US Commission No. ROCE-0255
Alternate Hungarian name: Szek. Located at 46°56' 23°53' in Cluj County, Transylvania region, 45 km from Cluj-Napoca and 18 km from Gherla. The cemetery is at 3492 com. Sic, Uliza Dambul Ziganilor. The present total town population is 3,189 with no Jews.
- Local: Primaria Sic, 3492 Sic, Jud. Cluj, Romania; Ioan Sallay - Mayor; Andrei Szabo - Vice Mayor; and Rozsika Kiss, Secretary. Cluj-Napoca Jewish Community, str. Tipografiei, nr. 25, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Ph. 40-64-196600.
- Regional: the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Romania, str. Sf. Vineri, nr. 9-11, sector 3, Bucharest, Romania, Ph.: 40-01-6132538 / 6132538, fax: 40-01-3120869, telex: 40-01-10798.
- Interested: Professor Ladislau Gyemant, Director of Dr. Moshe Carmilly Institute for Hebrew and Jewish History, str. Universitatii 7-9, cam. 61, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Mircea-Sergiu Moldovan, Ph.D. (Professor and architect), str. Paring, nr. 1, bl. A4, ap. 12, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Ph.: 40-64-161261 --Caretaker with key: Juhos Susana, 3492 Sic, nr. 256, com. Sic, jud. Cluj, Romania.
The Census of 1850 registered 6 Jews of a total population of 3206. In 1857, there were 8 Jews out of 3158; 20 Jews by 1880; 68 Jews of 3203 inhabitants and in 1900 were registered 66 Jews of 3379 inhabitants. The Census of 1930 registered 50 Jews. The Jews of Sic were confined to May 1944 in the Dej ghetto and deported to Auschwitz on May 28 and June 6-8, 1944. The Orthodox Jewish cemetery was established in the nineteenth century. Possibly, other towns and villages used the cemetery, which was 5 km. from congregation that used it. The isolated suburban hillside with sign or marker is reached by turning directly off a public road and open with permission. A continuous fence with a non-locking gate surrounds the cemetery. The present cemetery size is 160 sq.m. There are 17 gravestones, 15 of which are still in original locations. 2 moved or down. The nineteenth century limestone, sandstone, or slate flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones or flat stones with carved relief decoration with Hebrew inscriptions. No known mass graves or structures. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania owns site used only as a Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are residential and a new Protestant cemetery. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose a smaller area because of a housing development. It is visited rarely by private visitors. The cemetery has not been vandalized in the last ten years. Care includes clearing vegetation and fixing of the wall and gate after 1970. Cluj-Napoca Jewish Community did restoration in the 1970s and annually after controls ended. The Cluj Jewish congregation pays the regular caretaker. Incompatible development is the only moderate threat. Weather erosion and vegetation are slight threats. Dwellings are very close to the cemetery. Mircea-Sergiu Moldovan visited the site on July 21, 1998 and completed the survey. Juhos Susana of Sic was interviewed.
REFERENCE: See: abandoned sites Gruber, Ruth Ellen.
Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to East-Central Europe New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. pg 201, 225-226
