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[Page 9]

When I think about Jewish life in Bacău, both pleasant and sad memories come to mind. My fellow townspeople contributed much, and tirelessly, to fill the town with Jewish tradition and the Zionist idea, despite the opposition of the regime and of the Romanian population which was, in part, filled with hatred for the Jewish community. The most notable figure in the community for decades was Meir Eybeshitz, of blessed memory, a spiritual leader and great Zionist among Bacău Jewry, who fought on behalf of Jewish education and tradition and for aliyah to the Land of Israel. After the Holocaust, following the mass immigration to Israel, the landscape of the city changed and today the remaining Jewish public grows fewer and fewer. In this book, I have brought forth the story of the Jewish community of Bacău, a story of pride, courage, and pain.

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The Jewish communities had an important role to play in preserving Jewish tradition and in promulgating Torah and Zionism. To fill this role, the Jewish communities in Romania had to fight against the interference of the “Historical” Romanian parties in the lives of Jews, and against assimilation, in order to safeguard Jewish faith, the promotion of Jewish culture, equality in communal organizations, and the Zionist idea as well as its implementation. During the period between the years 1925-1939 there were approximately 10,000 Jews in Bacău. The community helped the poor Jews with money, with wood for heating during the winter, with clothes and shoes for the children, and with matzoh for Passover.

Starting from 1925, the leadership of the community included Jews who for the most part had been members of Romanian political parties: the Liberal Party and the Farmers Party. At its head at one time stood Uzies Hershkowitz – from the Liberal Party – and opposing him, Yosef Feldhar – from the Farmers Party.

Instead of attending to the true interests of the Jews, those leaders served the parties in which they were members, which was not good for the Jews. They were lacking in Jewish education and they had no connection to Zionism. Those people were not at all capable of solving the problems of the community in a Jewish spirit, to prevent assimilation and to spread the idea of Zionism.

Most of the Jews of Bacău were faithful to Jewish tradition. They weren't capable of standing to the side, not responding, when they saw the leadership of the community neglecting Jewish cultural institutions: schools, the heder^[1], the Talmud Torah^[2], synagogues, cemeteries, and supervision of kashrut^[3]. Members of the Jewish community began to fight against the interference of the Romanian political parties in their lives.

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This struggle began to bear fruit in the elections for leadership of the community, when a number of Zionists and champions of the national religious were elected, such as Yisrael Drimer, Dr. Tecuceanu, the Glassman brothers, Wolf Isser, Yosef Goldenberg, Dr. Roșu, Yosef Itzikowitz, and myself. I was unanimously elected to be Chair of the department of education and religion in the community.

In the framework of that role, I was responsible for youth education in the spirit of fighting against assimilation and for the study of Zionism. I expanded the study of the Hebrew language, study of the Bible, and study of the history of Israel and its culture, in the two Jewish elementary schools that were in the city, in which Itzikowitz, Yosef, and Schechter were the Hebrew teachers. Similarly, I developed the two heders in which the small children learned Hebrew and the older children learned Torah. Among the teachers who taught there, it is important to mention Mr. Mardler who taught generations of children, till his old age. I opened two Talmud Torah schools which operated in synagogues, and in which the youth studied Torah and Talmud. Similarly, I appointed two “mashgichim”, supervisors of kashrut, and I increased aid to the indigent, providing money, food, matzoh, and clothing.

An example of the struggle for justice was the seizure of control over the cemetery. Previously, in this framework, there had been quarrels between the rich – the representatives of the Romanian parties – and the other Jews of the city. In those days, management of the cemetery was under direct supervision of the Chairman of the community, Uzias Hershkowitz. To our sorrow, he practiced favoritism; the good, central burial sites were reserved for the rich and for people of his own political persuasion. But intellectuals, politically unaffiliated people, merchants, office workers, and craftsmen were given burial plots on the margins of the cemetery.

In 1931, at the head of a group together with Shmuel Bernstein, Yisrael Drimer, Yosef Goldenberg, Wolf Isser, and Yosef Glassman, we demanded new elections for leadership of the community, with the goal -- among other things – of solving the problem of the cemetery.

When we saw that the community leadership was opposed to this process, I worked at the head of a group of thirty people, members of the community council and also simple Jewish citizens, we went to the cemetery and took the keys to the gate. The Chairman of the community, faced with a fait accompli, resigned from his role and called to arrange new elections. In those elections, representatives of the community won a number of additional mandates on the community council. It was a big success. Those same Zionist council members were supported by business people such as Zigi Drimer, Attorney Glassman, Dr. Reuben Rotenberg, Sarah Avram Rotenberg, and Dr. Klein.

After a short period of time, the city of Bacău became one of the centers of Zionism in Romania; movements that belonged to Zionist political parties operated there. Most of the Jews of Bacău were active in those movements or supported them. The religious Zionist movement – supported by Rabbi Moshe Cahane Blank – grew stronger. Encouraged by our success in the elections, we determined that the time had come to expand the ranks of the religious Zionist movement and to attract new members to it.

In 1926 we invited Ze'ev Jabotinsky, head of the Revisionist Zionist movement,

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to come to Bacău to lecture on the influence of the global situation on the Jews and on the development of the Zionist movement. The Romanian authorities treated him like a foreign diplomat. Rabbi Blank and I presented him to the local Jewish community. Jabotinsky gave two speeches in Bacău, the first to a Jewish public, at the “Marasti” theater, and the second to members of the local office of B'nai B'rith, in which he emphasized the danger facing Jewish communities of the world and the danger hidden in the Nazi rise to power and intensifying antisemitism. He recommended leaving the countries of Central and Eastern Europe for the Land of Israel as quickly as possible.

The impact of Jabotinsky's visit was swift and very strong. Many Jews – first and foremost Rabbi Blank – joined the Revisionist Zionist movement. In that period of time, also, many branches of the pioneers were established. Dr. Shabat dealt with that activity. Similarly, committees were formed to collect donations for the Jewish National Fund and United Israel Appeal.^[4]

This extensive Zionist activity was hit hard later on, at the time of the Second World War. During the years 1940-1944 the Legionnaires and Antonescu's police persecuted the Jews and sent many of them to Transnistria; from there they never returned. Others were thrown from moving train cars and were killed; Jewish children were thrown into sewage ditches and they suffocated. Jews from the towns and villages surrounding Bacău -- such as Moinești, Târgu Ocna, and others -- were expelled. In Bacău they were given shelter in schools, synagogues, and various other Jewish institutions. The community set up kosher soup kitchens for them.

