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.
[1] 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.
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 (Şimleu Silvaniei).
[1] Due to physical torture, lack of food and of water, the Jews of Szilágyság (Sălaj) reached Auschwitz concentration camp in particularly poor shape, so that an unusually high percentage were selected for the gas chambers immediately upon arrival.