Romania's 1930 census found some 14,000 Jews living in Sălaj County, but this number had fallen to 8,000 by 1944. In 1942 and 1943, the county's male Jews aged 16 to 60 had been sent to perform forced labor on the
Eastern Front, on the
Ukrainian border, accounting for the fall in population. Thus, those sent to the ghetto were women, children, the elderly and the sick. The decision to set it up was taken at a conference held in Szatmárnémeti (
Satu Mare) on April 26, attended by András Gazda, assistant to the county prefect; János Sréter, mayor of Zilah (
Zalău); József Udvari, mayor of Szilágysomlyó (Șimleu Silvaniei); lieutenant colonel György Mariska, commander of the county's gendarmerie unit; Ferenc Elekes, chief of police of Zilah (Zalău); and István Pethes, his counterpart in Szilágysomlyó (Șimleu Silvaniei). The
ispán of the county, Baron János Jósika, immediately resigned upon being informed of the conference's decisions by his assistance, holding the planned course of action to be immoral and illegal. His successor László Szlávi, sent by the
Döme Sztójay, fully cooperated with the program. Following the officials' return from Szatmárnémeti (Satu Mare), discussions took place in the prefect's office among local officials regarding the ghetto's physical location. In Szilágysomlyó (
Șimleu Silvaniei), the Jews were rounded up under the direct command of István Pethes; in Zilah (Zalău), by Ferenc Elekes; in the rest of the county, under orders from András Gazda and the direct supervision of György Mariska. Among the larger communities affected were those at Tasnád (
Tășnad) and Kraszna (
Crasna). The Jews were forced to live on the precincts of the Klein brick factory in Somlyócsehi (Cehei), in a swampy and muddy area some 5 km distant from the center of Szilágyosmlyó (Șimleu Silvaniei). At its peak, there were nearly 8,500 inhabitants, including Jews from the districts of
Kraszna, Szilágycseh, Zsibó, Szilágysomlyó, Alsószopor, Tasnád and Zilah. Some 1,200 Jews survived the Holocaust but later emigrated from Romania, so that by the 2000s, under fifty Jews remained in the county. ==See also==