The books that form the Mediaș library were found in the Mediaș synagogue and Jewish community offices. The majority of the German and Hungarian-language volumes were catalogued by local high school students in the course of a project in 2016-2017. The volumes appear to be a mixture of private and communally-owned books. Though they are mostly religious books including siddurim and Jewish religious texts, some secular volumes were also found. In cases where owner information was inscribed or stamped in the book, a note was made in the catalogue record and, in general, a photo of the personal inscription was made. Please click on the individual titles below for more information.
Please note that this collection is being constantly updated. Please check back regularly for new additions.
This book records marriages that took place within families in and around the town of Lugoj from 1852-1885. Note that some of the weddings themselves took place in locations other than Lugoj. Entries record the names, age, marital status (widow, etc), and residence of the bride and groom; their parents' place of residence; and date, place, and officiant of the wedding. The book is printed and recorded in German. Unusually, the book also contains numerous records of divorces.
This collection consists exclusively of immatriculation logs from the years 1927-1939. The inventory created by the National Archives provides no information regarding the history of the school or whether it functioned before and after the dates contained. Such registration books generally contain significant biographical information on the pupils including parent names and occupations; mother tongue; residence address; birth date and place; and so forth.
This collection consists exclusively of immatriculation logs and class register books from the years 1927-1948. It appears the school was founded in 1927 with one class as each subsequent year the registers increase by one grade level. It was a four-grade school until 1940 after which it expanded to eight grades during the war period. The inventory created by the National Archives provides no information regarding the history of the school or the papers; presumably the school closed down in 1947 in the wake of education reform legislation.
This collection represents a fairly complete set of documents created by the one of the Jewish boys lycees of Timișoara. The collection contains comprehensive immatriculation and grade registers as well as a wide range of administrative material. This includes miscellaneous correspondence with authorities; teaching staff papers; logs of incoming and outgoing correspondence; exams; and graduation certificates. The material is uninterrupted from 1922 through to the schools presumable closure in 1947 in the wake of an education reform. As such it represents a unique perspective on Jewish education and identity in the Banat from the immediate post-WWI period throughout the interwar years and World War II. Unfortunately the inventory created by the National Archives provides no details on the school's background, for example whether it existed prior to 1919 and its relation to the other Jewish schools in Timișoara.
This collection represents a remarkably complete set of documents created by the one of the Jewish boys lycees of Timișoara. Unfortunately the current inventory created by the National Archives appears to be in need of revision as numerous items are crossed out or marked with the note "see nr. XYZ" and as such it is difficult to get a clear overview of the full contents of the collection. Nevertheless, the collection appears to contain comprehensive immatriculation and grade registers as well as a wide range of administrative material. This includes correspondence with authorities; teaching staff papers; logs of incoming and outgoing correspondence; minutes of staff meetings; exams; and graduation certificates. Included in the folders of correspondence is material specifically related to the association of Jewish teachers of the Banat and Transylvania and correspondence from the union of Jewish communities [of Transylvania and the Banat?]. There is also a folder related to passive defense dated to World War II. The material is uninterrupted from 1919 through to the schools presumable closure in 1948 in the wake of an education reform. As such it represents a unique perspective on Jewish education and identity in the Banat from the immediate post-WWI period throughout the interwar years and World War II. Unfortunately the inventory created by the National Archives provides no details on the school's background, for example whether it existed prior to 1919 and its relation to the other Jewish schools in Timișoara.
This collection represents a remarkably complete set of documents created by the Jewish girls lycee of Timișoara. The collection contains comprehensive immatriculation and grade registers as well as a wide range of administrative material. This includes correspondence with authorities; a log of school inspections (1923-1943); teaching staff biographies and papers; logs of incoming and outgoing correspondence; teaching curriculum; statistical information; minutes of staff meetings; and graduation certificates. The material is uninterrupted from the 1920s through to the schools presumable closure in 1947 in the wake of an education reform. As such it represents a unique perspective on Jewish education and identity in the Banat from the immediate post-WWI period throughout the interwar years and World War II. Unfortunately the inventory created by the National Archives provides no details on the school's background, for example whether it existed prior to 1923, and its relation to the other Jewish schools in Timișoara.