During the entire period of Antonescu's regime, I continued to nurture Jewish culture. I took care of the Jewish elementary schools, the heders, the Talmud Torah, and the secondary school established by the community. Teachers such as Yosef Itzkowitz and attorney Zigi Drimer taught Hebrew, Jewish history and culture. I continued to supervise kashrut with the help of the Joint, though the community set up the soup kitchens. During this difficult period, the chairmen of the community were Dr. Tecuceanu and Mishu Grad.

Zionist activity was hit hard in this period, since it was deemed illegal. But we, the Zionists, continued to meet as an underground, each time in a different place, at the home of one of the activists, in order to establish continuity of our activism in the future. Together with other Zionists – Sarah Avram Rotenberg, Dr. Krajcer, Attorney Ciucă Raizel – I was arrested and sent to a camp for hostages in the synagogue of the grain merchants. Because of my underground activity, I was interrogated several times by the police and on the army base. Once, in one of the interrogations, I was taken to the cemetery under guard. There they ordered me to dig myself a grave and say the “el malei rachamim” prayer^[5]. At the last moment, the commander of the military base arrived at the cemetery and ordered them to release me.

In 1945, after the end of the war and the defeat of Nazi Germany, many Jews, refugees from Bukovina, arrived in Bacău. As a result, the number of Jews increased and reached 18,000, out of a city population that numbered 60,000. All of the Zionist movements resumed as legal activities.

I, personally, reinforced my Zionist activism in the religious factions: Hamizrachi, Hapoel Hamizrachi

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A Synagogue in Bacău

Prayer in a Synagogue in Bacău

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B'nei Akiva, Torah ve'Avodah. Together with other religious Zionist activists, we succeeded in recruiting hundreds of new members to the movement, a fact which made it possible for us to receive one mandate for the World Zionist Congress in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1947. In the period from 1925-1945, three rabbis officiated in Bacău: Bezalel Ze'ev Shafran, Moshe Cahane Blank, Rahman Debermerdiker. Rabbi Blank was the head of Agudas Yisroel, and after Jabotinsky's visit to the city, he was also chosen as the head of the Revisionist movement. Those two movements joined together, united as the “Religious Party”. After the death of Rabbi Blank, I was chosen as the head of this party in Bacău.

The Mizrachi movement was given over to my leadership, from the beginning of this period. Later on, I led it together with Rabbi Debermediker, who had arrived in Bacău as a refugee from Bukovina. After he made aliyah^[6], I was chosen as the head of the movement in Bacău, and as a member of its Hapoel Ha'artzi Council. All of those factions, which had an identical ideology – based on Zionism, Jewish faith, and Jewish tradition -- united as the Mizrachi party.^[7]

Thanks to the extensive activities of the leaders of the religious Zionist movement in Bacău, the Mizrachi party became a notable political force in all of Romania. The party prepared many people for their aliyah to the Land of Israel.

I registered for aliyah with all the members of my family in 1948, but I only succeeded in getting permission from the Romanian authorities in 1961. When I got to Israel, the Jewish Agency recognized me as a Zionist activist, on the basis of my activities in Bacău for more than thirty years.

Translator's footnotes

1. A traditional Jewish primary school. Return
2. A communal religious school. Return
3. The word kashrut refers to Jewish traditional dietary laws. Return
4. Keren Hayesod. Return
5. “God Full of Mercy”, usually recited by a minyan at a burial. Return
6. Jewish immigration to Israel. Return
7. The Hebrew wording encompasses what in English would be both Jewish tradition and commitment to Israel – meaning, the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and also the Children of Israel (that is, most broadly, the Jewish people). Return

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Again and again the sights of the city come up in my memories; its magnificent neighborhoods, its strong buildings and their walls are screened by trees, linden trees and acacia trees. The outskirts also come up again and again in my memories, full of dust and dirt. I remember the “Strada Mare” (the main street), a street that used to be in the possession of Armenian merchants and was “conquered” by Jewish merchants with patience and perseverance, who came from the valley, from the direction of “Lecca”.

I see in my mind's eye the center of the city, the people taking their daily walk every evening,from the central church (“cathedral”) to the Georgiou cafeteria (both... historical sites), and from there towards the “Marashti Road” (originally called the “Bacau-Focşani Road”) and far away, to “Orso” and even beyond the “Eternitatea” (“Eternity”) cemetery in “Letea”.

Sometimes the trip split into two paths. One was on the sidewalk of the post office and the Malachsowitz pharmacy, where the Romanians were walking and the other was on the other sidewalk of the public telephone house, the members of the national minority, that is, the Jews. There were times when the Jews almost disappeared from the street because they were forced to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothes and were exposed to ridicule and insults.

Again and again the city on the banks of the Bistriţa comes up in my memories; its public garden, where the military band played, or they would have felt the sadness of the poetry of the poet George Bacovia who was born and lived in Bacău. After all, Bacău entered Romanian literature as “the city of Bacovia”. And also as the city of another poet, Vasile Alecsandri, an antisemite, despite his Jewish origin, a member of a family of apostates, named Botezatu who settled in the village of Mirceşti near Bacău.

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I remember the alleys, the houses of “great lords” and princes, where many members of the nobility lived, whether they were legitimate descendants of princes or not; Gika, Sturdza, Mabrogani, Shuza. Armenians of an intellectual class, sons of former merchants, who wore embroidered Armenian hats and large and wide sashes, also lived in Bacău. The “locals” were members of the lower class and the petty bourgeoisie, most of them were first or second-generation urbanites. These are the masses that filled the taverns on the outskirts of the city and were able to pay the “luxury” fee when going out with the whole family and travel by bus “straight to the park” or “straight to Gherăieşti” or travel once a year on “Sin Petru” day to a fair outside the city.

