Some of the photos used have not been authorized but a link has been provide. xxx
Imagine walking the very same streets that your parents, grandparents or your great grandparents walked somewhere in Romania, Bucovina or Turkey, where they once lived.
Imagine the sights ... the sounds ... and the smells that must have been there ... before you became a part of this world.
Yes, there was a time when Jewish life compared more like the Sholom Aleichem stories we've all heard. A time when making a living and studying Torah were the only important goals a Jew could hope to (and pray to) achieve.
Romania
Located in southeastern Europe, Romania borders the Black Sea and is between Bulgaria and Ukraine. Today, there is a total population of 22.4 million. Romania included the Danubian Principalities of Transylvania, Banat, Maramures, Valahia (Wallachia), Moldova, Bessarabia and Bucovina. Today, all of these regions are in Romania and Moldova, with a portion in southern Ucraina (Ukraine)ROM SIG covers the MoldovaandTransylvaniaareas www.jewishgen.org/romsig
and click on Links where you will find a list of maps for Romania, Transylvania-Eastern Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire 1882, and Romania- Moldova-Balkans 1882. In addition to many other helpful sites and a photo gallery, there is a link to the Jewish Community of Moldova. http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Romania.html
Modern Romania began in 1859 with Prince Alexander John Cuza (Alexandru-Ioan Cuza) of Moldova and Wallachia. As a nation, Romania began on January 24 to February 5, 1862 after the 1856 Congress of Paris declared the end of the Crimean War and decided that this area was to be independent, but under the Turkish suzerainty. Bucharest is its capital city. A leading Israeli expert on the Holocaust in Romania, Jean Ancel, said that of the 760,000 Jews who once lived in Romanian-controlled territories during WW II, 420,000 were massacred. Yad Vashem has published a two-volume book by Ancel on the subject.
There are today, about 6,000 Jews, mainly elderly, still living in Romania with fewer than 1,000 of them under the age of 35. Half of them live in Bucharest. The average salary is $100 a month and 40 percent of the population lives on little more than one dollar a day.
If you are searching for Bessarabia, Bessarabien, or Moldova, this area is known as Moldova today - a region of today's Romania.
The truth about Romania's western province is that it is one of the most scenic settings in the world. The Borgo Mountains soar, while the Bistrita and Bargaului Valleys dip between them, home to medieval villages nestled among woodlands.
Search Europe An excellent site to find information about most European countries - type in the name of the country you wish to research in the search field. This site is a great source to find information for almost every European country. http://searcheurope.com
Another valuable site to help find a person, maps, etc. - and type in the name of any country you wish to research. This service is free. http://www.webhelp.com/home
Books
Most books, CDs, etc. can be ordered through my link to Amazon.com by clicking here > Jewish Genealogy
Documentary: The Nobel Peace Prize winner and the world’s foremost author on the Holocaust experience takes a haunting journey to his hometown of Sighet, Romania for the first time in 20 years. Mr. Wiesel is made an honorary citizen of his hometown of Sighet, Romania, where he walks through the neighborhood in which he played and studied as a child. Despite mixed feelings, he sees a town unchanged since his deportation to Nazi concentration camps in 1944, except for one significant feature; not a single Jew lives in the entire village. Academy Award winning actor William Hurt reads passages from Mr. Wiesel’s renowned writings, including his first and most honored work, “Night,” published in 1958.
Added features include interviews of two of the nation’s leading authorities on the Holocaust: - Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesental Center and its acclaimed Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles - Professor Bernard Goldberg, Director of The American Jewish Cultural Studies Program at West Los Angeles College. Running Time: 105 minutes ISBN No: 1-930545-62-2 https://www.choicesvideo.net/newchoices/index.html
"Anthology of the Dorohoi Country Since The 15th Century" After WW II, this county has been included into that one of Botosani. Romanian Title: "Generatii de judaism sionism: DOROHOI (+Saveni, Mihaileni, Darabani, Herta, Radauti-Prut)" English Title: "Generations of Jewishness and Zionism: DOROHOI (+Saveni, Mihaileni, Darabani, Hertza, Radautz-Prut)" Redactor and Coordinator: Shlomo David. 5 Volumes, about 3,500 pages together, bilingual (Romanian + Hebrew). The Romanian halves (from left to right) and the Hebrew ones (from right to left) do mostly contain different info. There are Latin and Hebrew "Summary" lists. Submitted by Alex Finkelstein@mail.biu.ac.il
"Gazetteer of the former Galicia and Bukowina" Produced by Felix Gundacher of the Institute of Historical Family Research in Vienna, has a CD-Rom of maps from the 1880s. The Institute has a web site - for useful looking resources and advice. http://ihff.nwy.at/index.htm/
"Jewish Immigration from Romania" Reference: RG76; IMMIGRATION, Series I-A-1, Volume 359, Reel C-10262, File: 426364 referred to on the on-line Canadian National Archives web site. http://www.ingeneas.com
"Jewish Heritage Travel" Authored by Ruth Gruber and published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 1984.
"Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories" Author Miriam Weiner
"Memorial to the Jews Deported from France 1942-44" Authored by Beate Klarsfeld, was published after 1978 in English and should be available from F.F.D.J.F 32, rue la Boetie, 75008 Paris, France or The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation 515 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022. The book lists 3,000 Romanians on this list.
"Romania, The Jewries of the Levant after the Fourth Crusade" Authored by Joshua Starr in 1949. On page 56, there are 7 names given.
This ROM-SIGsite contains the names of the shtetls (towns) of Romaniaincluding Romania, Moldova and Southwestern Ukraine: Moldova (Moldavia)Transylvania (Transylvania) Valahia (Wallachia) Banat Basarabia (Bessarabia) Bucovina Dobrogea Maramures. For each town, the county (judete), region and country is listed. If you click on the town name, you can get additional information.
The towns, regions and countries included in the town list are the currently designations used. Changes in national boundaries occurred since pre-World War I times. Therefore, a shtetl may have been in one of the countries covered by the ROM-SIG that was in Russia, Hungary, The Ottoman Empire, or Austria in earlier centuries http://www.jewishgen.org/romsig/Shtetls/Romania.htm
Note that Transylvania had one register for all religions denoting religion in a column, whereas Poland and Ukraine have separate registers for each religion.
Over 40,000 new records have been added, consisting of two components:
* Kishinev Vital Records:
The database contains over 25,700 birth records and over 6,400 marriage and divorce records from Kishinev,Moldova. Kishinevwas formerly in Bessarabia Guberniya of the Russian Empire. The original records are located in the National Archives of the Republic of Moldova in Kishinev (Chisinau).
Contains birth, marriage, divorce and death records from 1829 to 1915. Many records remain to be transliterated; work to transliterate these records is ongoing.
Over 17,000 new records, primarily for the Uyezds (districts) of Bendery and Soroki.
This includes the towns of Bendery(Tighina), Kaushany (Causeni), Romanovka (Basarabeasca), Chimishliya (Cimislia), and Ataki (Otaci), all currently in Moldova, and smaller towns in Bendery district. Data for Orgieev,Bieltsy and Khotin districts were previously transcribed. There are over 80,000 records still to be transcribed. Contact Terry Lasky lasky@bwn.net http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Romania/BessarabiaDuma.htm
It is derived from a census drawn up during the Antonescu regime in 1942, of males born in Romania between 1881-1892, and who were deemed to old for work in Labor Camps. The entire census, obtained from the Federation of Jewish Communities (FEDROM) in Bucharestby Prof. Ladislau Gyemant for the JewishGen Romania Special Interest Group (ROM-SIG), consists of some 300+ pages containing about 8,200 entries. This first installment of the database contains 3,275 records, with the remainder to follow.
Census of those born between 1893-1921, who were sent to the camps. The list contains more than 300 pages, and over 8,000 entries.
This is our first database which uses the Romanian alphabet. Our Daitch- Mokotoff Soundex algorithm has been enhanced to account for Romanian diacriticals (i.e. the letter "t" with a cedilla has the "ts" sound").
Chief of Mission: Ambassador Mircea Dan Geoana, 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008. Phone: (202) 332 4846, 4848, 4851; Fax: 1 202 232 4748; Consulate (s) General: Los Angeles and in New York.
