Alternate name: Manya (Hungarian). Maia is located in Cluj county, Transylvania at 47°09' 23°30', 12 km from Dej. The cemetery is located on the left side of the road, in the neighborhood of the Greek Orthodox church, on the hill at Maia, 4660, jud. Cluj, Romania. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
- Local officials: Chira Ilie, the mayor of Bobalna. Cluj Jewish Community, Tipografiei Str. 25, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Tel. 0040-64-196600.
- Regional officials: The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Romania, Str. Sf. Vineri, No. 9-11, Sector 3, Bucharest, Romania.
- Interested parties: "Dr. Moshe Carmilly" Institute for Hebrew and Jewish History, Str. Universitatii No. 7-9, cam. 61, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Director: Ladislau Gyemant This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
- Key holder: Filip Gavril, Maia, no. 46, 4660, jud. Cluj, Romania. Caretaker: Filip Gavril, Maia, no. 46, 4660, jud. Cluj, Romania.
The earliest known Jewish community was 20th century. 1930 Jewish population was about 10. In May 1944, the Jews were confined to the Dej ghetto and were deported to Auschwitz between May 28-June 8, 1944. The Jewish cemetery was established in 20th century. The last known Orthodox Jewish burial was in the 1950s. Babdiu and Suaras, 2 km. and 1 km. away, used this unlandmarked cemetery. The rural (agricultural) isolated hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, it is open to all. A continuous fence and a locking gate surround the cemetery. The approximate size of cemetery before WWII was 3000 square meters and is now approximately round at 120x140 meters 20 to 100 stones, most in original location with less than 25% toppled or broken, date fromaround 1900. The sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones have Hebrew inscriptions. The cemetery contains special no memorial monuments, mass graves, structures or pre-burial house. It is used as a Jewish cemetery use only and visited by private visitors.The national Jewish community owns the property now used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are agricultural. The cemetery never was vandalized. There has been clearing vegetation by the regular unpaid caretaker.
This survey was completed by Ovidiu Pecican, Professor, historian, E. de Martonne Str. 1, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Tel: 0040-64-405300 on March 25, 2000 after a vist on March 10.
Documentation: Otto Mittelstrass, Historisch-Landeskundlicher Atlas von Siebenburgen, Ortsnamenbuch, Heldelberg, 1992. The General Census of the Population of Romania December 29,1930, I-III, Bucharest, 1938 Ernst Wagner, Historisch-statistisches Ortsnamenbuch fur Siebenburgen , Moshe Carmilly- Weinberger, History of the Jews of Transylvania .