This collection contains numerous statutes from a wide array of organizations and establishments in the county of Timiș. Of interest to those researching Jewish history are folders five and six. Folder five contains, in addition to other statutes, the statutes of the Jewish Women's Charity Society of Caransebeș (Reuniunea de binefacere a femeilor evreești din Caransebeș). These specific statutes were approved in 1931; the society was founded in 1884. The statutes are nine pages long and typed in Romanian. Folder six contains the statutes for two organizations: The Chevra Kadisha society of Reșița (copy of statutes from 1916) and the Chevra Kadisha society of Caransebeș (copy of statutes from 1928). Both are typed and in Romanian.
This collection contains one item, a book maintained by the Lugos Jewish community from 1855-1939, though it was only used sporadically in the 20th century. Please note the book is catalogued by the National Archives as dating only from 1855-1856. The book appears to have been used to record membership details and other information regarding civil records and relationships within the community. Beginning from left to right, the book was used as a ledger of member information. Members are recorded, organized by family; information includes names and birth dates and date of entry as member of the community. The first entries are from 1855 and reach into the 1880s but by this time it appears to have devolved into a record of births and deaths information. There are also random notes regarding marriage testimonies and Hebrew name equivalents for secular names. Reading from right to left, the book includes a dedication from the community board (in German) which is followed by a three-page text in Yiddish. The Yiddish handwriting is legible but not excellent.
This collection contains minutes of meetings, reports, correspondence, speeches, members' biographies and other memos written by or about or sent to the Jewish Democratic Committee of Timișoara and/or Lugoj. There are also documents from Zionist organizations not necessarily related to the committee but related to Jewish life in general. The committee had a wide range of responsibilities, surpassing basic political tasks. There are a total of 26 folders each containing many hundreds of documents. The collection may be of interest to those studying Jewish life in the immediate post-war period and especially those looking at questions of identity.
This register contains entries for births, deaths, and marriages recorded in a variety of manners. It seems that the book is a compilation of several documents which were at one time separately maintained. The first nine pages contain birth records, sometimes organized by family, sometimes chronologically, with several pages blank or with only one entry; many entries lack complete data. The earliest birth recorded is 1849 though this and other births from the 1850s and 1860s were almost definitely recorded several decades later. The last birth recorded is from 1895. There is one page of deaths listing five entries from 1871-1894; the entries generally lack complete data. Then follows a page of wedding records, but written across a birth-records rubrik. These weddings took place in 1892. Then follows two pages of text in Hungarian recording divorce proceedings held before a rabbinical court. Such records of community life and relations are extremely rare. Finally there is one sheet, recorded front and back, of marriages dating 1868-1895. The book is in Hungarian with German and Hungarian printed titles. Most events took place in Ocna Mureș (Marosujvár/Maros Ujvár) or nearby villages.
This collection contains immatriculation registers and grade catalogues for the Aiud Jewish Elementary School. The material is fairly comprehensive from 1921-1936. Such registration catalogues and immatriculation books generally contain biographical data such as birth place and date, parental information including father's occupation, previous schools attended, place of residency and so forth. Please note that JBAT archivists did not survey these registers directly. The languages listed are languages customarily found in such records during this time period and this region.
The collection contains two sets of registers. The first set is the student catalogue books recording biographical details and grades for the years 1913-1924 (with gaps, registers for the following years exist: 1913-1914; 1916-1917; 1920-1921; 1922-1923; 1923-1924). The second set is immatriculation registers for the following years: 1898-1899; 1899-1900; 1909-1910; 1909-1911 [sic]; 1911-1912. Such registration catalogues and immatriculation books generally contain biographical data such as birth place and date, parental information including father's occupation, previous schools attended, place of residency and so forth. Please note that JBAT archivists did not survey these registers directly. The languages listed are languages customarily found in such records during this time period and this region.
This collection is described in two inventories. The first, inventory 710, contains only seven items, all but one from the communist period. The contents relate primarily to employees of the finance administration. The second inventory, 920, contains many thousands of folders of records of payment and tax calculations for private and public organizations and individuals. The inventory is arranged alphabetically; private individuals (firm owners) and organizations (for example, schools) are listed all together. There are many Jewish names in the inventory and also a number of Jewish or Jewish-related organizations, including: Jewish Council of Romania (Centrala Evreilor din Romania) (Alba Iulia); Beit Izrael Synagogue Council (Comitetul Sinagogei "Beit Izrael") (Alba Iulia); administration of goods expropriated from the Jews (administrația bunurilor expropriate de la evrei) (Aiud); Jewish communities of Aiud, Alba Iulia, Ocna Mureș, Teiuș; Talmud Torah Jewish religious school (școala de religie evreiasca, Talmud Torah) (Alba Iulia). The contents of these folders, however, contain only brief records of salary payments and tax calculations. They may be of interest for researching the employees of the various communities but otherwise there is very little data contained in the forms. Perhaps of equal interest is that each form is stamped with the official stamp of the respective organization and these stamps, for the most part, are today lost. Please note that the collection is catalogued by the National Archives as spanning the years 1908-1950, but the earliest date found in the inventories was 1928 and the vast majority of the folders are from 1938-1950.