The city on the banks of the Bistriţa is ancient, much older than we knew in our memories. According to some historians (among them M. Reiper), Jews settled in Bacău in the second half of the fourteenth century. These were Jews expelled from Hungary, from 1367. The first synagogue in the city was established at the end of the fifteenth century, it was built of wood around the same time as the oldest church in the city, the “Precista” church was built, and [the synagogue] burned completely in 1853.

Over the generations the Jews did not live in peace and quiet. Nevertheless, they built residences and workshops. Many times they were provoked, and with every privilege they fearfully received from the prince or the local authority, they were coerced to pay continually. When they submitted a request for permission to build a synagogue, they were answered in the negative on the grounds that the building was close to the church, and various other excuses. There were cases of bloodshed by gangs of thugs and there were also deportations from the towns and villages. Many times, Jews gave up and emigrated to other countries. Others stayed in Romania and even in the difficult conditions established workshops and later also factories. They established new industries and contributed to the economic development and well-being of the city. In their actions they improved the quality of life in the city.

Bacău became one of the most important cities in the Romanian Old Kingdom (Regat) and in the country as a whole. In the beginning of the nineteenth century there appeared the first Jews who engaged in liberal professions - doctors and later also lawyers, engineers, building contractors, clerks, and respectable Jewish merchants. Immediately after World War I, the population of the city grew, and Bacău became an important industrial center.

The “dynasties” Filderman, Isboreanu, Kalmanovitz, Dudovitz, Singer, Klein, Grad, Dreamer, Brill developed the factories they owned and even established new factories. Thousands of workers found jobs.

At the same time there was development in the field of culture. Very few places have anything written about the role of the intellectual Jews in the cultural prosperity of the city. Countless associations subsidized by Jews were established. The city had a library called “Raza” owned by the Jewish Women (ACFE), and its collection of books was much larger than the collections of many city libraries.

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Local Jewish promoters organized the performances of the theaters that came to Bacău from Bucharest, the capital, with the great Romanian actors: Ion Minulescu, Tony Bulandra, Birlic, Balaceanu, Yankovescu, Lucia Sturdza, Maria Filotti, Lisette Verea, Agnia Bogoslava, Tănase, Strua. Performances by Yiddish-speaking ensembles are worth mentioning. Molly Picon, Kaminska, the Vilna Troupe, Alexander Moisha. Local Yiddish ensembles also performed in the “Corso” Hall. Here Shraga Lorian achieved greatness, but also an untimely death there. The great Yiddish actors from Romania would often come to Bacău “at a great sacrifice” (according to the advertisements): Moshe Friedman (“the Dean” of the Yiddish actors), Sidi Tal, Sabila Pastor, Dina Koenig, Adolf Turner and others, true heirs of Abraham Goldfaden, “the father of Yiddish theater in Romania”.

Jewish intellectual life as a whole was harnessed to cultural activities. The “Jewish Students Association” - which helped disadvantaged students earn a living during their studies through the funds it collected - would bring famous cultural and literary figures to the city to give lectures or participate in literary discussions and gatherings.

Rafts on the Banks of the Bistriţa

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Extensive activity was organized by a number of Zionist organizations: Hashomer Hatzair, the Youth Zionist, Menorah, Gordonia. The leaders of Zionism in Romania used to come from Bucharest, the capital: Avraham Leib Zissu, Stern, Landau, Mişu Benvenisti. From the Land of Israel and other places came: Zev Jabotinsky, Avraham Shlonsky, Nahum Sokolov.

The city of Bacău gained a reputation for being a cultural center and even rivaled Botoşani and Iaşi. However, unfortunately, it also gained another reputation, which was not honorable. It entered the pages of history as a city of “arsonists”. Here in the alley named after a flower (“Bosoyuk” = perfume) lived the king of the fire lighters in the country - Lupu Comisionero, a small, short and chubby Jew,

City Hall

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and restored.

Bacău also entered the pages of history due to the trial of a well-known criminal named Coruyo. In this event the Jews were not involved at all. Following the trial, the first antisemitic Legionnaire wave began. It was the first bud for the beginning of antisemitism that reached its peak in the dark years of the Holocaust in the Antonescu persecution, the Romanianization, the exiles, the expulsions from the schools and workplaces, and other acts on a racial background.

After World War II, the city was emptied of Jews. Most of them immigrated to Israel. After the illegal immigration, the legal immigration began. Although the communist authorities initially allowed a limited number of Jews to immigrate to Israel, they were forced to give up and open the gates of immigration due to pressure.

Today, the city of Bacău - whose prosperity is the fruit of the labor of Jews - is a city without Jews, “Judenrein”. The cemeteries alone are evidence of the existence of a Jewish community in the city on the banks of the Bistriţa River.

“In Bacău, in Bacău, in one suburb” was the first line of a song. However, now, not only in the suburbs but also in the center of the city, the Jewish voices have been silenced. They will not be heard, not in Gherăieşti, not in “Three Beggars” (Trei Calici) nor in “Strada Mare”. And who knows about those who lived, worked, built and established community centers: buildings that seemed sustainable forever and ever?

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The first evidence of Jewish settlement in Bacău is a gravestone from the year 1703, preserved in the old Jewish cemetery in the city. The elders of the city tell of two even older cemeteries. In any event, after the destruction of the old Jewish cemeteries of Bucharest (Sebastopol) and Iaşi (Ciurchi) at the time of the Holocaust, the cemetery in Bacău remained the oldest Jewish cemetery in Romania.

Let us enter Cremenei^[1] street, a quiet alley; the old Jewish cemetery is there. Let us go by way of the masonry gate, which was restored 80 years ago. To the right stands a stone monument that was built into the righthand wall. Well-meaning – though not especially talented or experienced – hands, whitewashed and made it hard to read the inscription. On the monument is written:

“Here lies buried the hardworking man, Eitan Ben Yosef who passed away on the 29^th of the month of Iyar and was brought to eternal rest on the tenth day of the month of Sivan in the year 1703.”

Yakov Psantir saw this gravestone/monument and mentioned it 120 years ago. Yakov Psantir, an odd man who was a Maskil^[2] and also a Bonjourist^[3], a Jew from Harghita wandered around Jewish cities and towns of Romania, visiting synagogues and cemeteries, discovering certificates and record books, obtaining testimony of the Jewish past in those places. Even though he was an amateur, he collected very valuable historical material and published it in two books, both in the Yiddish language: “Chronicles of Romanian Lands,” published by Hersch Goldener's press in Iaşi in 1871, and also “The History of the Jews of Romanian Lands” (Lemberg 1873).

