The Jeff Malka Sephardic Collection

Memorial for the Jews of Craiova who fell in the Balkans Wars and WWI

While browsing the material found at the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem, Mathilde Tagger came across a picture of monument erected in Craiova, Romania in memory of the local Jews who fell in the Balkans Wars and WW 1. Craiova, situated in Southern Romania close to the Danube river - the border with Bulgaria - is an important Romanian commercial center. Its geographical position enabled continuous comings and goings of Jews to both sides of the border.

The small Sephardic community (beside the Ashkenazi one) had its roots in the capital Bucharest or in Bulgarian communities along the Danube. Sephardic surnames such as ALVU (for ALVO), BENVENISTI, FARCHI, FRANCES, LEON, etc. are especially found among the Bulgarian Jewish community.

For each casualty the index includes: the surname, the given name preceded by an initial that belongs to father's name and the army rank. Six of them were officers (all physicians). Seven are noncommissioned officers. The list ends with three corporals and forty-six privates. A total of 62 out of the 300,000 casualties during WW I only.

The memorial is on the outside wall of the only remaining Synagogue in Craiova. That congregation is located on Str. Horezului.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the tremendous contributions and lifelong dedication of Mathilde Tagger, z"l who made this index available. For many years, and right until her untimely death, Mathilde Tagger was a very close friend and collaborator with Jeff Malka. Together they worked to promote Sephardic genealogy research and educate the public about its enormous potential.

In addition, we express our grateful appreciation to Dr. Jeff Malka for his monumental ongoing effort to collect and make accessible Sephardic genealogical information, and for his generosity in contributing his extraordinarily valuable collection to JewishGen.

Search the Database

This collection can be searched by via the JewishGen Romania Database, the JewishGen Jeff Malka Collection or the JewishGen Sephardic Collection