Download Finding Aid: English Romanian

Title:

Caransebeș Jewish Community Collection

Description:

The documents in this collection are a relatively sparse representation of Caransebeș Jewish community life in the late 19th and 20th century. There is no indication as to why these documents survived and others did not nor whether there may be another deposit of community paperwork (more likely it seems material was destroyed or thrown away). Nevertheless, the collection contains several unique items of interest including multiple folders from the interwar rabbinate’s correspondence with information regarding birth, death, and marriage certificates or other related confirmations of civil status or Jewish background (including education certificates). There is a parchment in poor condition, only partially legible, which appears to be related to the construction of the synagogue. There are several volumes of minutes of meetings from various organizations within the community and the 1931 statutes from the women’s charity organization. Most of the pre-World War II documents are in German, some are also in Hungarian. Beginning around the war-time period Romanian becomes more common. There are numerous folders of correspondence from the early post-war period between other Jewish communities within Romania; this material may be especially interesting for scholars researching the reestablishment of Jewish institutes in the post-war era and issues of identity or affiliation during the first decade after the war, during the period that saw the establishment of the communist state but also the founding of the State of Israel. Please see the Series descriptions for more details on contents.

Creator:

Caransebeș Jewish Community

Date:

1888-1970

Extent:

Two meters

Language:

German; Hungarian; Hebrew, Romanian

Provenance:

The documents within this collection were stored in a large cabinet in the entry hall of the Caransebeș synagogue. As of December 2018, they may still be found there but are now organized in the following manner and have been put into labelled archival boxes and folders for safer storage.

Call Number:

Caransebeș Jewish Community Collection; Caransebeș Jewish Community; box [xx]; folder [xx] (please see container list below for individual folder call numbers)

Bibliographic Citation:

Caransebeș Jewish Community Collection; Caransebeș Jewish Community box [xx]; folder [xx] (please see container list below for individual folder call numbers)

Repository:

Caransebeș Jewish Community; Strada Orșovei 2B; 325400 Caransebeș România; https://www.facebook.com/sinagogacaransebes/; tel. 0040 (0)256 351 802 (Lugoj)

Processed By:

Julie Dawson and Alexandra Toma

Container List:

