THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN ROMANIA
Founded in 1987 thanks to the generous contribution of Mr. Abraham Goldstein-Goren, the Unit initiates and promotes research projects on the history of the Jews in Romania.
The Unit collaborates extensively with other academic institutions abroad, including:
· the Moshe Carmili Institute of Judaic Studies at the University of Cluj;
· the Center for the Study of the History of the Jews in Romania associated with the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania;
· the Institute for Contemporary History in Bucharest;
· the Institute of Military History
· the Institute of Jewish and Hebrew Studies at the Paul Valery University of Montpellier, France.
History of the Jews in Romania
One of the Unit's major projects during the last 15 years has been the preparation of a comprehensive five-volume history of the Jews of Romania. This project has come to its completion in the spring of 2004:
· Volume I (edited by Paul Cernovodeanu, Bucharest), which deals with the history of the Jews in Romania from antiquity to the early 19th century, was published in 2002.
· Volume II (edited by Carol Iancu [Montpellier], and Liviu Rotman), which focuses on the history of the Jews in Romania during the 19th century, was published in 2001.
· Volume III (edited by Raphael Vago and Liviu Rotman), which deals with the history of the Jews in Romania between the two World Wars, was published in 1996.
· Volume IV (by Radu Ioanid, Washington), which deals with Romanian Jewry during the Holocaust, was published in 2002.
· Volume V (by Liviu Rotman) will deal with the Jews during the Communist era. Was Published in the spring of 2004.
The Unit's Publications
Studies:
Wide-ranging archival surveys are under way in the following institutions:
· The State Archives in Bucharest and Jassy and the Academy of Science in Bucharest: The survey of the record groups in the Jassy University and the Jassy municipal archives and the record groups of the Ministries of Education and Religious Affairs in the State Archives in Bucharest and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs archives for the years 1944-1968 has been completed;
· Archives of the Communist Party in Romania for the years 1944-1964;
· Government archives for the years 1944-1960;
· Archives of the Comitetul Democrat Evreiesc (Jewish Democratic Committee) for the years 1945-1953;
· Archives of the Romanian Defense Ministry for the years 1940-1945.
In addition, Cluj University, in cooperation with the Moshe Carmili Institute of Judaic Studies, is conducting a comprehensive survey of the population censuses held in Romania from the end of the 18th century and throughout the 19th century.
Zvi Hartman, editor
The second updated and expanded edition of the Bibliography of the Jews in Romania, originally published in 1991, is forthcoming in 2004. The new edition updates streamlines and thereby enhances its predecessor.
Immigration to Israel from Communist Romania (1949-1960). (Hebrew)
Jaffa Cuperman
The study will focus on three main topics:
· Relations between the government and the Jewish minority;
· Mass immigration to Israel in the years 1949-1952;
· Immigration to Israel in the post-Stalinist era.
The research is based on a variety of archival materials from various sources:
· The Romanian national archives;
· The archives of the Romanian Foreign Ministry and the archives of Romania's secret services;
· The Israel State Archives and the Central Zionist Archives (both in Jerusalem);
· The archives of the "Joint" (AJDC) in New York;
· The archives of the British Foreign Office, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. State Department.
The Pulse, Character, and History of the Romanian Jewish Community
Recent research has shed light on various aspects of the Romanian Jewish past: the cultural and religious world, relations between Romanians and Jews, anti-Semitism, the struggle for emancipation, and the Holocaust. Unfortunately, scholars have displayed little interest in the social history of the Jews in Romania - the institutions, defining characteristics, and inner dynamic of the kehillah [the organized Jewish community].
The Jewish communities of Romania played a key role in shaping the face of modern European Jewry in general, bridging the geographical and cultural gaps between the Jews of Eastern and Western Europe as well as between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. The Goldstein-Goren Center plans to expose these communities to the thorough scholarly investigation they deserve.
The project will afford a profound understanding of the character, components and socio-cultural dynamic of the Romanian kehillah:
· The basic units: family, school, and other communal institutions (social, religious, and cultural);
· The structure of the community: leadership and elite groups;
· The kehillah in its geographic context (town, city, village);
· The interaction between the kehillah and the host Romanian
community: intercommunal cooperation and federation in Romania;
· Relations between Romanian Jewish communities and Jewish
communities in neighboring lands (the Balkans, Poland, Galicia, etc.);
· The profound influence of German Jewry on the Romanian kehillot.
