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Tolcsva COA

Tolcsva, Hungary

The following introduction is adapted and extracted from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, International Jewish Cemetery Project, specifically for Tolcsva. (You can see the original wording on that site.)

The cemetery is located to the rear of the Christian cemetery, along the road to Erdohorvati.

Lajos Lowry and Peter Wirth completed survey on 9/12/91 and this is from their report: The Jewish cemetery was established in 1770 with the last known Hasidic Orthodox Jewish burial pre-WWII. No other towns used this cemetery. The suburban hillside, separate but near other cemeteries, has no sign or marker. The cemetery can be reached by turning directly off a public road. The access is open to all via a broken masonry wall with no gate or lock. Pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.42 hectares.

It is estimated that  there were 100-500 gravestones, 50-75% toppled over or broken.  These date from 18th-20th centuries.

Vegetation overgrowth and water drainage are constant problems. The marble, limestone and sandstone matzevot have Hebrew and Hungarian inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves, but has an ohel. The local Jewish community owns site. Adjacent properties are agricultural and cemetery. The cemetery was vandalized occasionally in the last ten years with no maintenance or care.  Some stones have traces of paint on their surface.

Security, weather erosion, and vegetation are serious threats, while vandalism is a moderate threat.

The caretaker of the cemetery is noted as: Rudolf Galgovics.

People who have visited in recent years have shared some photos of what the cemetery looked like.

Larry KOHN visited Tolcsva in 2001 and he took a few photos with the limitations of the camera of that time.  Here are just a few from 2001. Ypu can see one side of the ohel (the structure) that houses three special stones that can be seen on the "Religious" page.

Ohel-oneside  IvyCovered  SomeStones

In a cleanup effort in 2017, in an e-mail to Larry BRIGGS who visited Tolcsva and photographed some parts of the cemetery, Larry KOHN wrote:

"... I visited the Tolcsva cemetery in 2001 so I know some of the challenges you likely faced. Negotiating the terrain, bushes, weeds, the toppled, broken and weathered stones and the ostensibly irregular plotting of the stones are all formidable obstacles..."

Tolcsva Jewish Cemetery, 23 May 2017

In May 2017, Kornelia Galgovics e-mailed 10 photos showing the excess of overgrowth in Tolcsva's Jewish Cemetery and where partial clearing had already been performed by her father, Rudolf.  Monies have been collected from people world-wide who have ancestry in Tolcsva so that work was begun to clear the area as much as possible.  Fortunately, the cemetery appears to have a sturdy protective wall surrounding it.

The following are some of Kornelia's photos.

Individuals who will be visiting Tolcsva in the near future have pledged to photograph as many tombstones as possible.

Cem_08   Cem_05  
Cem_06   Cem_10   Partial Cleanup

Tolcsva Jewish Cemetery, June 2017

Larry BRIGGS visited Tolcsva in June 2017 and was able to photograph about 150 tombstones.  Many of these were readable to some extent but many only revealed partial information.  Here is the caretaker Rudy Galgovics and his wife at the entrance to the cemetery, and a memorial plaque that was added from some Canadians in 2005.  At the time of this posting, we are unable to decipher what is inscribed there.

Galcovics  Memorial2005
MemorialTranslation

AtWork Partial
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Tolcsva Jewish Cemetery, 29 December 2017

Rabbi David JUNGREIS (of Brooklyn, New York) traveled to Tolcsva in December, and his photos dated 29 December 2017, show a losing battle with nature as the overgrowth has take over the cemetery once again.  The ability to extract information from these precious stones becomes increasingly difficult. These are just a few of Rabbi JUNGREIS's photos, including one of him trying to cut back overgrowth near a tombstone:


Cem_Jungreis_01  Cem_Jungreis_02  Cem_Jungreis_03  Cem_Jungreis_04  RabbiJatWork

So the problem of cleanup and access to all the stones remains a problem.

Tolcsva Jewish Cemetery, (added, 23 October, 2018)

Rabbi Jungreis negotiated with HFPJC (Heritage Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries) to begin a more structured and professional way to restore the cemetery and tombstones. On HFPJC's page on updates, dated 29 July 2018, there is this photo that makes the cemetery look marvelous, with new solid cement foundations for the tombstones. But while they say the project is "completed" it is only partially so, with only 200 stones restored. The process is time-consuming and very expensive. This project, like all the others, is dependent on raising additional donations.

HFPJC's photo
Copy of photo from HFPJC's website, for Tolcsva's cemetery restoration project

 Compiled by Madeleine Isenberg
Originally created
21 January 2018
Updated: 23 October 2018
Copyright © 2018
Madeleine R. Isenberg
All rights reserved.


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