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History of the Jews in Bessarabia
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{{Short description|none}}The history of the Jews in Bessarabia, a historical region in Eastern Europe, dates back hundreds of years.- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
Early history
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- Chisinau jew.jpg -
Jewish man in ChiÈinÄu (1900)
- Chisinau jew.jpg -
Jewish man in ChiÈinÄu (1900)
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- Torah scrolls.JPG -
Torah scrolls presented by the Jewish community of ChiÈinÄu to Nicholas II, 1914
Jews are mentioned from very early on in the Principality of Moldavia, but they did not represent a significant number. Their main activity in Moldavia was commerce, but they could not compete with Greeks and Armenians, who had knowledge of Levantine commerce and relationships.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}Several times, when Jewish merchants created monopolies in some places in north Moldavia, Moldavian rulers sent them back to Galicia and Podolia. One such example was during the reign of Petru Åchiopul (1583â1591), who favored the English merchants led by William Harborne.Ion Nistor, Istoria Basarabiei, CernÄuÅ£i, 1923, reprinted ChiÅinÄu, Cartea MoldoveneascÄ, 1991, pp. 201-02In the 18th century, more Jews started to settle in Moldavia. Some of them were in charge of the Dniester crossings, replacing Moldavians and Greeks, until the captain of Soroca demanded their expulsion.Others traded with spirits (horilka), first brought in from Ukraine, afterward building local velniÅ£as (pre-industrial distilleries) on boyar manors. The number of Jews increased significantly during the Russo-Turkish War (1806â1812), when the Podolia-Moldavia border was open.When this war ended, in 1812, Bessarabia (eastern half of the Principality of Moldavia) was annexed by the Russian Empire.- Torah scrolls.JPG -
Torah scrolls presented by the Jewish community of ChiÈinÄu to Nicholas II, 1914
Governorate of Bessarabia (1812â1917)
{{more citations needed|section|date=August 2017}}Status
The 1818 Statutory Law (AÅezÄmântul) of the Governorate of Bessarabia mentions Jews as a separate state (social class), which was further divided into merchants, tradesmen, and land-workers. Unlike the other states, Jews were not allowed to own agricultural land, with the exception of "empty lots only from the property of the state, for cultivation and for building factories". Jews were allowed to keep and control the sale of spirits on government and private manors, to hold "mills, velniÅ£as, breweries, and similar holdings", but were explicitly disallowed to "rule over Christians". During the 1817 census, there were 3,826 Jewish families in Bessarabia (estimated at 19,000 people, or 4.2% of the total population).Rural colonies
Over the next generations, the Jewish population of Bessarabia grew significantly. Unlike most of the rest of the Russian Empire, in Bessarabia, Jews were allowed to settle in fairs and cities. Tsar Nicholas I issued an ukaz (decree) that allowed Jews to settle in Bessarabia "in a higher number", giving settled Jews two years free of taxation. At the same time, Jews from Podolia and Kherson Governorates were given five years free of taxation if they crossed the Dniester and settle in Bessarabia.Ion Nistor, pp. 208â10As a result, the merchant activity was not enough to sustain all Jews, which led the Tsarist authorities to create 17 Jewish agricultural colonies:(File:Magen David Adom.svg|alt=simble.|thumb|219x219px|Magen David)In Soroca County
- DumbrÄveni (now part of VÄdeni commune)
- BrÄciova (Bricevo, now Briceva, part of Târnova commune in DonduÈeni district)
- MÄrculeÈti (StarÄuca/Starovka, for some period)
- Vârtojani (Vertiujeni, Èteap for some period)
- Lublin (later Nemirovka, now Nimereuca)
- CÄpreÈti
- Zguriţa
- Maramonovca
- Constantinovca
In Orhei County
- Èibca (now Èipca)
- Nicolaevca-BlagodaÅ£i (now NeculÄieuca)
- TeleneÈtii Noi
In ChiÈinÄu County
- GrÄtieÈti and Hulboaca under joint administration (both now part of GrÄteÈti commune within RîÈcani sector of ChiÈinÄu)
In BÄlÈi County
- AlexÄndreni (now part of AlexÄndreni Commune in Sîngerei District)
- Valea lui Vlad (now part of DumbrÄviÈa Commune in Sîngerei District)
In Hotin County
- Lomacinţa (now in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine)
In Tighina County
- RomanÄuÅ£i (Romanovca) (now within city limits of Basarabeasca)
Late 19th and early 20th centuries
File:KishinevChoralSynagogue.jpg|thumb|right|The ChiÈinÄu Choral SynagogueChiÈinÄu Choral Synagogue- 1889: There were 180,918 Jews of a total population of 1,628,867 in Bessarabia, or 11.11%
- 1897: The Jewish population had grown to 225,637 of a total of 1,936,392, or 11.65%
- 1903: ChiÈinÄu (then known as Kishinev), in Russian Bessarabia had a Jewish population of 50,000, or 46%, out of a total of approximately 110,000. Jewish life flourished with 16 Jewish schools and over 2,000 pupils in ChiÅinÄu alone.