It merits pointing out that a new grave marker was set in place instead of the old one; it, too, is made from stone and bears the same inscription,

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without any indication that it is a replacement. The old gravestone is interesting, not only because of its date, but also because of its content. There is a difference between the date of the man's death and the date of burial – a difference of ten days. In Jewish tradition it is forbidden to keep the body and delay burial; that would constitute harsh disrespect toward the deceased. The question thus arises: for what reason was Eitan Ben Yosef -- who died on the 29^th of Iyar -- brought to eternal rest on the tenth of Sivan? If he was murdered by robbers and the body was not discovered till later, the tombstone would have indicated that he was “martyred”. If he died from some other unnatural cause, such as imprisonment or pogroms, similarly he would have been called a martyr. It's hard to believe that he wasn't buried [promptly] because of controversy or conflict with the Hevra Kadisha^[4]. In that generation, were it not for the Hevra Kadisha there would have been no Jewish cemetery. (There's evidence of the existence of the Hevra Kadisha in Bacău starting from the second half of the 18^th century. Its record book bears the year “5534,” meaning 1773 according to the Christian calendar.)

In my opinion, the true explanation for this matter is that Eitan Ben Yosef died somewhere else, somewhere there was no Jewish cemetery, his burial was temporary and then he was transferred to Bacău for Jewish burial. We have no certain proof and we must settle for conjectures alone.

Old graves are found at the periphery of the cemetery, on the right-hand side, which is the oldest part of the cemetery. Some of the graves and grave markers have been destroyed over the years. Wooden grave markers were destroyed during the first world war. Some of the stone monuments were covered up with soil over the course of the years and could be discovered through excavation. Those graves were covered with grass and bushes^[5]. In this old area the ground is about 50 centimeters higher than the rest of the ground. In this portion surrounded by fissures, graves and markers from the 18^th century have been preserved, and among them for instance is that of Rabbi Issaschar Ben Yehuda Leib, the Maggid of Sepkovka (Ukraine), who died on the second of Av in the year 5524 (1763). In this area are tens of graves from the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Newer graves, from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, are found in other areas of the cemetery.

Symbolic and allegorical adornments, geometrical frames, schematic illustrations, and the shapes of letters show the old origins [of the tombstones] and the influence of surrounding peoples. The cemetery is of utmost importance as historical evidence. It testifies to 250 years of Jewish life.

Let us move on now from that tombstone of 1703 to the record book of the “Hevra Kadisha” of Bacău, which begins in 1774. This registry, which was previously in the hands of Attorney Y. Carniol (who gave permission to author Yizhak Schwartz-Kara to examine it) includes an introduction regarding thoughts about death, and wide-ranging content which includes the regulations of the Burial Society.

Here is found a broad, comprehensive description of the practices of the “Hevra Kadisha”, which not only took care of the deceased and dealt with funerals, but also with those in the community who were sick and poor, the ritual bath^[6], synagogues, and so forth. The “Hevra Kadisha” had great importance in the life of the Jewish community. It had autonomy in managing its internal affairs, in the selection of its leadership, in tax payments, legal discussions, and commercial ownership. From a look at the regulations of this Burial Society, it's possible to learn interesting details about the life of the Bacău Jews

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in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

The members, if they were not “bnei hama'mad” [in good standing], had to do dirty work for three years, and only after that were they accepted as members with full privileges. Then they paid registration fees (“Men koift zikh ein in der hevra”^[7]). Upon being appointed, each one had to host a festive meal. The high prices of the festivities and ceremonies made it hard for those of lesser means to overcome the obstacle and move on from the rank of “shamash” or “candidate” to become a “member.”

First of all, the members – with no distinction regarding status or property – had the obligation to take part in visiting and caring for the sick. Another task was at funerals. Over the course of time, the unpleasant roles were passed on to the shamashim, lackeys who worked for wages.

The members of the Hevra Kadisha were obligated to get along with one another (“to live as brothers”), not to cause quarrels, and not to sue one another in legal proceedings, but rather only according to Jewish law. That was on account of lack of confidence in the courts, since the Phanariot^[8] courts were known for corruption, wrongdoing, and misappropriations.

The members of the organization assembled three times a year, on the three festivals (Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot) for a shared holiday meal.

An interesting regulation forbids dropping a hat on the ground during a holiday meal set up in the synagogue, which teaches us about the educational level of the Jews of Bacău.

The election of the Hevra Kadisha Council (the Arbitrators) took place once a year, during Hol HaMoed^[9]. All the members of the organization gathered together. The practice was for each member to write his name on a piece of paper and put it into a ballot box. The first three names that were withdrawn were the “Arbitrators” whose role was to choose the members of the council. They appointed the “Gabai” who stood at the head of the Society, and later, when the selection of additional people on the Council was decided, they also chose the “Elector”, the “Substitute” (the Gabai's deputy), and the “Accountant” (the comptroller).

The foremost authority was the Gabai's. He stood at the head of the Society. All members of the organization were subordinate to his decisions. He set the price of payments for burial plots in the cemetery, the tax rate new members had to pay upon joining the Hevra Kadisha, and the fines for offenses related to violation of the regulations. The treasury of the Society and various mortgages were deposited for safekeeping in his hands. He held onto the council's account book. He was responsible for seeing that funerals took place, organized and managed the communal meals of the members of the Hevra Kadisha, determined the acceptance of new members, and was even the arbitrator in quarrels among members of the organization. In many cases, the Gabai did not pay heed to the recommendations made in communal meetings.

The basis for the existence of the Hevra Kadisha was brotherhood; it resembled a club or cell, since the members relied on one another in times of trouble.

From the account book of the Society we learn about the economic life of the Jews in particular and of Moldavia in general.

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Looking it over, we find in it the regulations for Jewish funerals in Bacău. Before the digging of the pit, family members of the deceased would deposit a pledge in the hands of the Gabai, and they needed to redeem it within a year. If the pledge was not redeemed within a year of the day it was deposited, the Gabai was entitled to put it up for public sale. At the end of the 18^th century, it was customary to pledge a pair of gold earrings worth nine lei^[10] and brass objects worth four lei. The laying of a headstone was carried out only after the year of mourning was completed. The laying of a headstone was also tied to payment of a tax.

