Tîrgu Mureş Ghetto List

This collection consists of 2,210 residents of the Tîrgu Mureş ghetto, as of January 8, 1945.

Historical Background

Tîrgu Mureş (in Romanian), is also known as Maros-Vásárhely (in Hungarian), Neumark am Maros (in German), as well as Târgu-Mureş and Târgul-Mureş.  It is located in northern Transylvania, Romania.

The Jewish population in 1930 was 5,193, 15% of the total population.  In 1939, anti-Jewish regulations were introduced and Jews were stripped of Hungarian citizenship.  In 1940, when the Hungarian regime returned, extreme restrictions were placed on Jews in trade, industry, professions, and the arts, and a numerus clausus was established for students.  From 1941-1944, 1,200 Jewish males were forced into labor battalions, over 50% of whom perished in Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine.  On March 21, 1944, the Germans occupied the town.  Soon all communal activities were outlawed and Jewish shops were closed.  On May 3, 1944, 8,638 Jews were put into three ghettos.  From May 29, 1944, 6,953 Jews were deported to Auschwitz, and only 1,200 survived.

It would be helpful for researchers to consult both this Ghetto List and the Tîrgu Mureş Deportation List.

The Database

This collection consists of residents of the Tîrgu Mureş ghetto as of January 8th 1945 in Tîrgu Mureş, Romania.  There are 2,210 individuals recorded in these lists.

The database is not unlike a U.S. census schedule.  The list of residents is arranged by district and sub-district and family/living unit.  Each family/living unit has one member, who I've referred to as "head" (head of household).  The other members listed are shown with their relation to the first person.  (A list of translated family relationships is in the table below.)  Like the census, there were extended family members or in-house workers, along with spouses and children.  This database was designed to link all family members when searching for any individual member.  If an individual is employed, or has a skill, it is listed in the "Occupation" field.  There are some individuals who lived alone and therefore are not referenced to any other individuals.  Finally, maiden names for married women are listed along with their married name whenever the information was provided. (See "Hungarian Naming Conventions for Certain Females" below for further information on female names.)

The fields of the database are as follows:

District Number Sub-District Number Page Number Family Record Number Surname Given Name Maiden Surname Maiden Given Name

Titles (Dr./Özv.) Family Relationship (see below) Age Gender (férfi = male, női = female, lany = daughter) Occupation (see below) Street Address Religious Affiliation (see below) Comments

Hungarian Naming Conventions for Certain Females:

There are a few naming conventions to be aware of when searching for women in this database.  If a woman was listed as a widow (özv.) or as head of household, her name is listed as her husband's name with a "né" attached to his first name.  For example, the wife of KATZ, David would be KATZ, Davidné.  The "né" designation is equivalent to the present day English "Mrs." title.  Therefore the wife's name would be listed as Mrs. David Katz.  In some cases, if you find the wife's name designated with the "né", you may also find the wife's maiden surname and given name in the applicable fields if that information was provided.

Hungarian Family Relationships:

The following chart lists the "Family Relationship" terms that are used within this database:

Anya = Mother Anyja = Mother Anyós = Mother-in-law Anyósa =Mother-in-law Apa = Father Elvalt = Divorced Feleség = Wife Fia = Son Gyermek = Child Huga = Sister

Lánya = Daughter Leánya = Grandniece Meny = Daughter-in-law Sógorno = Sister-in-law Testvér = Sibling Unoka = Grandchild Unoká = Grandchild Unokahuga = Niece Veje = Son-in-law

Hungarian Occupations:

To assist the researcher with Hungarian professions and occupations, please see the JewishGen InfoFile "Hungarian Professions and Occupations: Hungarian-to-English Translations" at: http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust/HungarianOccupations.html.

Religious Affiliation:

Almost all of the individuals listed are Jewish.  There are however, a small number of individuals with other religious affiliations.  In some cases, the column was left blank and therefore nothing was entered in the database even though the same family names were designated as Jewish.  The following are the religious affiliations referred to in the database.

• izr. — Izraelita — Hebrew
• ref. — Reformista — Calvinist
• rk. — Római Katolikus — Roman Catholic
• unit — Unitárius — Unitarian

Acknowledgements

The information contained in this database was indexed from the files of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Acc 1999 A0210.  This information is accessible to you today thanks to the efforts of the following JewishGen volunteers who are responsible for the transcription of this file: Nolan Altman (coordinator), Nancy Biederman, Anna Blanchard, Eve Blum, Shana Egan, Harry Green, Ernest Kallmann, Bill Leibner, Peter Reiniger, Ralph Salinger, Susanna Vendel, and Paula Zieselman.

Nolan Altman
May, 2004

Searching the Database

This database is searchable via JewishGen's Holocaust Database, as well as the JewishGen Hungary Database and the JewishGen Romania Database.