This folder contains charts of the repatriated deportees (to Transnistria) who were living in a home in Bucharest (caminul repatriaților) in 1945. There are also handwritten charts listing the recipients of various aid from the Red Cross. These charts contain the name, former and present residence, in which ghetto the individual was interned, place from where they were deported, place and date of repatriation, the kind of assistance received (ie. rent, sewing machine, etc), and number of family members. There are also simpler charts recording the distribution of milk and soap.
This folder contains correspondence regarding missing persons sought after World War II. Most of the correspondence is from or to HIAS (Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society). A large number of the persons sought are from various towns in Bukovina, but there are also inquiries regarding individuals originally from Transylvania or elsewhere in Romania. In a few rare instances personal letters are included in the correspondence.
This folder contains two sets of charts. One set was created in Radăuți in December of 1945 and contains the names of individuals returned from the U.S.S.R. (ie. Transnistria) who received assistance from the Red Cross with the help of the Joint. The charts include names, birth place and date, gender, occupation, frontier entry point, and items received (garments) and the recipient's signature. The other set of documents is from Șimleul-Silvaniei, also dated 1945, and records names of those who returned from German concentration camps. Charts include names, name of the mother, place and date of birth, occupation, camp from which they returned, last place of residence prior to deportation, marriage status, and other comments (often tattoo number). These charts were created by the Jewish community of Șimleul-Silvaniei (technically here called Democratic Jewish Group - Gruparea Democratică a Evreilor).
This folder contains three documents regarding members of Zionist Youth organizations who were evacuated in Bukovina and required assistance. Individuals were from Vatra Dornei, Siret, Mihaileni and Campulung.
This folder contains two documents written by Bernard Kahana of Brașov in 1941. One is an introductory letter addressed to Fildermann, president of the Federation and with a signed note added (in Romanian) by Șafran, head rabbi at the time. The other is an extensive proposal by Kahana to establish a Jewish newspaper in Romania. It appears that Kahana owned a printing press or ran a newspaper which was shut down and seized in the wake of anti-Semitic laws and he is now proposing to found a paper which would be permitted under the new legal framework. The seven page, closely typed proposal is valuable as it sets out the situation at the time of Jews in Romania, the sudden importance of strong communal institutes, the changes wrought in Jewish consciousness since the start of the war and anti-Semitic legislation, and touches on many aspects of Jewish life, religious, secular, Zionist, etc. Everything is in German, indicating (presumably) Kahana's Transylvanian background and probably that he was not a fluent, or at least confident, Romanian speaker.
This folder contains a variety of documents to and from the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania and smaller community branches. Included are notes from Deva and paperwork regarding the firing or laying-off of Jewish workers from metal factories in Cugir and Copșa Mica. There is also an original letter (dated 19 August 1941) to a government minister from Filderman (president of the community) laying out details as to who has been deported or interned to date and from which localities as well as describing other injustices (mandatory wearing of Jewish "sign" in certain towns). The other documents refer to locations in the Regat.
This folder contains three documents related to anti-Semitic measures taken by the Romanian government in World War II. The letters are authored by Romanian governmental authorities (department for Romanianization and Ministry of Internal Affairs). One refers to the requirement to draw up lists of all properties owned by Jews in Timișoara and Arad. One refers to the imprisonment of Jewish leaders, both religious and communal and one refers to disputes in the small town of Beiuș (Bihor county) regarding Jews evacuated in the area and their housing.
This folder contains a collection of documents apparently put together by the Federation of Jewish communities. The documents testify to abuse of Jewish property or person in some way or record worrisome developments by the local police (creation of lists of men of males of working age). Included are documents from or about Radăuți, Suceava, Vama (Bukovina), and Făgăraș.
This folder contains a collection of documents apparently put together by the Federation of Jewish communities. All the documents testify to abuse of Jewish property or person in some way. Included is a testimony from Alba Iulia and a bill of sale (from a Jewish man to the Legionnaires) from Brașov.