Diplomatic Representation from the US: Chief of Mission, Ambassador James C. Rosapepe. Embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest, American Embassy Bucharest, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20521 (pouch) Phone; (40) 1 210 01 49 210 40 42; Fax 40 1 210 03 95; Branch Office: Cluj-Napoca
Chancery of Romania Located at 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008; Phone 1 202 332 4846, 4848, 4851 FAX: 1 202 232 4748. http://tracingroots.nova.org/
A German term usually applied to the Romanian Jews who walked for hundreds of miles to Hamburg. They walked in groups, sometimes whole families walked together.
A virtual exhibition sponsored by Beth Ha'tefutsorth explaining Romanian Jewish culture, Jewishfamily life, Holocaust, emigration and community life through this fascinating exhibition featuring on-line by the Diaspora Museum. You will find interactive maps, beautiful graphics and audio/video files. There is a clickable photo gallery that showcases the Romanian Jewish experience through time. http://www.bh.org.il/V-Exh/Romania
Linguistics
The letter "K" is a non-Latin one, but an Anglo-Saxon letter, therefore "deep" Romanian words shouldn't be written with a "K", but with a "C" instead according to Alex Finkelstein. He further states that the same observation is true about the letter "Y". This is a left over from the Austro-Hungarian period.
Maps
Global Gazetteer is a great web site. It is a directory of 2,880,532 of the world's cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. A tab separated list is available for each country. www.calle.com/world/
"A Mazeldiker Yid: Old time Klezmer From East Europe" Klezmer still lives in the mountains of Romania where Di Naye Kapelye with Mihaly Sipos and Peter Eri of Muzikas compile a lively recording using folk instruments such as the cimbalom. Music is part of our heritage so listen at www.hatikvahmusic.com
Professional Researchers The Special Interest Group for Romanian Jewish Genealogy offers a wonderful informational site about dealing with professional researchers at http://www.jewishgen.org/romsig/rsdb/prof-sum.html
Alexander Dunai Professional researcher dunai@iname.com (located in L'viv, Ukraine)
Ladislau Gyemant, PhD Professional genealogical researcher, Professor of Jewish History at the University of Cluj-Napoca, communicates in English Phone 011 40 64 167256 or e-mail gyemant@zortec.ro
Gheorghe Mireuta Professional researcher ram@sisnet.ro
"Between 1859-1860 there were 3,288 Jews; in 1899 - 4,019, in 1930 - 5,925. A statistics situation, after a documentary included in the volume "The contribution to the culture and civilization of the Jews from Romania", it shows the "Activity of the Mosaic Cult in all over the country, between 1918-1943". Thus, "The Roman district office": in 1940 - 5,689 souls, 18 synagogues and two cemeteries. Rabbis, two cemeteries; in 1941 - 6,485 souls, 18 synagogues and two Rabbis, two cemeteries; in 1942 - 18 functional synagogues with two Rabbis (Isacsohn Salomon and Frenkel Mendel), five Hahams, two psalm readers and 16 clerics. There were about 7,000 Jews in Roman (including the Jews evacuated from the neighboring villages: Bozieni, Bara, Demienesti, Bacesti); in 1943 - 6,470 souls, 18 synagogues and 2 Rabbis, two cemeteries. More information athttp://www.romanianjewish.org/en/mosteniri_ale_culturii_iudaice_03_11_03.html
The countries known today as Romania and Moldova, as well as the southwestern portion of Ukraine and Southern Hungary are the areas of interest. Included in these countries are the areas formerly known as Bucovina, Moldavia, Bessarabia, Transylvania, Walachia and TheBanat. The site includes Photos, links. This SIG provides a 'full service' home on the web which includes a complete table of contents for each issue; an archive link; a database of all towns in Romania, Moldova and southern Ukraine, showing latitude/longitude, alternate names and all towns within a selected distance of a specified town - and more. http://www.jewishgen.org/romsig/
Nearly 40,000 new records have been added, including:
* 25,000 new records in the Bessarabia Duma Voter Lists, 1906-07, primarily for the Khotin and Bieltsy districts. This includes the towns of: Foleshty (Falesti), Ryshanovka (Riscani), Skulyany (Sculeni), Brichany (Briceni), Lipkany (Lipcani), Yedintsy (Edinet) and a major update to Orgeyev (Orhei), all currently in Moldova, and Khotin, Novoselitsy (Novosel'tsy) andSekuryany (Sokiryany), currently in Ukraine. All of the smaller towns and villages in the Orgieev, Bieltsy and Khotin districtshave also been completed.