From these records we also learn about fines and the distribution of income from them. A fine varied between 5 to 50 paras. It merits pointing out that one old leu (a coin that was then in use) was equivalent to 40 paras. Part of the income from fines went into the budget of the organization and part served as fees for the Gabai.

The registry of the Hevra Kadisha of the Bacău Jews includes information published in the years 1773-1841, involving the acceptance of new members, elections to the council, accounts, discussions of rules and fines. We don't have information about what happened after 1841. It is known only that in 1874 there was again established in Bacău a “society for visiting the sick and holding funerals” and that its registry was still in the hands of the council in the year 1947.

The existence of burial societies among Jews of the Romanian principalities in the 18^th century indicates a high level of organization. A simple explanation for this: the Jews were an urban people and they were in constant communication with Jews from other lands whose spiritual level was higher than that of Jews in the Romanian principalities in the days of the Greek-Phanariot princes. According to the historian Werner Sombart^[11], the Jews possessed advanced economic methods everywhere.

The 1774 registry of the Hevra Kadisha of the Bacău Jews has artistic value. Interesting are both the form of writing and the frames on the pages, which are decorated with traditional Jewish decorations. Similarly, the registry of the Benevolent Society^[12] from 1836 also has beautiful, decorated pages. The decorations and the design are instructive of the artistic taste of our ancestors.

Information on Jewish settlement in Bacău comes to us, too, from Romanian documents. On the 24^th of July 1742, the Prince of Moldavia, Constantine Mavrocordato, granted the right to settle in that place to two Jewish merchants who arrived from the city Hotin^[13] in Bessarabia, permitting them to build houses on his estate and granting them exemption from taxes. In a document from the year 1769 there is mention of Jewish merchants dealing in brandy, heating oil, and other products. Jewish merchants from the big cities would come to Bacău for the weekly fairs to trade in animals, grain, leather, butter, honey, wax, and linen. A document from the 20^th of July 1823 indicates the right that the prince, Ioniţă Sandu Sturdza, granted to a number of Jewish merchants to settle in that place, to buy property, to receive wood for heating at no cost from the forest close to the city, and to send their children to school to study, at no cost.

In parallel with spiritual life, guilds developed as well. The tailors' guild had great importance.

The Jewish tailors introduced modern European clothing, which took the place of Turkish clothing. In the year 1832, Jewish tailors from Bacău organized themselves in the “Justice Workers” union. In the year 1875, this union was dissolved and split into two parts, “The Young Tailors” and “The Old

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Tailors.” Each faction established its own synagogue. In 1851 the shoemakers in Bacău organized their own independent guild.

Transportation was a “Jewish occupation.” Especially after the road was paved to Galaţi (a port city on the Danube), new possibilities for transporting grain opened up. Till then, they used to haul grain only to the Bistrişa River. Jews began to deal in contracting freight wagons after the Treaty of Adrianople (1829), but many of them lost their livelihood with the advent of the railroad in 1868. They organized for themselves a union for working the land, and they began to work with their horses

A Tombstone from 1774

Jewish doctors first appeared in Bacău at the beginning of the 19^th century. A few of them were appointed

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official physicians of the city or of the region. With the passage of time, they were fired from their positions due to the rise of antisemitism and persecution of the Jews. A Jewish doctor was dismissed for the first time in 1886. Because of the persecution, there began a deterioration in the economic situation of Jews who were craftsmen and petty merchants.

The Jewish community of Bacău organized a census in the year 1896. In terms of occupations, there were 1529 craftsmen, 550 merchants, 403 commercial clerks, 114 wagoneers, 94 laborers, 55 brokers, 7 building contractors, one lawyer. Altogether, there were 7,924 Jews in the city.

Between the two world wars, the make-up of the Jewish population changed. The craftsman class dwindled, following the development of industry on the one hand, and, on the other hand, as a result of antisemitic laws at the end of the 19^th century. Most of the Jews switched to working in commerce. Among the 1200 trading houses and stores in the city, only about a dozen of them were owned by non-Jews. Some hundreds of Jews worked as clerks. The laborer class also grew in numbers. Jewish laborers worked primarily in industrial plants owned by Jews. They were blocked from Romanian-owned plants, for example the big Letea paper factory.

In the period between the two world wars, there were approximately 50-60 Jewish doctors and 30 Jewish lawyers in the city.

*From a booklet in Romanian, Marturii din Veacuri, Bacău 1947

Translator's footnotes

1. Variant spelling: Cremene. Return
2. Well-educated, in the period of the Jewish Enlightenment, the Haskalah. Return
3. The word “Bonjourists” refers to young Romanian men in the 1830s, exposed to new and progressive ideas in Paris and then, upon returning home, used French more than Romanian in conversation. Return
4. The Burial Society Return
5. שיחי תירס Return
6. The mikveh. Return
7. Yiddish, in the original text, meaning “One pays one's way into the society.” Return
8. Members of prominent Greek families with administrative positions in the Ottoman Empire's Balkan domains in the 18th century. Return
9. The intermediate days of the eight-day festivals. Return
10. Plural: lei; singular: leu Return
11. A German economist, historian, and sociologist (1863 – 18 May 1941). Return
12. “Gemilut Hasadim” – refers to a charity foundation. Return
13. Now Khotyn (Ukraine). Return

[Page 29]

The first proof of the presence of Jews in Bacău was discovered in the last decade of the 17th century. The subject of discussion is a Jew named Elazar (Lazar) that got entangled with a Christian man named Dumitraşcu from the town Şendriceni, which neighbors the city Dorohoi, on a financial matter in the year 1697.

