Ghetto of Sighetu Marmației (Maramureș County)

The ghetto of Sighetu Marmației was composed of two parts: the first located a few blocks away from the town centre, and the second in the “Ober-Yarash” suburb, on the opposite bank of the river Tisza (currently Solotvyno in the Ukraine). 10,000 Jews from Sighetu Marmației and the surrounding villages were interned in the town centre, whereas in “Ober-Yarash” there were 3000 Jews from rural areas, who had been previously rounded up in the temporary ghettoisation centres of Berbeşti and Dragomireşti.

The commander of the ghetto was Tóth Lajos, the police chief of Sighetu Marmației, who also led the investigative and torture units of the gendarmerie. Overcrowding (15-20 people in a room) forced many to dwell in cellars, attics, stables or sheds. Inadequate detention conditions resulted in a typhus epidemic and many deaths. Elie Wiesel and his family were interned in the ghetto in the centre of Sighetu Marmației.

Deportations to Auschwitz took place between 15 May and 21 May 1944, and the 4 trains that departed from Sighet were recorded at the Košice train station on the following dates: 16 May (3007 Jews), 18 May (3248 Jews), 20 May (3104 Jews), and 22 May (3490 Jews).