The concentration camp of Târgu Mureș (Mureș-Turda County)

The Târgu Mureş camp was set up in the brick factory in the eastern part of the city, near the cattle market. There were about 5500 Jewish inhabitants of Târgu Mureş, around 1880 Jews from the rural areas of Mureş-Turda County and about 900 Jews from Odorhei County (including the town of Odorheiu Secuiesc). The total number of prisoners concentrated in Târgu Mureș was about 7380. Among the prisoners were 94 Sabbatarians from the villages of Bezidu Nou (Bözödújfalu) and Cristuru Secuiesc (Székelykeresztúr), the descendants of Szeklers who converted to Judaism during the time of the Principality of Transylvania. The Hungarian authorities advised the Sabbatarians to declare that they were Christian Hungarians in order to leave the camp. They refused and were consequently deported alongside the other prisoners.

The decision to set up the camp in the brick factory in the eastern part of Târgu Mureş, a place lacking basic conditions to accommodate such a large number of people, belonged to Endre László, the Under-Secretary of State in the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior. He declared that he did not care that only 600 people could be accommodated, since the intended objective was not to open a sanatorium, but a detention camp. The concentration of the Jews in the camp began on 3 May and ended after two days, following the insistence of Hungarian General Kozma István, who claimed that 8 days would be too long to round up the Jews. The camp commander was Bedő Géza, local chief of police.

The surface area established for the camp around the brick factory was about 20,000 square metres. The factory building was decommissioned, with the roof almost completely damaged. Inside were passageways and furnaces which resembled caves. Only 2500 Jews were accommodated in the factory, the rest remaining outside under the open sky, in tents they had improvised from their clothes. In the first few days, there were no places for physiological needs, it was only later that ditches were dug for this purpose.

In the camp area there was only one water pump which could not satisfy the need for water. The thirsty prisoners were forced to consume the undrinkable water from a dirty reservoir in the factory courtyard. It was only a few days after the concentration that water was delivered in tank trucks from the town hall, but the quantity was still insufficient. After the first week, bathtubs taken from Jewish homes were brought in for cooking. Due to the shortage of food and basic facilities, many prisoners fell seriously ill.

The deportation of the Jews from the camp of Târgu Mureș to Auschwitz took place between 26 May and 7 June 1944 in three transports. According to the records of the Košice train station, the three trainsets from Târgu Mureş passed through the railway station on 27 May, 30 May and 8 June 1944. The departure from the camp had taken place a day or two earlier. The total number of deportees was 7559.