A certificate in the Romanian language, dated May 28, 1847, indicates a request that was submitted to the district commissioner: “The Jewish people in this district request permission to establish a Jewish hospital, which will uplift the splendor of the city and engrain in the world's memory the rulers of this principality.” The petitioners point out that a hospital would be built only through donations from “HaOoma”^[2] (meaning the Jewish Kehila^[3]), which will be collected and saved up imperceptibly by the payers. Its value will come from taxes imposed on brandy that will be bought and sold by Jews in the city. One para for each jug from the buyers and one para^[4] for each jug from the sellers. 6 piastres^[5] for each jug of wine sold by a local Jew, 20 piastres for each commodity cart originating in Galaţi, 20 piastres for each cart filled with small commodities, and 30 piastres for each cart of sewing materials and miscellaneous items that Jewish wholesalers sell or transfer for trade in the marketplace. The local authority approved the establishment of a Jewish hospital, but the project was not carried out due to the dissolution of the guild on account of differing opinions and quarrels regarding the tax rate and wages of the rabbi and ritual slaughterers.

On October 27, 1848, 22 homeowners signed a request to the district commissioner regarding permission to bring another rabbi and slaughterer.

There is evidence from the year 1765 of a Jew named Yitzhak Miasi that “brought two jugs of brandy to Bacău”

[Page 30]

and paid 50 cents in import tax for them. Additionally, there was a Jew in Bacău by the name Moshe who paid 25 cents in import tax on merchandise from abroad. It's possible that “Drunk Lupo from Bacău” was also a Jew, and it is said that he considered himself a horse-trader, bringing to Moldova a horse and paying 75 Aspron^[6] in import tax in exchange. (See: Customs registry of Moldova - Catastiful vamilor Modovei, brochure: Buletinul Ion Neculce No. 2 (1892), p. 192-232)

Information on Jewish involvement in trade and craftsmanship was further reinforced in the 19th century. An archival document from the year 1820 illustrates that 55 Jews registered to the treasury as taxpayers in Bacău.

A list from 1845 about taxpayers and the amounts paid to the Moldovan principality states that 338 traders and craftsmen paid a total of 18,315 Lei^[7] in taxes. (See: Iaşi State Archives, Tr. 166, op 184, brochure no. 10, p. 211-220, file 1558, p.26-27)

From a study in the year 1828 documenting the processing of salt produced in the village Luncani in 1828, we ascertain that many traders - among them Ziso the Jew - traded, among other things, salt brought from the salt mines. (See: Arhivele Statului: 125 ani de activitate, Bucharest, 1957, p. 427)

On October 26, 1842, the trader (perhaps innkeeper) Yenko Felticinianu rented houses from an honorable woman and signed a contract for this in which he indicated: “I, signing below in Hebrew letters, Yenko Felticinianu, affirm that I rented the houses of Missus Afresnia Popovitz, wife of the wine commissioner in the city of Bacău, for a period of one year, beginning October 1842 until 1843, for the agreed amount of four hundred and twenty Lei.” (See: The Library of Romanian Academics, manuscript: BAR CC - 167)

From the aforementioned documents of the “guild,” it is clear that the Jews of Bacău worked in craftsmanship and trade of small items related to drinks and meat. The Jews customarily brought carts brimming with various goods from Galaţi. The prominent goods were sewing materials and threads. A historical study from 1845 indicates that among the professions of the Jews, 205 worked in trade.

The trade of lamp oil, wine, and brandy, operation of the weigh scale, the act of checking the dimensions of drinking vessels, and the transportation of goods via rented carts were all important sources of income for the inhabitants of the cities and towns in Moldova during the 19th century. Management of these revenues was done by the local councils, which leased them to the public through public leasing auctions. The tax farmer^[8] used to collect the local taxes, thus ensuring the coverage of public expenses while simultaneously reaping profit himself. Among the tax farmers of Bacău, we can find Lupo Baruch (Burach), who leased the city's carts and lamp oil import tax. (See: Constantin Boncu: Contribuţii la istoria petrolului românesc, Bucharest 1971, p. 324). Another tax farmer from Bacău was Yitzhak (Itzik) Liebe, who leased the import tax

[Page 31]

on brandy in Bacău for three years, starting on January 1, 1843, at the price of 12,700 Lei per year. The Ministry of Interior recommended to the local council to nominate Itzik Liebe to lease brandy's import tax, as he was experienced and received it on lease in “the previous years” as well, yet in this year there was another candidate, Yosef Aharonovitz, who was a resident of Bacău.

On September 23, 1843, the Ministry of the Interior turned to the local council in Bacău requesting to lease and operate the weigh scale that was in the last public lease, which was given to a local merchant named Hershko Abraham, who received the lease on the weigh scale's import tax at the price of 3,000 Lei per year. The Ministry of the Interior paid attention to the fact that the lease price was 2,149 higher than was approved in the previous year. The difference was 851 Lei, and as such, the Ministry of Interior issued an order to the council, according to which the candidate was required to sign a contract. (See: Iaşi State Archives, file 1030, p. 115, 117, 121)

Since its establishment, the Jewish settlement had been organized in a Kehila. It was first recognized as a “Jewish Guild” by the state authority under the guise of “privilege”.

Appointment of the Kehila's leaders had to be recognized by the authorities, who were the members of the committees that determined the amount of taxes the Jews had to pay. The tax on kosher meat was leased, and the tenants were required to pay the poll^[9] tax and the wages of the slaughterer and rabbi.

Refugees from Russia and Galicia^[10] arrived in the city. They organized themselves according to origin, as well as according to the Hasidic sect of Judaism that they belonged to. Jewish craftsmen organized into guilds according to their respective expertise, and each guild built a special synagogue for its members. With the elimination of the “Jewish Guild,” the poll tax was also abolished, and the Kehila began collecting the tax on kosher meat and taking the payments.

However, after a short time, the guilds of the craftsmen began to personally collect the taxes on kosher meat from their members, something which seriously hurt the Kehila's institutions, hospitals, and educational institutions, which benefited from the income. This was the first scandal in the history of the Holy Bacău Kehila, and unfortunately not the last: there were quite a few scandals in its lifetime, overshadowing the successes.

In the last decades of the 19th century, there were many attempts to reorganize the Kehila. The city's wealthy used to vote in the committee elections in a certain way. It was decided to change the election system and include representatives of the synagogues as well. In the year 1878, an association by the name “Zion Brotherhood” was established, and in 1884, it was able to change the election system: each member of the Kehila was awarded the right to directly participate in the committee elections. However, two years later (1886), they returned to the original election system, and only representatives of all the synagogues in the city were allowed to vote.