The database will continue to grow. There are over 100,000 records still to be transcribed. Contact Terry Lasky tlasky@bwn.net
TheSilesian Digital Library is online and has scans of three volumes of Ksiega pamiatkowa i adresowa wygnancow wojennych z Galicyi i Bukowiny 1914–1915 oraz Album pamiatkowe (The Memorial, Address and Photo Album Directory of the War Refugees from Galicia and Bukovina 1914–1915). There are few photos of people; most are of places. http://www.sbc.katowice.pl/dlibra
There is an excellent description of the contents of these books and how to use the search engine by Logan Kleinwaks in the Rom-SIG Digest. To retrieve the message, send e-mail to lyris@lyris.jewishgen.org and in the body of the message write "get rom-sig 20070103" (without the quote marks).
Major revisions have been made to the "Database Data" and "Database Columns" sections of this introduction.
* 5,000 additional records, completing the "Tabele Barbitalor - 1942 Census of Jewish males born in Romania, 1881-1892".
It is derived from a census drawn up during the Antonescu regime in 1942, of males born in Romania between 1881-1892, and who were deemed to old for work in Labor Camps.
The JewishGen ROM-SIG also has in its possession the census of men born between 1893-1921, who were sent to the camps. The list contains more than 300 pages, and over 8,000 entries.
Rosanne Leeson Leeson1@attglobal.net along with Paula Zieselman are Co-Coordinators of ROM-SIG and welcome suggestions or photos and materials to be added to the site.
A comprehensive guide to Internet resources on Russia and Central/Eastern Europe http://www.slavophilia.com/
Street Name Meanings:
Soseaua
(abbreviation: sos)
means 'the road'
str.
stands for Strada
meaning 'street'
dr.
stands for drumul
meaning 'way'
cal.
stands for calea
also means 'way'
blvd.
stands for bulevardl
meaning 'boulevard
intr.
stands for intrarea
meaning 'entrance' or small street
Thanks to Alex Finkelstein Alex.Finkelstein@mail.biu.ac.ilwho provided the Street Name Meanings and other Romanian information.
Struma Tragedy
This is the rickety old ship with 789 Romanian Jewish refugees (all of whom died including 103 children except for one that lived) that was sunk either by a Russian sub or a mine, near Istanbul in the Black Sea on February 23, 1942 (story is in English) http://www.alpas.net/uli/struma/struma_engl.htm
The refugees left the port of Constanta, Romania (the last ship to leave Germany carrying refugees who were bound for Palestine) were trying to reach Turkey or Palestine, but didn't have Visas for either country although the fare was to include Visas for Palestine. The boat was in very poor condition and was denied entrance to Istanbul. The boat was being towed away from Turkey and into The Bosporus sea by a tug, since its engine was not working. There were only five survivors and three of those died in turkey. The British government of the day steadfastedly refused them visas to Palestine as illegal entrants of an enemy country. The local Turkish community helped feed the passengers during the 70 days that the ship remained in the port.
The British authorities in Palestine had set tight limits on Jewish immigration. The British transferred the Struma's passengers, along with those of two other boats, to another ship, the Patria, intending to send them to detention in Mauritius.According to a story in the February 2003 issue of Hadassah Magazine, a Haganah bomb, meant to keep the Patriah from leaving for Mauritius, sank the ship.
Books
"Death on the Black Sea" About the Struma. A very comprehensive list of the passengers is included. You may purchase this book through my link with Amazon.com to your left on this page. http://sephardichouse.org/
Just in case you didn't think of it, contact a nearby university or college's foreign language department. They may offer to write letters and translate letters into English. A nominal fee is usually charged.
In the near future, the about 40 'judete' (counties) are going to become 8 "regiuni" (singular: regiune) meaning regions, as a request prior to the acceptance of Romania into NATO and other European organizations.
