The concentration camp of Baia Mare (Satu Mare County)

The camp in Baia Mare was established in two parts of the city: the first was located on brownfield land near the “König” glass factory, where the approximately 3660 Jews from Baia Mare and Baia Sprie were transferred; the second one was established in the stables of an agricultural farm in Valea Borcutului, a village 2-3 km away from Baia Mare, where approximately 2000 Jews from the rural areas of Baia Mare, Şomcuta Mare and Copalnic Mănăștur were transferred. The rounding up and transfer of the Jews to the camps began on 3 May 1944.

In each of the two camps, a maximum of 250 to 300 people could be accommodated, while the rest were left out under the open sky. Poor weather conditions and the lack of appropriate accommodation caused many prisoners to become ill. The commander of the camps was chief of police Nagy Jenő, who investigated and inhumanely tortured the prisoners (blows to the soles of their feet with canes or rubber truncheons, the placement of needles under the nails, tying and hanging from metal bars followed by beatings to loss of consciousness).

The approximately 5660 Jews in the Baia Mare camps were deported to Auschwitz in two transports: the first on 31 May 1944 (3073 people) and the second on 5 June 1944 (2844 people).