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Hungarian Holocaust Memorials Database

Donation by the JewishGen Hungarian SIG

Introduction
Information on the Memorials
Creation of the Database
Database Format
Transcription Rules
Records in the Database
Acknowledgements
Notes on Searching the Database
Search the Database

Volunteers from the JewishGen Hungarian SIG created this database in loving memory of the Holocaust victims in the areas of pre-Trianon Hungary.  The database lists more than 23,000 martyrs whose names are recorded on Holocaust memorials in 37 communities in present-day Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Let the words on the memorials speak for those lost to us . . .

REMEMBER

Our dear brethren who gave their lives in
sanctification of the Divine Name.
Shed a tear, say a prayer for the dear mothers and
fathers, for their innocent children, for the families extinguished.
Only YOU, who have survived the great destruction, can
say Kaddish for them.
May their dear memory be blessed.

— Kisvárda, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hungary

For these things I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter that should relieve
my soul is far from me; my children are desolate. Lamentations 1:16.
"In flame they covered your sanctuary -- they humbled the house of your name to the ground" Psalm 74:17

— Nyiregyhaza, Hungary

"Let us remember
our dear innocent children of Eger,
our dear blood,
who were dragged away on June 7th, 1944
and died a martyrs' death"

— Eger, Heves, Hungary

In foreign earth turning to dust or as smoke rising from crematoria
The memory of our heroic dead lives on in our hearts.
We will never forget you!
To the victims of the war against humanity
To our innocent members
We erected this eternal memorial.

— Miskolc, Hungary

Information on the Memorials:

Holocaust memorials generally only list names, titles, and descriptions of family members.  The following are translations of some of the descriptions used on these memorials:

  1. És neje — and his wife
  2. És Férje — and her husband
  3. És gyermeke — and children
  4. És Csaladja (also és cs.) — and family
  5. És fia — and son
  6. És leánya — and daughter
  7. Özv. — abbreviation for özvegy, which means widow
  8. a celá rodina — and family (in Slovak)

In Hungarian, the suffix "né" is added to the husband’s first name to indicate Mrs., e.g. "Grünwald Lajosné" means "Mrs. Lajos Grünwald". 

Some occupations are also listed on memorials, including:

  1. Alelnňk — Vice President
  2. Elnňk — President
  3. Förabbi — Head rabbi
  4. Gondnok — caretaker
  5. Kántor — Cantor
  6. Fökántor — Head cantor
  7. tanító — Instructor (man)
  8. tanítónő — Instructor (woman)

Further information on occupation names in Hungarian can be found in the Hungarian Occupations InfoFile.

Creation of the Database:

The Project Coordinator for this database was originally Carol Robinson, and is now Larry Kohn.  The database was assembled by volunteers from the JewishGen Hungarian SIG (H-SIG), serving as transcribers and validators.  Often the names were transcribed from photographs of the memorials taken during visits to ancestral towns.  The transcribers and validators approached this task with respect and made every effort to enter all names on the memorials accurately.  Please report any errors or volunteer to provide transcriptions and/or photos of other memorials to Larry Kohn at lhkohn@live.com.

Click on the links below to see images of the memorials (if available).

Database Format:

The fields displayed in this database are:

  • Town, Megye, Country: The name of the town of residence during World War II; the Hungarian megye (county), and country containing the town pre-Trianon.
  • Name: Surname and Given Name(s) of the individual.
  • Memorial: Information about the memorial and its location.
  • Image: If available, we have linked an image of the name on the memorial.
  • Memorial Town, Megye, Country: The current name of the town where the memorial is located; the current megye (county) of Hungarian towns and the current region of Slovakian towns or their Romanian or Ukrainian equivalent; the current country of the town where the memorial is located.
  • Comments: We used this field to list other available information that the transcriber chose to transcribe, for example titles or names before marriage.

Transcription Rules:

Names from the Holocaust memorials were entered exactly as they appeared on the original memorial.  If the name was abbreviated, it was transcribed exactly as abbreviated.  No changes were made in the spellings of the name, either.  Some but not all transcriptions included diacritical marks (the little accent marks used above certain letters).