Administrative Divisions
40 counties (Judete, singular - judet)
1 municipality (municipiu)
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau
Bihor
Bistrita-Nasaud
Botosani
Brailla
Brasov
Bucuresti Buzau
Calarasi
Caras-Severin
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Gorj
Giurgiu
Dorohoi
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Maramures
Ilfov
Mehedinti
Mures
Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Salaj
Satu Mare
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Vaslui
Vilcea
Vrancea
Note: Moldova is today the northeast area of Romania, but is also an independent state from USSR (CCCP). Both areas together, represent the original Moldova, prior to 1940 as Romanian area. Corrections and this statement were contributed by Alex.Finkelstein@mail.biu.ac.il
A collection of oral histories by Jews living in this region, located in southwestern Romania, has been published. "Rescued Memory: The Jews of the Banat Yesterday and Today," the fruit of four years' work is the latest volume in a series of anthropological and oral history research conducted by the Third Europe Foundation, based in the city of Timisorara. About 12,000 Jews lived in the region before WW II. Only about 400, mainly elderly, remain there today. http://www.jewishgen.org/romsig/
The second largest city in Romania. Strolling along the winding streets of medieval Brasov, you'll find cathedrals, a fortress, a Franciscan monastery and buildings which once housed the craftsmen and jewelers who made Brasov legendary throughout the region. David Gordon dgordon@interaccess.com offers to make copies of photos he has taken of six synagogues http://www.jewishgen.org/romsig/
Capital city. This was the capital of one of the 3 principates (Valahia) prior to 1859. It is believed to have been founded in the late 14th century by a shepherd named Bucur. The city later became a residence of the Walachian princes and the name was changed to Bucharest. In 1859, Wallachia and Moldavia merged and Bucharest became the capital of Romania. It was once known as the "Paris of the East". Its citizens lived it up with glittering parties, grand entertainments, and fashionable lifestyles - befitting the folkloric meaning of its name: City of Joy. http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/regions.html
Located in Bacau province, had a population of 8,198 in 1948 and was located on a railroad line about 20 miles southeast of PiatraNeami. It was a woolen and textile manufacturing center and also did oil refining, distilling and manufacturing of candles and cheese. http://motic.wiesenthal.com/pages/t012/t01244.html
Ruth Gruber's "Jewish Heritage Travel" writes that it was a noted Chassidic center headed by Rabbi Isaac Friedman of the Ruzhyn Dynasty and still has its 'marvelous' synagogue which is well maintained although it was vandalized in the 1980s.
This shtetl is in Moldavia, which was in northwestern Romania on the Austro Romanian border. In 1820 there were 183 Jewish taxpaying head of families; by the middle of the century, the Jews were the majority of the town's population. By 1899 the Jewish population had increased to 2,038 according to the article.
For additional information about this region located in Bukowina,Click here
A city, Odessa Oblast (province) located in southernmostUkraine. In Turkish it is known as Akkerman and in Russian as Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. There is a lot of historical information available at http://www.britannica.com/seo/b/bilhorod-dnistrovskyy/
Located on the border where Romania, Hungary and Ukraine meet. It is south of Vynohradiv, Ukraine and north of Satu Mare in Romania. Before, while it was in Austria-Hungary, it was in Ugocsa county in Hungary.
Cluj (Cluj-Napoca) (Kolozsvar)
Formerly known as Kolozsvar and was located in Hungary. This is one of the capital cities of the three principates (Transylvania) prior to 1859. The Napoca secondary name has been added to the Clujcity name because this was the name of this settlement during ancient times.
Cluj NapocaDiscussion List - This the coolest, newest and possibly funniest, discussion list about the Young Romanian Jewish community of Cluj Napoca and also about all the other Romanian Jewish Communities, their activities, their members, and their life, and all regarding it http://groups.yahoo.com/group/otercluj/
Contact George Paltan. There are Regional Special Interest Groupsthat have Romanian information and links. The site includes links to Bohemia-Moravia SIG, Denmark SIG, German-Jewish SIG, Hungary SIG and Stammbaum - German SIG at http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/W_Europe.html
Constanta
Originally captured by the Greeks, followed by the Romans and Turks, and finally by the Romanians, who acquired this seaside resort in 1878. It has since become Romania's most important seaport. The old section is known as Piata Ovidiu.
The county seat, with a large Jewish population. In 1940, before Romania joined WW II on the Nazi side, it was already clear to all in which direction the wind was blowing. The Jews were expelled first from all the shtetls and villages, and then from Dorohoi, as well as from the other medium size Jewish towns in the area, Botoshani. Most of them fled to Iasi (Yass), the capital of Moldovaat that time.
Falticieni
Focsoni(Focsani)
There was a Jewish presence prior to WW II.
Cemetery Remains of a Jewish cemetery has been acknowledged.