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 a copy of the minutes of a meeting held in Vatra Dornei in 1937 by the leaders of various student Zionist organizations in Romania. It appears that these leaders had already formed a Federation of Zionist associations and that the topics discussed were in reference to changes made to the statutes of this Federation as well as other matters. Though there is little context to the document, nevertheless various insights come through such as tension between the Transylvanian representatives and the Bucharest representatives and relative success or popularity of various Zionist organizations in different regions of Romania. The names of the regional leaders are also provided.
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 three documents: two maps created by the statistics department of the Centrala Evreilor din România (Jewish Council of Romania) which depict Jewish population fluctuations between 1930 and 1942 in Romania as a whole and broken down by regions. The third document is one long sheet, folder so as to create 10 pages, with detailed statistical breakdowns of the Jewish population. The pages are numbered beginning with 65, so this "pamphlet" was apparently part of a larger work at some point in time. One section details Jewish intermarriages in Romania. The data states the ethnicity of the non-Jewish parent, broken down by county and sometimes city and the number of children resulting from mixed marriages (broken down also by ethnicity of the non-Jewish parent). Another section breaks down the Jewish population by sex and county/city and another by age and county/city. Graphs depict distribution by age and sex across the country. Bucharest's Jewish population is broken down separately. It is not clear who created these pages, whereas the maps state that they were created by the Centrala Evreilor din România.
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.
The Jewish Communities of Romania Collection (sometimes also described by the Romanian National Archives as the Documents Collection of the Jewish Communities of Romania) contains documents created and received by Jewish communities and organizations functioning in Romania from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century.
The documents until World War II are composed of a variety of items reflecting community life, including statutes, correspondence, reports, and membership lists. Documents from the World War II period generally address the plight of Romanian Jews during this period. This material includes reports on persecutions and expropriations, correspondence and other documents related to deportees, and emigration paperwork. The post-World War II material generally deals with the repatriation of Jewish deportees to the Romanian-organized camps in Transnistria, the welfare of survivors, emigration, and the activities of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania and of the Jewish Democratic Committee (communist Jewish organization). For the complete inventory list of the collection, please see this link (in Romanian only).
JBAT archivists surveyed folders containing material related specifically to Bukovina and Transylvania. For details on the contents of these folders, please see the list below and click on any link.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads: Jewish nationalist organizations: file on Goldfischer Emanoil.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads: Jewish nationalist organizations: reports, requests for investigation, notifications of assignment, reports, informative notifications, documents recording exchanges, status updates, personal identity documents, notes of the activities of some Jewish minorities from the region of Timișoara.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads: Reports, informative memos, declarations, plans for searching for information, history of the Jewish problem, informative summaries on the activities of the Jewish minority from the regions of Arad and Timișoara and the attitude of the Romanian and German population towards the Jewish community; situation of informants operating in 1953 dealing the problem of enemies amongst the Jewish national minority from the city of Arad. Please note that this folder appears to be miscatalogued, when requested a folder with Hungarian nationalist content was delivered.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads: Minutes of the meetings of the governing board of the Jewish community of Târnăveni; the budget of the same for 1945.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads (please note no specific towns are mentioned in this description): Telegrams and ordinances regarding the evacuation of citizens of Jewish ethnicity and the punishment of those who rob or kill them; the context of the events taking place at Iași; documents regarding the Romanianization of some firms in the county of Târnava Mică.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads: Nationalist organizations. Reports, memos, ordinances, charts, summaries, documents on the atmosphere of the Jewish minority in the region of Cluj and activities of Zionist groups and their leaders in the region.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads: German parties and organizations - German-Saxon ethnic group deported to the U.S.S.R. Chart with Jews who requested to emigrate to Israel. Informational reports and summaries.
Please note JBAT archivists did not survey this material directly. The folder description provided by the CNSAS inventory reads: community statistics, reports from the Făgăraș office of the Jewish Council of Romania (Centrala Evreilor din România), charts of the Jewish community, Joint assistance, repatriates.