In 1919, the Kehila finally switched to a direct electoral system in which every member was able to vote in committee elections. This system only received state recognition in 1932.

At first, the Kehila received income via three methods: taxes on kosher meat; sale of

[Page 32]

matzah^[11] for Passover; and donations. Payment of membership fees was introduced only at a later time. Some of the Jewish settlements' institutions remained independent, namely the “Chevra Kadisha”^[12] and synagogues. In the Kehila, new controversies arose, ones of a political nature. Different political parties- Zionists and Assimilated parties- participated in the committee elections in hopes of snagging the leading role in the Kehila. A representative of “The Association of Local Jews” invited the Romanian political parties to intervene and make decisions about the affairs of the Jewish Kehila in preparation for the internal elections of 1934. A member of the Liberal Party (in Ionel Brătianu's^[13] division), received the support of his party. The Liberal Party received most of the votes in the committee - instead of the Zionist party, who won the previous year's elections - and appointed Jewish members as committee members. Among the actions of the Liberal Party committee was the purposeful delay of inclusion of the “Chevra Kadisha” as an institution belonging to the Kehila.

Jewish education in Bacău began in 1828. At that time, the “Talmud Torah”^[14] society was established, which was comprised of 13 heders^[15] In 1851, the “Mishnayot”^[16] society was also established. Attempts to found a Jewish “Metukan”^[17] school were made in the 1860s, despite resistance attempts by the ultra-Orthodox. The first establishment of such a school occurred in 1863, but it only lasted two years. Another attempt was made in 1866, however this school didn't last long either. In 1873, a general “Metukan” school was established, which taught 250 students. Its formation was initiated by the “Zion” association and assisted by the Kehila. However, it only operated for 6 years. In 1890, the “Talmud Torah” society established a “Metukan” school, in which 370 students studied holy subjects in parallel with secular subjects. In 1895, a new building was built, and in 1910, the school had 419 students. The school's directors were highly educated and renowned, among them was Lezer Casban (Eliezer Casban) and M. Brownstein. In 1893, the “Jewish Women's Association” established an elementary school for girls called “Cultura” (“Culture”). Within its four classes, 150 girls studied, of which most were exempt from tuition. In 1896, the students numbered at 127, rising to 193 in the year 1910. The school also had a library filled with 12,000 volumes.

Jewish children also used to study in state schools. In the 1878-1879 school year, 150 Jewish students studied in public state schools in Bacău (out of 883 total students). In the 1882-1883 school year, 201 Jewish students studied in state schools, and in 1886-1887, there were 396 Jewish students. In the same school year ('86-'87), 23 Jewish students studied in the city's public high school compared to 153 Romanian students. In 1910, 227 Jewish students studied in Bacău's state schools.

The rising number of Jewish students in high schools and middle schools

[Page 33]

resulted in a reaction from the authorities. In the year 1910, the director of the high school denied admission to Jewish students entering the first-year class. The Jewish Kehila took it upon itself to maintain a class from its own budget. In this class, 35 students studied. The restrictions continued; in 1912, no Jewish students were accepted into the first and second years of the high school, and only four students were accepted into the third year. In the year 1914, there were no Jewish students in any of the first three grades of the high school. Later on, the Jewish school named in honor of Fabish Klein came under the patronage of the Jewish Kehila. The school for girls named “Cultura” closed in 1938 due to lack of students.

The Jewish Kehila began to maintain and own hospitals in 1894. In the same year, a hospital containing 18 beds was established, where non-Jewish patients were also accepted. Later on, a maternity ward called “Materna” was established through the initiative of the Jewish Women's Association. In the year 1879, through the initiative of the Association of Jewish Workers a nursing home was established. An orphanage named after Shmuel and Dvora Filderman and a kindergarten were also established with the support of WIZO^[18]. Companies of artisans established mutual aid societies near their synagogues. The establishment of the “Bikur Cholim”^[19] guild in Bacău was mentioned in the register of the “Po'alei Tzedek”^[20] guild in 1832. In the years between the two world wars, a number of mutual aid organizations operated: “Marpeh la'Nefesh”^[21], ”Fraterna”, “Anpertziria” (the estate), and “Provincia” (Divine Providence).

Translator's footnotes

1. Zichrono l'bracha. In Hebrew it is used to say “may his or her memory be a blessing” after someone has died. Return
2. Literally the nation, referring to the Jewish people as a whole. Return
3. Means “congregation” in Hebrew; the Jewish community of a city organized for the administration of charities and communal work.  Return
4. Ottoman form of currency until 1844.  Return
5. 40 para = 1 piastre. Return
6. old Greek name; was a late Byzantine name for silver or silver-alloy coins. Return
7. Romanian currency since 1870. Return
8. Someone who, before emancipation, bought the rights to collect the taxes owed to a nobleman or a sovereign for a flat fee. If he managed to collect more than that, he made a profit; if less, he had a loss. Return
9. a tax levied on every adult, without reference to income or resources. Return
10. Strip of land in southern Poland and western Ukraine. Return
11. an unleavened bread made from flour and water eaten on Passover to honor Jewish people's exodus from Egypt and their freedom from slavery, where there wasn't enough time for the bread to rise. Return
12. Literally means Holy Society; a group of Jewish people who care for the deceased to prepare them for burial. Return
13. Prime minister of Romania at the time. Return
14. The Talmud and Torah are both Jewish scriptures and teachings. “Talmud Torah” is a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they are given an elementary education in Hebrew, the scriptures (especially the Torah), and the Talmud. Return
15. Refers to religious elementary school, often starting at age 3 for boys.  Return
16. Refers to schooling focused on learning about the Mishnah: The Mishnah is the first major work of rabbinic literature, consisting of teachings transmitted over hundreds of years and compiled around 200 CE. Return
17. From the Jewish Enlightenment movement, equivalent to dual curriculum, where teachings were partially secular and partially traditionally Jewish. Return
18. Women's International Zionist Organization; founded in England in 1920 to provide community services for the residents of Mandate Palestine and other supporting projects. Return
19. Mitzvah (or commandment) of visiting and praying for the sick. Return
20. Literally “Workers of Justice”; so those advocating for justice. Return
21. Literally “Cure for the soul”; they would help people with mental illnesses specifically. Return

[Page 34]

In 1882, 50 Jewish families registered for Aliyah from Bacău. One year before, in the summer of 1881, a proclamation was published in the city of the “committee for the settlement of Eretz Israel by working the land”. This proclamation was published in the Yiddish language, in these words: “To our related Children of Israel in the city Bacău. You know how important it is to support the holy goal of settling the Land of Israel. We turn to anyone that will contribute to the success of our holy goal – settling the Land of Israel, and we will publish in the newspapers the list of all donations and the names of their donors. So, we will immigrate to Zion in song and dance.”