Including towns of Baneasa, Beresti-Tirg/Beresti, Galati, Ivesti (commune), Lestetz/Liesti/Lieste, Nicoresti, Targul, Nicoresti (commune), and Tecuci are included in the ROMSIG Galati County Research - contact the Coordinator Ellen Renck - NY Desiree Gil DAGAG123@aol.com
Gura Humorului is a town located in north Romania, Suceava County in southern Bukovina. In 1857 Gura Humoruluihad a Jewish population of 190 souls. In that year also the Jewish cemetery was established. That cemetery was active until 1920. In 1920 the "New" cemetery was established right near the "Old" one, and it is still open today. These cemeteries (the old and the new) have about 2060 graves. http://humora.tripod.com/
Gura Humorului Jewish Community The aim of these pages is to provide a photographic record and to provide the burial records of the Gura Humorului Jewish cemetery (Romania), and others records from the Jewish community of that town, for the benefit of those genealogists who live some distance away and for the decedents of Gura Humorului Jewish community http://humora.tripod.com/
Located near the Moldavian border in northeasternRomania. This city was once the capital of one of the three principates (Moldova) prior to 1859. At one time there were 157 synagogues, but now, only one is left and it barely gets a Minyan.
This city is also considered the birthplace of the Yiddish theater. A rustic Jewish tavern stood in the city center, facing Iasi's state theater, and in the late nineteenth century, the city's population was over a third Jewish. Today there are only a few hundred Jews. http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/mosteniri_ale_culturii_iudaice_03_11_09.html
Located in the Kovno Uyezd. In JewishGen's ShtetlSeeker, there are Yanovo's/Janowa's in Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Russia.
There are also many towns named Janow in Poland, including a Janow Podlaski and a Janow Lubelskie. There is even another Yonavo in Lithuania other than the one in Kovno Uyezd - today it is called Jokavai. Ada Green offered a listing of Jonava Societies and Associations associated with the JGSNY Cemetery Project in a message to the JewishGen Digest group
Lipkany - (Lipkani, Lipkamya, Lipcan)
A town located 128.8 miles N of Chisinau in Moldova. Once located in Romania, later Bessarabia, and eventually in Russia.
Located near Taraseni (Terescheniand was between Czernowitz and Sereth)
Oradea
Yizkor Book "A Tegnap Vaross; A Nagyvaradi Zsidosag Emiekkonyvelrve-etmol; Sefer Zikaron le-Yehudei Grosswardein)" (A City and Yesterday; Memorial Book to the Jews of Grosswardein) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html
Sometimes called just Piatra, had a population of 26,303 in 1948. It was in Bacau province and located on the Bistrita River, 175 miles north of Bucharest. It was noted for many different types of manufacturing and was a departure point to various historic monasteries.
Ploiesti (Polesti)
Prahova County. This is a city that is known for its oil refineries. It was bombed by the American Air force. To see which county your shtetl was in, check the searchable database at The Shtetls of Romania http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/regions.html
Located near the city of Iasi. A mass grave, containing the bodies of about 100 Jews killed during the Holocaust was discovered in a burial pit in a forest located about 350km (220 miles) north east of Bucharest. It is thought that the pit contains the remains of men, women and children shot in 1941 by troops of the pro-Nazi Romanian regime. Up to 380,000 Jews are believed to have killed in Romanian-controlled territory during WW II. This particular grave was found because of testimonies from local inhabitants who witnessed the kills. Adrian Cioflanca, a Romanian historian, is involved in the dig. It is the second Holocaust-era mass grave discovered in Romania since 1945.