The collection includes the paperwork and material collected by the Timiș county Securitate (Romanian Communist Secret Police) offices under communism. The material includes select folders from the pre-communist period; these folders were presumably in the possession of the police and seized by the Securitate at some point in time. At the time of the JBAT survey (2015), the inventory for this collection was accessible only at the physical location of the CNSAS and only in digital form on the computers of the CNSAS reading room. The inventory provided no indication as to the linear extent of the collection and gave no additional details as to its history, content, or the number of pages in individual folders. The collection is large, over 1,000 files, and as such there are many hundreds of folders which are obliquely titled and may contain reference to Jewish residents, for example folders titled as dealing with religious issues or the nationality of residents or folders regarding the monitoring of individuals with relatives in foreign countries, of tourists in the region or of Romanians with ties to foreigners. Other folders contain information on former estate holders or industrialists It was beyond the scope of the present survey to inspect the contents of all such folders. There are, however, a number of folders with titles specifically referencing the Jewish content. Most of these contain material reporting on the activities of the Jewish community and individuals therein. For details on these folders and others with material clearly related to the Jewish population, please click on the link(s) below.
The collection includes the paperwork and material collected by the Suceava county Securitate (Romanian Communist Secret Police) offices under communism. The material includes select folders from the pre-communist period; these folders were presumably in the possession of the police and seized by the Securitate at some point in time. At the time of the JBAT survey (2015), the inventory for this collection was accesible only at the physical location of the CNSAS and only in digital form on the computers of the CNSAS reading room. The inventory provided no indication as to the linear extent of the collection and gave no additional details as to its history, content, or the number of pages in individual folders. The collection is large, over 1,000 files, and as such there are many hundreds of folders which are obliquely titled and may contain reference to Jewish residents, for example folders titled as dealing with religious issues or the nationality of residents or folders regarding the monitoring of individuals with relatives in the United States, of tourists in the region or of Romanians with ties to foreigners. It was beyond the scope of the present survey to inspect the contents of all such folders. There are, however, a number of folders with titles specifically referencing the Jewish content. Several of these contain material related to specific Jewish communities; others regard surveillance carried out in Jewish communities or on persons hoping to emigrate. For details on these folders and others with material clearly related to the Jewish population, please click on the link(s) below.
The collection includes the paperwork and material collected by the Mureș county Securitate (Romanian Communist Secret Police) offices under communism. The material includes select folders from the pre-communist period; these folders were presumably in the possession of the police and seized by the Securitate at some point in time. At the time of the JBAT survey (2015), the inventory for this collection was accessible only at the physical location of the CNSAS and only in digital form on the computers of the CNSAS reading room. The inventory provided no indication as to the linear extent of the collection and gave no additional details as to its history, content, or the number of pages in individual folders. The collection is large, over 1,000 files, and as such there are many hundreds of folders which are obliquely titled and may contain reference to Jewish residents. It was beyond the scope of the present survey to inspect the contents of all such folders. There are, however, a number of folders with titles specifically referencing the Jewish content. Several of these contain material from World War II and others contain histories of the local Jewish communities. For details on folders mentioned above and others with material clearly related to the Jewish population, please click on the link(s) below.
The collection includes the paperwork and material collected by the Cluj county Securitate (Romanian Communist Secret Police) offices under communism. The material includes select folders from the pre-communist period; these folders were presumably in the possession of the police and seized by the Securitate at some point in time. There are many folders which are obliquely titled or which may contain material related to Jewish individuals, for example, folders on emigrants, but the titles do not specify this. It was beyond the scope of the present survey to inspect the contents of all such folders. At the time of the JBAT survey (2015), the inventory for this collection was accesible only at the physical location of the CNSAS and only in digital form on the computers of the CNSAS reading room. The inventory provided no indication as to the linear extent of the collection and gave no additional details as to its history, content, or the number of pages in individual folders. For details on folders titled as specifically containing material related to the Jewish population, please click on the link(s) below.