Language: Romanian; German; Hungarian; Hebrew
Extent: four boxes (circa one meter)
Arrangement: By size and genre, to an extent (small series)
Scope and Content: This series contains registers belonging to the Jewish community of Caransebeș. Included here are several which record minutes of board or council meetings as well as many with information, including of genealogical interest, regarding members. There are also several registers of a purely administrative nature, recording income and expenditures or recording incoming correspondence. The registers are stored in the boxes as numbered within this finding aid in a large wardrobe in the entry hall of the synagogue (status 2018).
Box Folder Title (English translation) Language Date
R-1 Minutes of Chevra Kadisha meetings German; Romanian 1932-1948
R-1 Wreath donations made to Caransebeș Chevra Kadisha German 1899-1970
R-1 Minutes of Caransebeș Jewish community board meetings Romanian 1950-1951
R-1 Register of incoming correspondence for Jewish Democratic Council (Caransebeș branch) Romanian 1947-1951
R-2 Register of deaths Hungarian; Romanian 1888-1948
R-2 Jewish community member registration sheets: volume I Romanian 1941
R-2 Jewish community member registration sheets: volume II Romanian 1941
R-3 Register of budget and other administrative matters Romanian 1937-1950
R-3 Register of Jewish community member fees and dues Romanian 1946-1948
R-3 Register of Jewish community member fees and dues Romanian 1948-1950
R-3 Income and expenditures register Romanian 1950
R-3 Income and expenditures register Romanian 1945-1948
R-3 Income and expenditures register Romanian 1943-1950
R-4 Fragments of Megillah Hebrew date unknown
R-4 Dedication parchment related to the construction of the synagogue Hebrew 1897 (?)
R-4 Shofar (decayed) and tefillin date unknown
Language: Romanian; German; Hungarian; Hebrew
Extent: Five boxes (circa one meter)
Arrangement: The documents are arranged for the most part chronologically and by genre. Several miscellaneous and undated ephemera are located at the end of the series.
Scope and Content: This series contains correspondence and other administrative paperwork created by the Caransebeș Neologue Jewish community, primarily dating to the interwar, war-time, and early post-war period. Folders 5, 6, and 7 in Box 1 contain numerous pages of correspondence regarding birth, marriage, and death certificate requests directed to the office of the rabbinate. These may be interesting for genealogists or those researching Jewish life and identity in the period immediately preceding World War II and immediately thereafter. The folders containing correspondence from the immediate post-war period may be of great use to researchers interested in Jewish identity in the years between the end of World War II and the establishment of the communist state. There is significant correspondence between Jewish communities throughout Romania, especially the Banat and Transylvania. Similarly, the folders with correspondence or other administrative papers from the 1950s and '60s can shed light on the new conditions in which Jewish communities found themselves as they were confronted with the mass migration of their members. The Maskir book in Box 5, folder 4 is a simple notebook with a list of names, there is no indication for what purpose this book was used but it may be a list of family of community members who perished in the Holocaust.
Box Folder Title (English translation) Language Date
1 1 Statutes: Caransebeș Jewish Women's Charity Organization (founded 1884) Romanian 1931
1 2 Notes and lists of synagogue seats German 1944-1948
1 3 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1928-1937 Romanian 1928-1937
1 4 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1943-1945 Romanian 1943-1945
1 5 Correspondence and declarations from the Caransebeș Rabbinate's office: 1936-1940 Hungarian; Romanian; German; Hebrew 1936-1940
1 6 Correspondence and declarations from the Caransebeș Rabbinate's office: 1940-1946 Hungarian; Romanian; German; Hebrew 1940-1946
1 7 Correspondence and declarations from the Caransebeș Rabbinate's office: 1943-1945 Hungarian; Romanian; German; Hebrew 1943-1945
2 1 Miscellaneous administrative papers Romanian 1945-1946
2 2 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1946-1947: folder I Romanian; Hungarian; German 1946-1947
2 3 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1946-1947: folder II Romanian; Hungarian; German 1946-1947
2 4 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1948 Romanian; Hungarian; German 1948
2 5 Caransebeș Jewish community membership background forms Romanian 1948
2 6 Payment receipts for Chevra Kadisha (dues) Romanian 1947-1948
3 1 Employee salary forms Romanian 1947-1950
3 2 Miscellaneous administrative papers Romanian; Hungarian 1947-1948
3 3 Correspondence and administrative paperwork, 1948 Romanian; Hungarian 1948
3 4 Payment receipts Romanian 1948
3 5 Correspondence and administrative paperwork, 1948-1950 Romanian; Hungarian 1948-1950
3 6 Budgetary documents, 1951-1953 Romanian 1951-1953
3 7 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1952-1953 Romanian; Hungarian 1952-1953
4 1 Stubs for payment of various dues Romanian 1952-1960
4 2 Resolved correspondence, 1953 Romanian 1953
4 3 Payment paperwork, 1953 Romanian 1953
4 4 Correspondence (incoming), 1955 Romanian 1955
4 5 Correspondence (incoming), 1960 Romanian 1960
4 6 Correspondence (outgoing), 1960 Romanian 1960
5 1 Bank documents, 1960 Romanian 1960
5 2 Payment paperwork, 1960 Romanian 1960
5 3 Accounting receipts, 1960 Romanian 1960
5 4 Maskir book Romanian no date
5 5 Pamphlet from Cluj Neologue community (Beszámoló) Hungarian 1947
5 6 Family photos, 1963 German 1963
5 7 Postcard to Cantor Adolf Adler, pre-1914 German pre-1914
5 8 Miscellaneous signs for use in synagogue Hebrew; Romanian no date
This is an ongoing project. Please check back for updates and additions to the catalogue.

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