ROMANIA - THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

(Please scroll down to see locations listed alphabetically)

http://www.sephardicstudies.org/romania.html [September 2002]:

Before WWII, 20,000 Jewish families lived in all of Romania. The survivors were "bought" by Israel from the Communists based onto their intellectuality and university degrees. Today's Romanian Jewish popuation of about 9,000 persons in the entire country is very elderly. The political and socio-economical situation in Romania continues to erode Jewish contribution to Romanian culture and commerce. [February 2002]

Sephardic Cemetery: The few remaining Sephardim in Romania were assimilated by Askenazim. Only the Sephardic cemetery in Bucharest remains as proof of their former presence. [February 2002]

ROMSIG , the Special Interest Group for Jewish Romanian research.

JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ROMANIA :
http://www.haruth.com/JewsRomania.html [October 2000]
http://otera.home.ro/links.htm [October 2000]

GENERAL ROMANIA INFORMATION USEFUL FOR JEWISH RESEARCH:
The National History Museum of Romania [August 2005]
Links to every county: maps, history, and information about its cities as well as travel and tourism information. [August 2005]
Hungarian County map shows Romanian counties formerly in Hungary as of 1913. [January 2001]
Search for general information about a particular town or county. [August 2005]

Links to photos of synagogues in Romania. [June 2003]

REFERENCES:

1. BOOK: Jewish Graveyards in the Custody of the Mosaic Community of Cluj Napoca by Micea Moldovan, sent by Ladislau Gymant. : "At the end of 1987, there were 675 identified graveyards, 459 of which were in Transylvania. Many were closed because there were no more Jews left. In the Transylvanian counties of Bihor, there were 59 cemeteries, Bistrita-Nasaud-52, Cluj-40, Maramures over 80, Satu-Mare-over 100, and Sãlaj-28. Rich and Poor were buried side by side, but rabbis were arranged in separate rows. Chevra Kadishas generally were set up when the community began; therefore often are older than the synagogue. The tombstones had definite heights, but their width could differ according to social rank and fortune. One-third of the early stones were made of earth, 2/3 were carved and were lower. Later ones were over six to eight feet tall. The article describes the type and artistic designs of the stones. Detail about the cemeteries in the Cluj-Napoca area are given." [See Cluj-Napoca]. Source: Ladislau Gyemant, str. Tarmta, B1B5 SCIII op.28, 3400 Chj-Nepocie, Moldavia, Transylvania; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
2. BOOK: Saros Laszlo and Vali Dezso. Tanu ez a kohalom ; (This Cairn is Witness Today). ISBN 963 7476 172. A very interesting book of Jewish Cemetery Photographs published in Hungary in 1993, 149 pages of black and white photos and 8 (English) pages of text with general information. The sections are: Introduction, Cemetery in Ancient Times, Old Tombstones, Cemetery and History, The Tombs of the Ancestors, Tent and Parchment, People and Flower, Rituals of Death, Epitaphs, Signs and Symbols Source: '; and see http://jgsr.net
3. BOOK: Citations for Maramures County 1850 census and historical information: Recensamântul Din 1880 Transilvania : Studia Censualia Transsivanica Universitatea "Babes-Bolyai" Cluj-Napoca Catedra si Laboratorul de Sociologie. Traian Rotariu, coordinator; Maria Semeniuc; Cornelia Muresan, information. 1997, UBB Catedra de Sociologie. Editura Staff, 1997.
4. BOOK: Sursa datelor statistice: A Magyar Korona országaiban az 1881 . Év elején végrehajtott népszámlálás fobb eredményei megyék és községek szerint részletezve, II kötet, Budapesta, 1882. ISBN 973-9679641. (Programul de cercetare si editarea volumului au fost finantate de ministerul educatiei nationale si fundatia Soros)
5. BOOK: Recensamântul Din 1850 Transilvania : Studia Censualia Transsivanica Universitatea "Babes-Bolyai" Cluj-Napoca Catedra si Laboratorul de Sociologie. Traian Rotariu, coordonator; Ion Bolovan, consultant; Mezei Elemér, tehnoredactare. 1997, UBB Catedra de Sociologie. Sursa datelor statistice: Az 1850. Évi erdélyi népszámlálás. Köponti statisztikai hivatal levéltára, Budapest, 1983. ISBN 973-96796-8. (Programul de cercetare si editarea volumului au fost finantate de ministerul educatiei nationale si fundatia Soros)
6. Mircea-Sergiu Moldovan, PhD. (Professor and architect, str. Parîng, nr. 1, bl. A4, ap. 12, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Ph.: 40-64-161261) prepared many of the survey forms. Dates are listed by the individual cemeteries. Documentation used to completed the surveys include:
7. BOOK: Otto Mittelstrass, Historisch-Landeskundlicher Atlas von Siebenbürgen. Ortsnamenbuch, Heidelberg, 1992; Recens m ntul din 1850.
8. BOOK: Transylvania (The Census of 1850. Transylvania), Bucure ti, 1996; Recens m ntul din 1857
9. BOOK: Transilvania (The Census of 1857. Transylvania), Bucure ti, 1997
10. BOOK: Recens m ntul din 1880. Transilvania (The Census of 1880. Transylvania), Bucure ti, 1998; Recens m ntul general al popula iei Rom niei din 29 decembrie 1930 ( The general Census of the population of Romania December 29, 1930),I-III, Bucure ti, 1938
11. BOOK: Ujvari Peter, Magyar-Zsido Lexikon (Hungarian-Jewish Lexikon), Budapest, 1929
12. BOOK: Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger, Istoria evreilor din Transilvania (1623-1944) (History of the Jews of Transylvania-1623-1944), Bucure ti, 1994. Professor Moldovan recorded the tombstones of the various cemeteries on VHS videotape.      BOOK: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to East-Central Europe . New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. See abandoned sites; main Jewish communities indicated with an asterisk (*) (pps 201-202); excerpts were compiled by Elaine B. Kolinsky (pages 192-223).
13. BOOK: Jewish Cemeteries of Bucovina. Publisher: Noi Media Print (Bucharest). 2009. ISBN: 978-973-1805-50-4. Rom, Ukr, Eng, French, Ger. 111 pages. To order, contact the author/photographer: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it [July 2009]

For Bukovina: http://bukowina.info/ [October 2000]

A photographic essay of abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Europe by Ruth Ellen Gruber .

Minna Rozen, Department of History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel researches cemeteries in Romania. Contact her for more information.

The US Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad began to survey Jewish monuments in Romania. Contact: Samuel Gruber, 123 Clarke St., Syracuse, NY 13210

All cemetery descriptions that follow with a "RO-CE" and a number are from the Survey of Historic Jewish Sites and Monuments in Romania sponsored by the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.