The collection includes the paperwork and material collected by the Brașov county Securitate (Romanian Communist Secret Police) offices under communism. The material includes select folders from the pre-communist period; these folders were presumably in the possession of the police and seized by the Securitate at some point in time. There are many hundreds of folders which are obliquely titled or refer to a place or general content related to "minorities" or "religion" but give no indication as to the details of the contents. At the time of the JBAT survey (2015), the inventory for this collection was accesible only at the physical location of the CNSAS and only in digital form on the computers of the CNSAS reading room. The inventory provided no indication as to the linear extent of the collection and gave no additional details as to its history, content, or the number of pages in individual folders. For details on folders titled as specifically containing material related to the Jewish population, please click on the link(s) below.
The collection includes the paperwork and material collected by the Alba county Securitate (Romanian Communist Secret Police) offices under communism. The material includes select folders from the pre-communist period; these folders were presumably in the possession of the police and seized by the Securitate at some point in time. Unlike most county collections, there are very few folder titles which explicitly mention Jewish matters. There are many hundreds of folders which are obliquely titled or refer to a place (ie. Valea Lunga, etc) but give no indication as to the details of the contents. At the time of the JBAT survey (2015), the inventory for this collection was accessible only at the physical location of the CNSAS and only in digital form on the computers of the CNSAS reading room. The inventory provided no indication as to the linear extent of the collection and gave no additional details as to its history or content. For details on folders titled as specifically containing material related to the Jewish population, please click on the link(s) below.
The headings and entries in this register book are in Hungarian, sometimes supplemental information regarding the individual's death is in Romanian. Information recorded includes name of child, names of parents, residence, date of birth, sex, legitimate or illigitimate, midwife name, mohel name and date of circumcision or name-giving (in the case of a girl), names of witnesses or godparents. Sometimes date and circumstances of death, marriage, or name change are also included. Entries are not always comprehensive. Due to state archival regulations, later birth entries may not be accessed. At the time of this survey, births until 1912 were accessible. The register itself apparently records births until 1950 (could not be verified). This book was created by Brasov's Neologue (reform) community. Please also see the birth book for the Ortodox Community.
The headings in this register book are in Hungarian, entries are initially in German and later in Hungarian. Information recorded includes name of child, names of parents, residence, date of birth, sex, legitimate or illigitimate, midwife name, mohel name and date of circumcision or name-giving (in the case of a girl), names of witnesses or godparents. Sometimes date and circumstances of death are also included. At the end of the register book are loose leaves including individual birth certificates and other related material. There is also a typed letter (in German) from the Constanta Jewish Community thanking the Brasov Orthodox Community for its donation in support of refugees (date 1941). Due to state archival regulations, later birth entries may not be accessed. At the time of this survey, births until 1913 were accessible. The register itself apparently records births until 1939 (could not be verified); the loose leaves of paper date into the 1940s.
The headings in this book are in German, entries are generally also made in German, but the "comments" or "death" notes are sometimes in Hungarian or Romanian (added decades after original entry). Information recorded includes name of child, names of parents, residence, date of birth, sex, legitimate or illigitimate, midwife name, mohel name and date of circumcision or name-giving (in the case of a girl), names of witnesses or godparents. Sometimes date and circumstances of death are also included. The register is for the Orthodox Jewish Community. Interestingly, about one third of the births are to village families, appearing to indicate that the village Jews were more inclined to Orthodoxy than their urban coreligionists. At the end of the book are several loose sheets including death certificates and a certificate of conversion (to Roman Catholicism) made in 1944 in Oradea (northern Translyvania). The register itself contains entries until 1885; the loose sheets are from the 1940s.
This register records deaths for the Neologue Jewish community of Brasov. The Jewish community split into Orthodox and Neologue factions in the late 1870s. The register records date of death, name and occupation of deceased, gender, marital status, age, parents' names, name of marriage partner still living, circumstances of death (place, cause) place and date of burial. At the time of survey (2014), only records dating to 1937 were accessible to the public due to Romanian archival regulations.