Prahova County
Towns included are: Adunati, Azuga, Baba Ana, Baicoi, Balta Doamnei, Boldesti-Scaeni, Brazi, Breaza, Brebu, Busteni, Cheia, Caresu, Cheia, Cimpina, Comarnic, Cosminele, Dirvari, Draganesti, Dumbrava, Gherghita, Golgata, Gura Valdului, Intre Bisci, Izvoarele, Jugureni, Magurele, Maneciu, Manesti, Mizil, Ploesti, Plopeni, Plopu, Sinaia, Singeru, Slanic, Soimari, Starchiojd, Surani, Teisani, Urlati, Valea Calugareasca and Valea Doftanei
Raciunesti (Kretsnif, Kretsnif Bocicolo Mare (Romanian Byhkov) Maramures County
Cemetery Contact Leslie Gyi nee Feig who will provide you with instructions on how to view the site using a special password. The site is on the www.MyFamilyinc.com
The town is situated just south of Polish Galicia region of Stanislawow and Moldova (ex-Bessarabia) borders on the border Prut River and now the northeastern part of Romania. It was one of the easternmost towns in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Radauti is, in fact, Radauti-Bucovina of northern Romania according to Alex Finkelstein Alex.Finkelstein@mail.biu.ac.il
The territory used to be part of the Austrian Empire, but it was not in Galicia. For additional information about this region located in Bucovina,Click here
Database of more than 250 graduates from the years 1885 - 1896 of the Ober-Gymnasium (secondary school) in Radautz, Bukowina (now Radauti, Romania) http://mypage.bluewin.ch/bukowina/StudRad.html In addition to the year of birth, the profession and town of residence in 1897 is given for each graduate. Webmaster is Peter Elbau
Holocaust There is a memorial stone for the Jewish community of Radautz with a listing of about 500 names. The society in Israelwhich erected this stone in 1987, can (in many cases), put you in touch with relatives or friends who contributed the name to the project. The complete list of names from this stone, plus an additional group of about 300 names, is now posted on the Radauti ShtetLinks site and there is a Memorial of Radauti located in Holon, Israel, listing nearly 500 names and possible links to Israel citizens www.radauti/radautz.html
Records According to a knowledgeable source, there are no Bucovina records in the Romania Archives, but rather there are some in the Ukraine Archives. This statement was challenged by Bruce Reisch in an e-mail to me of 10/23/01 in which he states "In my experience, the records to be found in Romania are much more complete than those in the Chernivetskaya oblast.' 'The records for Radauti at both locations are amazingly complete.' 'Birth and death records are available post - 1857 but marriage records are much more spotty.'
Yizkor Book "Radautz in Geschichte Der Juden in Der Bukowina" (Radautz in History of Jews in Bucovina); "Mayne Kinder Yorn in Shotn Fun Hurbn" (My Childhood in the Shadow of the Holocaust) - http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html
Cemetery Remains of a Jewish cemetery has been acknowledged.
Roman
Roman is a mid-sized city, having the title of municipality, located in the central part of Moldavia, a traditional region of Romania. It is the Neamt County. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAJ0IGg9Y2k
Yizkor Book The book will be translated from the Romanian and placed on Yizkor book site on JewishGen. We are looking for a project coordinator and translators for this project. Contact me if you are interested in helping in this project. Bob Wascou ROM-SIG Research Coordinator robertw252@aol.com
Ruscova
Yizkor Book "Sefer le-Zikaron Kedoshei Ruskova ve-Sobias, Mehoz Marmarosh" (Memorial Book of the Martyrs of Ruskova and Sobias, Marmarosh District) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html
Sadgura
Now a suburb of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) in the Ukraine, Sadgura had been at one time, a small town with a population that was 80% Jewish. A great deal of information is available at this JewishGen website including photos and a trip report http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/regions.html
Memoirs on the Sadgura ShtetLinks web site recalling life in Sadgura (Bukovina) and Chotin(Ukraine) in the early 1900s. Jack (Yankel) Becker tells the story of his early years in this 1974 oral history - interview with his daughter, Elizabeth becker.html
Maramures County from Romania and Zakarpatia Region from Ukraine had a historically common development, before the establishing of a country border on the Tisa River, after the twentieth century's World Wars.
Storojinet
There is an excellent site for further information about this old Jewish village located near the Carpathian mountains. The site offers old pictures of the Rigler family and pictures of what the town looks like now
It is the NNE of today's Romania, about 25 miles from the Ukrainian border and about 40 miles from the Moldovan border. Suceava, the town, is the head of today's Suceava Judete (country) of Romania formerly the southern part of Bukovina. Bukovina was an independent Crownland in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Its northern part is the Chernivetskaya oblast, in today's Ukraine. It is 221.1 miles N of Bucharest. http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/suceava/suceava.htm
Records According to a knowledgeable source, there are no Bucovina recordsin the Romania Archives, but rather there are some in the Ukraine Archives. This statement was challenged by Bruce Reisch in an e-mail to me of 10/23/01 in which he states "In my experience, the records to be found in Romania are much more complete than those in the Chernivetskaya oblast.' 'All of the Suceava Judetel Jewish records prior to approx. 1890 are to be found in the regional archive in Suceava.' 'The post ca. 1890 records are in the local town halls.' For additional information about this region located in Bucowina, Click here
Formerly known as Maramoros Szighet. It was never a part of Galician territory, though its Hasidic leaders emigrated there from Galicia during the latter part of the 19th century. Along with them went many Galician followers.
