History
On May 3, 1944, the ghettoization of Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvar) began, which was completed in one week. That was less than two months after the Nazis launched Operation Margarette on March 19 , by which the Wehrmacht put Hungary under puppet rule .
The Jews were concentrated in the Iris brick factory in the northern part of the city, which consisted mainly of barracks used to dry bricks and mosaics. The ghetto had practically no facilities for the approximately 18,000 Jews of Cluj and its surroundings who were locked up there. The concentration of Jews was carried out by local administrative and police authorities with the cooperation of SS ( Schutzstaffel ) advisers, including Captain SS ( Hauptsurmfuhrer ) Dieter Wisliceny. The ghetto was under the command of László Urbán, the Chief of Police of Cluj. The internal administration of the ghetto was entrusted to a Judenrat consisting of Fischer (at the head), Rabbi Akiba Glasner, Rabbi Mozes Weinberger and Ernö Marton. Like all other Gethtos in Hungary, the brick factory also had a “mint”, a special building where police tortured the Jews to reveal where they had hidden their property.
The ghetto of Cluj was liquidated in six transports to Auschwitz , with the first deportation the 25 of May and the last one the 9 of June.