This register records deaths for the Orthodox Jewish community of Brasov. The Jewish community split into Orthodox and Neologue factions in the late 1870s. The register records date of death, name and occupation of deceased, gender, marital status, age, parents' names, name of marriage partner still living, circumstances of death (place, cause) place and date of burial. At the time of survey (2014), only records dating to 1937 were accessible to the public due to Romanian archival regulations.
This register records marriage from the Neologue Jewish community of Brasov. At the time of survey (2014), only records dating to 1937 were accessible to the public due to Romanian archival regulations. Entries are fairly complete until 1896, after which just the names and residence of bride and groom are entered plus date and place of the wedding. Prior to 1896 entries contained data as typical for earlier record books including data regarding the parents of the couple, birthplace, occupation, witnesses, official, etc. Until about 1920, all entries are recorded in Hungarian, after which they are in Romanian with parent names recorded in Hebrew below the name of the bride and grooom. Around this time entries again become more complete.
This register appears to be from the Orthodox Jewish community of Brasov. The entries were not comprehensively made, only some of the information is completed. All contents except the first page is in Hungarian. For marriage records for the Neologue community, see marriage record book with code 1-161.
This is the collection of records of birth, marriage, and death, usually in the form of register books kept by religious and municipal officials. The collection is arranged alphabetically by the name of the locality, and then, if applicable, subdivided by religious denomination. In the case of larger municipalities, relevant records may have been kept by both the local the Jewish community and the municipality.
This file contains various announcements, requests, and correspondence, the bulk of which pertains to rentals and auctions of market stalls. Many Jewish names appear, and notably many of the market stalls being auctioned off appear to have been owned by Jews.
This file contains various civic ordinances, documents and correspondence, many of which pertain to the manufacture and distribution of flour and the issuance of certificates pertaining to Romanian citizenship. The latter category includes both requests for proof of Romanian citizenship and renunciations of citizenship, especially in cases of emigration. Many of those making these requests are Jewish. Finally, of especial note is a group of documents scattered throughout the folder, but especially in the final 20 pages, which relate to requests made by Jewish businessmen and tradesmen for reductions or exemptions from various taxes and fees since they are no longer permitted to work. Although it does not specifically mention Jews, a request from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bucharest, signed by a Legionary Commander, encourages the increase of “ethnic Romanian element” in certain branches, either through the “creation of new enterprises” or through the “replacement of minorities” (sheet 155). Elsewhere, sheet 39 refers to Jewish property sold to non-Jews during the period before the state seizure of Jewish property. Several documents, such as sheet 73, refer to rental agreements for market stalls, wherein a Jewish tenant's stall is often rented to a new tenant after the expiration of the lease, which in almost all cases appears to be December 31, 1940.
This file contains various documents and correspondence pertaining to the citizenship of, by and large, the Jewish residents of Rădăuți or of those born in Rădăuți. Typically, the documents consist of a request to correct an omission of the resident's name in the register of nationalities, and thereby to acquire Romanian citizenship. In some cases, individuals born in Rădăuți but living elsewhere, often in Germany, seek to confirm and officially acquire Romanian citizenship, but the majority of applicants appear to be individuals still living in Rădăuți or elsewhere in Romania. These papers may be related to legislation passed in 1938 revoking or calling into question Romanian citizenship of Jews. Various other types of documents are scattered among these papers, including a large group of papers pertaining to taxes on cinemas; these usually include a list of the films they were showing.
This file contains a list of organizations in Rădăuți, nearly half of which relate to Jewish affairs or the Jewish community. Among other things, the register lists the name of the organization, the mission of the organization, date of founding, name of the president, and short description of the organization's holdings.
This collection contains a wide variety of papers created by the Town Hall of Radăuți during the Austro-Hungarian period until the early community period. The material covers all areas of town administration from elections to property administration to overseeing of professional organizations and so forth. Material specifically related to the Jewish population includes information on cultural and professional organizations (many Jewish), files related to the deportation of Jews (euphemistically called "evacuation") and handling of the remaining property, bids for market stalls (many of which were made by Jews), various files on impoverished survivors of Transnistria requesting welfare or proof of citizenship. For details on these files, please click on any link below.