The concentration camp of Dej (Someș County)

The camp was set up in a forest on Bungur hill, about 2 km from the town of Dej. Around 3800 Jews from Dej and about 3900 Jews from Beclean, Chiochiş, Dej, Ileanda, Târgu Lăpuş, Reteag/Petru Rareş (Someş County) were transferred there. The total number of prisoners concentrated in the camp in the Bungur forest was about 7700.

Prior to the transfer to the camp, three provisional centres were set up in Dej, where the local Jews were rounded up: one in the Pongratz court, the second in Iványi’s timber yard, and the third in Bákai Miklós’s house and yard. In these centres, the Jews were searched and deprived of all their remaining possessions, and after 1-3 days of detention they were transferred to the camp in the Bungur forest.

The decision to establish the camp in the Bungur forest, a place without water or basic conditions to accommodate such a large number of people, was made by Lehner (Lénárd) Zsigmond. The space in the Bungur forest intended for the camp was deforested and fenced with barbed wire. The prisoners were only allowed the space of about 2 square meters per person, being forced to stay outside under the open sky, with no bedding or shelter of any kind.

In the camp there was no drinking water, causing the prisoners to suffer from thirst in the first 5 days of detention. After 5 days, water was brought daily in a tank truck, each prisoner receiving an insufficient amount (half a litre per person). The camp commanders, Gecse József and Takács Emil, prevented the non-Jews of Dej and the surrounding areas from bringing the prisoners food. Due to the poor conditions in which the Jews were held in this camp, 25 people died and many became seriously ill.

The deportation of the Jews from the camp of Dej to Auschwitz took place between 28 May and 8 June 1944 in 3 transports.