Records in the database:

The database currently contains 23,657 records, as follows:

Town Name
Before WWII
Current Town and Country Other Communities included Donor / Transcriber Number
of Names
Abaújszántó * Abaújszántó, Hungary   John Kovacs / Margarita Lackó 263
Albertirsa Albertirsa, Hungary   Oblath András 116
Baja Baja, Hungary   Peter Bakos / Ava Gorkin 1,350
Budapest (Dohany Synagogue) Budapest, Hungary   Larry Kohn 566
Debrecen Debrecen, Hungary   Orsolya Levai 146
Drégelypalánk Drégelypalánk, Hungary   Esther Levinson 62
Eger Eger, Hungary   Jerry Zeisler 734
Érmihályfalva Valea lui Mihai, Romania   Fran Meng 36
Érsekújvár Nové Zámky, Slovakia   Lang Tomás 2,453
Gadó-Tanya * Gadótanya, Hungary   John Kovacs / Margarita Lackó 37
Gyula Gyula, Hungary     351
Hatvan Hatvan, Hungary   Roberta Szollosi 420
Hejőcsaba * Hejőcsaba, Hungary Arnót, Bükkaranyos, Görömböly, Harsány, Kistokaj, Sajóbábony, Sajókeresztur, Sajóecseg, Sajóvámos, Szirma, Szirmabesenyo, Mályi John Kovacs / Margarita Lackó 370
Heves Heves, Hungary   Ava Gorkin / Carol Robinson 349
Kiskunhalas Kiskunhalas, Hungary Memorial is located in the Kozma Street Cemetery, Budapest   169
Kisvárda Kisvárda, Hungary   Peter Spiro / Carol Robinson 1,223
Kunmadaras Kunmadaras, Hungary   Robert J. Friedman 178
Mád Mád, Hungary   Diane M. Rabson 333
Mezöberény Mezöberény, Hungary   Norbert Diekmann 151
Mezőcsát Mezőcsát, Hungary   Drs. Joseph and Ida Schwartz / Ava Gorkin 608
Miskolc Miskolc, Hungary   Edna Berkovits, Julie Kirsh & John Kovacs / Margarita Lackó 835
Mosonmagyaróvár Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary   Henry Wellisch 474
Nagykanizsa Nagykanizsa, Hungary   Orsolya Levai / Ava Gorkin 2,029
Nagy-Kapos Veľké Kapušany, Slovakia   Amos Zezmer / Carol Robinson 87
Nagy Károly Carei, Romania   Agnes and Peter Grossinger 1,828
Nagy-Várad Oradea, Romania   Fran Meng 19
Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza, Hungary   Lynn Saul 1,178
Ózd * Ózd, Hungary Sajómercse, Borsodnádasd, Bolyok, Center, Királd, Sajónemeti, Hodoscsépány, Arló, Szentsimon, Hangony, Járdánháza, Balaton, Domahaza, Sikátor, Uraj és Susa, Borsodszentgyörgy, Sajóvelezd, Nekézseny, Sáta, Csokva, Lénártdaroc, Csernely, Omány, Aggtelek John Kovacs / Margarita Lackó 612
Pincehely Pincehely, Hungary   Ujlaki Gyorgy 163
Sopron Sopron, Hungary   Bela Scheiber / Alex Miller 1,458
Szegi Szegi, Hungary     31
Szentes Szentes, Hungary   Ujlaki Gyorgy 379
Szikszó * Szikszó, Hungary Alsóvadász, Aszaló, Csobád, Felsövadász, Gadna, Halmaj, Hernádszentandrás, Homrogd, Ináncs, Kázsmárk, Kiskinizs, Kupa, Monaj, Onga John Kovacs / Margarita Lackó 635
Tab Tab, Hungary   Gila Miriam Chait 241
Tatabánya Tatabánya, Hungary   Oblath András 215
Tiszafüred Tiszafüred, Hungary   Dr. Szegő Ágnes 521
Tiszakerecseny Tiszakerecseny, Hungary   Erica Wiesel 36
Topolya Bačka Topola, Serbia   Larry Kohn 217
Trenčín Trenčín, Slovakia   Paul A. Strassman 1,561
Túrkeve Túrkeve, Hungary   Elizabeth Green 62
Túrkeve Túrkeve, Hungary   Elizabeth Green 345
Újfehértó Újfehértó, Hungary   Peter Winter 441
Ungvár Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Ужгород
  Vivian Kahn / Carol Robinson 86

* Memorials for towns identified with an asterisk (*) are located in Miskolc, Hungary.

Acknowledgements:

We offer our sincere thanks to the transcribers and validators, as without their donation of time and effort this database would not exist.  We also thank Jacob Michel, Erica Wiesel, and Judy Petersen for their help with Hebrew translations and Dr. Peter Hidas, Tom Klein and Pete Grossinger for help with Hungarian translations.  We also thank the support team from JewishGen: Warren Blatt, Michael Tobias and Joyce Field.

Notes on Searching the Database:

The Hungarian Holocaust Memorials Database can be searched via either the JewishGen Hungary Database or JewishGen's Holocaust Database interfaces.

In addition to the usual search of surnames and towns, you can use the "Global Text Search" of all fields to find all entries for a particular county (megye) or given name.


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