1977, only 24 Jews lived in the cities, and in 1992 their number dropped to six. After 2000, no Jews lived in Vişeu de Sus.

  

Kinga Frojimovics, Vișeu de Sus, in Randolph Braham, Zoltan Tibori Szabo, Enciclopedia geografică a Holocaustului din Transilvania de Nord [Geographical Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust in Northern Transylvania], Chișinău, Cartier/Editura Institutului Național pentru Studierea Holocaustului din România „Elie Wiesel”, 2019, pp. 251-254. 

***, Vișeul de Sus, accessible online at https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/viseul-de-sus 

Yehouda Marton, Vișeul de Sus, in Fred Skolnik (editor), Encyclopaedia Judaica. Second Edition, vol. XX, Keter Publishing House, 2007, p. 543.