The Jewish population today is 75. Before the war, there were over 15,000. Less than half survived the war and those that did either died off in the last 50 years, or they, or their descendants, move to either Israel, US or other parts of Europe. Eli Wiesel's home in the town is now a museum.
Books
The New York Public Library, Jewish Division, has microfilms of a Yiddish periodical published before WW II in Sighet: "Oyfgang" published between 1933 to 1936 in Yiddish. The Call no is *ZAN-*P721. Note that the asterisk in the Call No. is a significant character in the NYPL catalog system and predates the widespread use of the Dewey Decimal and US Library of Congress classification systems. http://thedagger.com/archive/romania/jews/
Cemetery
The Jewish cemetery is in decent shape and the full time caretaker lives across the street from the main gate and has the keys.
Records The City Hall has a very large collection of "Jewish Records" that go well back into the Austro-Hungarian empire days including Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death records and some real estate transactions. Other records may be found in the county seat in Baia Mare. Much of this information was obtained from a written memo to the Jewish Gen Group by Jack Schraeter Dd.H. E-mailschraeter@lakemed.cumberland.me.us
Synagogue There is one synagogue today, whereas before 1944, there were 16 temples and synagogues.
Located parallel with Dorohoiand on the Romanian/Moldavian border. This shtetl had few Jews.
Books
There is a monograph about Jewish life in Stefanesti called "Stefanesti: Portrait of a Romanian Shtetl" Authored by Ghitta Sternberg and published by Pergamon Press in 1984. http://www.idee.ro/jewish_heritage2/stefanesti.html
There were about 10,000 Jews before WW II.
The author Eli Wiesel attests that: “The Jews of Sziget didn't know what
awaited them, until the last minute… no one found it necessary to inform us
of this… a year after the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, we still did not know a
thing concerning the Nazi plan to exterminate European Jewry”. And even
if it registered on their consciousness in a vague way, it was quickly
erased by virtue of the well-known “Jewish optimism”. Therefore the
Jews preferred going together with their families and with “the community
of Israel”, and “What will happen to the people of Israel will also
happen to the individual named Israel”, as is so well-known and
familiar, and as many of us experienced ourselves, on our own “skin”.
http://www.bigmeathammer.com/aushwitz15.htm
Translated it means the land beyond the Nistru (Dnestr River), a province located in southwestern Ukraine and between the Dnestr and the southern Buh.
Before WWII, there were hundreds of shtetls, including Mogilev. Much of the area was in the old Podolia district, Luchynets, Yaltashkiv and Bar.
Holocaust Mogilev and Bar were larger cities and were the sites of mass killings by the Nazis and their Romanian allies.
Jews from both Bucovina and Bessarabia were forced across the Dnestr to Transnistria and then murdered. Referenced in "Atlas of the Holocaust" and authored by Sir Martin Gilbert, describes the horrible details of the murder of an estimated 300,000 Bucovina and Bessarabien Jews in Transnistria.
Transnistria Death List A link to a list of victims who died in Transnistria, Romania
Trappold - (German: Trappold; Hungarian: Apold; Official: Apold) 15 km south ofSighisoara
Located northeast of Satu Mare and very close to the Ukrainian border. When it was in the Tiszntuli district of Ugocsa county, it was known as Turterebes, Hungary.
Ugocsa County
A small county between Bereg and Maramarosand quite far from Arad county.
Ungersdorf - (German: Ungersdorf; Hungarian: Sajomagyaros; Official: Sieu Magherus)
Residents of Lower-Wisho, brought food
to the ghetto, their own and what was taken from the Jews, this despite the
beatings they received at the hands of the gendarmes for doing so.
http://www.bigmeathammer.com/aushwitz15.htm
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The average salary is $100 a month and 40 percent of the population lives on little more than one dollar a day.
Maps 
Bucharest Synagogue Photo