This collection consists of one item: a book recording Jewish families residing in the two districts of Balázsfalva (Blaj, Blasendorf) and Magyar Bénye/Magyarbénye (Biia) in the second half of the 19th century. It is not clear how the book came to be catalogued under the title of Valea Lungă district, though one of the pages is stamped with the Israelite registration office of Valea Lungă. The stamp is, however, in Romanian, so from a much later point in time than when the contents was recorded. It is also not clear who recorded the contents or for whom the contents was intended. Each page records one family: the title of each page is the father's name and village of residence. Below this are listed the names of other family members and their relation; date of birth and, if applicable, marriage; place of birth; occupation and other comments (sometimes date of death). All contents is in German with the exception of some, but not all, place names which are recorded using their Hungarian designation. There is an index at the end by name and place of residence and one loose sheet from Valea Lungă attached dated 1904. There is otherwise no indication of when exactly the book was started or ended and by whom it was kept. The birth dates more or less span the entire 19th century, with the bulk of births occurring between the 1840s-1880s.
This folder contains documents related to various Zionist organizations within Transylvania, primarily in Timisoara and Cluj. Most of the material is in German and Hungarian. The contents include correspondence with central offices in Bucharest, newsletters, reports, minutes of meetings, speeches, and so forth.
This folder contains a wide variety of documents, primarily related to Zionist organizations within Romania. Many but not all papers appear to be from or to Transylvanian Zionist organizations but there are also many documents from international branches. There are also several private pieces of correspondence. The material is primarily in Hungarian and German, with some Yiddish, Hebrew, English, French, and Romanian material as well. There are several reports on activities and events in Israel, these are mostly in German, some in English.
This folder contains a variety of documents mostly related to Zionist organizations within Transylvania but also to other Jewish organizations within Romania. The material consists of reports, newsletters, and some correspondence.
This folder contains a variety of documents created by various Zionist organizations, apparently all based in Transylvania. There are newsletters and correspondence between offices. Most of the material is in Hungarian and Yiddish.
This folder contains a detailed report from the Jewish Democratic Committees of Mediaș regarding upcoming elections and activitities to prepare for the same.
This folder contains reports from numerous Jewish Democratic Committees across the country regarding elections, activities, and other matters. Cities in Transylvania include Sibiu and Timișoara. Reports from Constanța mention cultural work done by and for the Bukovina Jews returned from Transnistria (now in Constanța).
This folder contains a report from the Jewish Democratic Committee representatives in Cluj to the headquarters in Bucharest. It deals mainly with staff and activities. There are also several pages reporting on the activities carried out in other northern Transylvanian towns. Some of the reports include the speaker, topic, language in which the speech was given (generally Hungarian or Yiddish), audience number in attendence, etc.
This folder contains a report from the Jewish Democratic Committee representatives in Carei to the headquarters in Bucharest. It deals mainly with staff and activities.
This folder contains a report from the Jewish Democratic Committee representatives in Baia-Mare to the headquarters in Bucharest. It deals mainly with staff and activities. The folder also contains a note from the Galati community.
This folder contains reports on the activities related to elections from the Jewish Democratic Committee in the county of Arad. There is also anti-Semitic propaganda material in French.
This folder contains a report from the Jewish Democratic Committee representatives in Radăuți to the headquarters in Bucharest. It deals mainly with staff, activities, youth work, schedules and reports.
This folder contains correspondence and newsletters to and from Zionist organizations from numerous towns throughout Transylvania. The material is exclusively in Hungarian.
This folder contains a variety of documents related to Zionist organizations in Transylvania. Some of the material is also related to missing persons, sought through the Zionist organizations.
This folder contains a collection of documents apparently put together by the Federation of Jewish communities for submission to government authorities in order to illustrate the difficulties facing Jewish communities across the country. Included are two pages regarding Jewish property in Suceava which were seized by the various military and administrative authorities. The other documents generally refer to Jewish loss of citizenship rights and internment or forced labor of rabbis and other community leaders (not specific to Transylvania or Bukovina).