A few signed up to contribute monthly monetary donations. Others contributed only on singular occasions. Some families immigrated to Israel on their own dime. The sum of the donations added up to 4,000 francs. Two months after the 50 families from Bacău registered for immigration, 21 people from the nearby town of Moineşti also arrived, asking for passports to Palestine. However, the district commissioner claimed that he was unable to issue passports because he did not have the authority. However, he offered a discounted price for train tickets for every person headed towards America and not Palestine.

The Jews of Bacău and Moineşti turned to the Romanian government and requested to receive passports. On August 17, 1882, the Monitorul Official, the official bulletin of Romania, published the first list of immigrants. Nine months after the establishment of the Focşani Congress^[2], which was considered the first Zionist Congress in the world, 131 people from Bacău expressed their longing for Zion along with the

[Page 35]

European Enlightenment movement.

The immigration wave proceeded and flourished. On the list of incomes from financial deposits from Romania, the Kehila of Bacău was in second place with 26,674 francs, following Galaţi, which had 33,042 francs.

A local Romanian, antisemitic newspaper described the Jewish emigration and immigration to Israel as “a farce,” concealing some kind of dubious business. On the other hand, journalists enthusiastically described the departure of the first group of Jews to Israel. An eye witness from Bacău, Yosef Brill, published an article about this in the Newspaper Aparatorul (The Shield) on August 16, 1882. News about the arrival of the Jewish immigrants from Moineşti who were ready to leave together with the Jews of Bacău to Palestine, their ancient homeland, spread with lightning speed through the ranks of the Jewish population in our city. It was very pleasant to see what lengths healthy and industrious people would go to, as if they were sure of the success of an idea which, until a short time ago, was considered imaginary. Not paupers, but people of status and ability took the matter seriously to the amazement of the unbelieving infidels.

On the night between the third and fourth of August, all preparations were finished and a romantic event “adorned” the new exodus. A young boy from Bacău who understood that one of the immigrant girls would leave him forever, succeeded in convincing his parents to sign an engagement agreement, and on the same night, the boy turned into a happy husband and an immigrant. One-hundred and ninety people celebrated all night, until 9:00 in the morning. On the 4th of August, 1882, at 1:00 PM, crowds of Christians and Jews from Bacău, old, young, women and children, as well as the relatives of the immigrants that came from elsewhere, all arrived in their best clothes, and flocked to the train to bless the members of the first large group of future settlers and wish them a “pleasant journey”. This sight was moving and impressive and resembled, in appearance and excitement, that which preceded the procession of the Russian Tsar Alexander the Third.

The crowds numbered thousands of people, their enthusiasm was legendary. There was an atmosphere of laying the cornerstone for a happy and optimistic new era for the wretched Jewish people.

The scholar A.A. Teller rose onto a makeshift stage, delivering a speech that included verses from the words of the prophets of Israel, and made efforts to prove that HaKadosh Baruch hu^[3] would lead his nation to a better future. Y. Rosenzweig, a medical student, delivered a speech in Romanian, and his words moved the crowds to tears. Among other things, he said that “the Jew does not live by the hard work of others. Such ideas are an obscene libel by the enemies of the truth.” The moved crowds started to applaud. The last of the speakers was Z.M. Hess, who explained that the Jews did not hate the Romanian nation. History proved that the immigration was a necessity. When the exit bell rang, cheers that shook the ground were heard.

Before my eyes, I saw my dreams: the first Jewish settlement turned into a reality despite the words of the denouncers. We will never forget the day of the 4th of August! The immigrants departed on the ship “Thetis”, and on it were 228 immigrants from the cities and towns of Bacău, Moineşti, Cârşa, Focţani, and Galaşi. The ship docked in the city of Constanţa, a port city on the Black Sea. The Jews in Constanţa held a huge mass demonstration, but when the ship arrived, the soldiers drove away the crowds waiting on the beach near the docking site.

[Page 36]

There was a commotion. The soldiers tried to calm the storm. The captain did not allow anyone to approach the ship, not even the committee especially chosen to welcome the Jews.

Historical Postcard

In the same year, on the 11th of November, another group departed through the port of Tulcea (a port city on the Danube River). Most of the immigrants were from Bacău and, with them, joined families from Galaţi. The group numbered 130 people.

The first settlements that were established in Eretz Yisrael were: Zamarin (now called Zichron Ya'akov),

[Page 37]

about 25 kilometers from Haifa, and Gai Oni, now called Rosh Pina. The wording of the stamp of the settlement Rosh Pina was: “The Community settlement of Rosh Pina was founded by the people of Moineşti next to The Holy City Safed in 1882”, in both Hebrew and German versions.

The first stamp of the Moineşti Jewish Settlement of Rosh Pina

It is worth noting before the conclusion of this chapter, that at the Focşani Congress (1881), which discussed the possibilities of immigration from Romania to Eretz Yisrael one year before the First Aliyah, two representatives from Bacău - Abraham Bleter and Abraham Grouper - and two representatives from Moineşti - David Buckshteter and Mendel Greenberg - participated.

Translator's footnotes

1. Aliyah is a Hebrew word for immigration to Israel, literally meaning “rise" or “ascent”. The First Aliyah was the first major wave of Zionist immigrants to Eretz Israel, who immigrated from Eastern Europe and Yemen between the years 1882 to 1903. Return
2. On January 11, 1882, the first congress of the “Lovers of Zion”, the Focşani Zionist Congress, was held. Its participants represented around 70,000 activists, which accounted for one third of Romanian Jews at the time. Return
3. God, literally “the Holy One, blessed be He”. Return
4. meaning derogatory: Jew, Yid, Kike. Return
5. Nickname, possibly derogatory, for “Rachel”. Return

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