This folder contains statutes (a copy of the original) of the Sephardic community of Timișoara. Like other statutes, the contents generally regulate community life including membership, dues, elections, staff responsibilities, and so forth. Unique to these Sephardic statutes however, as opposed to the statutes of other communities, are the exclusatory clauses regarding membership (only Sephardic Jews or those married to Sepharic Jews may be members) and the strict tone absolutely forbidding the introduction of any changes whatsoever to the Sephardic rites and customs.
This folder contains the statutes of the Neologue community of Lugoj. The document appears to be a copy of the original; it is not clear when the copy was created. The statutes include all customary regulations of community life including member qualifications, dues, election regulations, staff responsibilities and so forth.
This folder contains pages from the statutes of the Jewish community of Făgăraș. The last pages are missing and as such it is impossible to date the statutes exactly, though they state that they are in accordance with laws passed in 1929, so they were made sometime after that date. The statutes do not explicitly state that the community is Orthodox or Neologue, but instead say it is an "autonomous congressional community based on the Shulchan Aruch" - this is generally the formulation used by Orthodox communities in their statutes. The statutes include all customary regulations of community life including member qualifications, dues, election regulations, staff responsibilities and so forth.
This document is an exact copy of the statutes in folder 1/1936 of the Jewish Communities of Romania collection. Please see that entry for a description.
This document is a copy of the original, which was dated 1936 (created) and 1937 (approved by government authorities). This copy (possibly a translation from Hungarian, though unlikely since the official language of the community is stated to be Romanian) was presumably created during World War II: the final page is stamped by the Office of Evacueated Jewish Communities in Timisoara and signed off as conforming [to the original]. Please note that this is a carbon copy of the document in folder 4/1937 of this same collection. It is not clear why the same document was processed twice under two different dates; they were clearly created at the same time with the same typewriter. The statutes include all customary regulations of community life including member qualifications, dues, election regulations, staff responsibilities and so forth.
Ths folder contains a copy (perhaps a translation) of the original statutes, dated 1929, for the "Western Rite" (ie. Neologue) community of Sânnicolaul-Mare. The last page of the document is stamped by the "Office of Evacuated Jewish Communities in Timisoara" and signed off as "conforming [to the original]" so it seems likely the document is a World War II translation of the original Hungarian statutes. There is no indication as to where those original statutes are, however, or the date of this translation. The original was written in 1929 and approved by the governmental authorities in 1933. The statutes include all customary regulations of community life including member qualifications, dues, election regulations, staff responsibilities and so forth. These statutes explicitly state that the community is a member of the Union of Jewish Communities of Transylvania and Banat (Unirea Comunităților evreești din Ardeal și Banat) and are approved by the Union of Western Rite Jewish Communities of Transylvania and Banat (Uniunea Comunităților Evreești de rit occidental din Ardeal și Banat). Most likely the same union was meant and the discrepancy in name is a translation error. The statutes appear to indicate that the respective Neologue community was the only community in Sânnicolaul-Mare. Conditions are included within the statutes that would allow a sub-community, of a different rite, to open a prayer house. Please also see copies of later statutes from the Sânnicolaul-Mare Orthodox community, founded in 1936. This document is also part of the main Jewish Communities of Romania collection.
This folder contains several pieces of miscellaneous correspondence related to several Makkabi (also spelled Macabi, today Maccabi) sports club branches in Romania. It is not clear what the connection is between the letters or how they ended up together and in this archival collection. In addition to reports from Romanian-based branches, there is a list of donations/dues (unclear) from Czech-based branches. On the verso is a fragment of a letter in German regarding Romanian-based Zionist work; the letter appears to refer to Zionist activities and not Makkabi events. Other letters include one from the Tel-Aviv Makkabi branch to Bucharest representatives (Dr. Weinberg). There is also a report, in German, addressed to the leadership of the Makkabi World Union (Weltverband) at the congress in Prague (1933) regarding activities in Romania; the report was written in Iași. There are several memos from and to the Chișinau branch (in Romanian and Hebrew) as well as to branches in Galați and Cernăuți (Chernivtsi/Czernowitz). These are written in Romania and are all from the same man, Hazack Weematz (also spelled Hazac Veemaț), apparently president of the Romanian Makkabi executive board.