Kishinev pogrom
(File:Pogrom de Chisinau - 1903 - 1.jpg|thumb|Victims of pogrom in ChiÈinÄu, 1903)16 February 1903: Kishinev pogrom.In 1903, a Christian Ukrainian boy, Mikhail Ribalenko, was found murdered in the town of DubÄsari, about {{convert|25|mi|km|order=flip}} northeast of ChiÈinÄu; the town is on the left bank of the river Dniester and was not a part of Bessarabia. Although it was clear that the boy had been killed by a relative (who was later found), the government called it a ritual murder plot by the Jews. The mobs were incited by Pavel Krushevan, the editor of the Russian language anti-Semitic newspaper Bessarabian and the vice-governor Ustrugov.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} The newspaper regularly accused the Jewish community of numerous crimes, and on multiple occasions published headlines such as "Death to the Jews!" and "Crusade Against the Hated Race!"WEB, The Jewish Community of Kishinev,weblink The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot, 24 June 2018, 24 June 2018,weblink dead, They used the age-old calumny against the Jews (that the boy had been killed to use his blood in preparation of matzo).Viacheslav Plehve, the Minister of Interior, supposedly gave orders not to stop the rioters. However, the pogrom lasted for three days, without the intervention of the police. Forty seven (some say 49) Jews were killed, 92 severely wounded, 500 slightly wounded and over 700 houses destroyed. Despite a world outcry, only two men were sentenced to seven and five years and 22 were sentenced for one or two years. This pogrom is considered the first state-inspired action against Jews in the 20th century{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} and was instrumental in convincing tens of thousands of Russian Jews to leave to the West and to Palestine.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}Many of the younger Jews, including Mendel Portugali, made an effort to defend the community.1917â1940
Moldavian Democratic Republic
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2017}}In the Sfatul ÈÄrii, Bessarabian Jews were represented by:- Isac Gherman, 60 years old, lawyer from ChiÅinÄu
- Eugen Kenigschatz, 58, lawyer, ChiÅinÄu
- Samuel Lichtmann, 60, civil servant
- Moise Slutski, 62, physician, ChiÅinÄu
- Gutman Landau, 40, civil servant
- Mendel Steinberg
Greater Romania
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- EvRoMare1930.PNG -
Jewish population per county in Greater Romania, according to the 1930 census
{{Expand section|date=December 2009}} - EvRoMare1930.PNG -
Jewish population per county in Greater Romania, according to the 1930 census
- 1920: The Jewish population had grown to approx. 267,000.
- 1930: Romanian census registers 270,000 Jews
The Holocaust
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2017}}File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B13327, Kischinjow, Ghetto, Gebäude.jpg|thumb|200px|ChiÅinÄuChiÅinÄuFile:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B13329, Russland, Ghetto Chisinau, Jüdische Frauen.jpg|thumb|200px|ChiÅinÄuChiÅinÄuFile:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B13330, Russland, Ghetto Chisinau, Wohnunterkünfte.jpg|thumb|200px|ChiÅinÄuChiÅinÄuIn 1941, the Einsatzkommandos, German mobile killing units drawn from the Nazi SS and commanded by Otto Ohlendorf entered Bessarabia. They were instrumental in the massacre of many Jews in Bessarabia, who did not flee in face of the German advance. On 8 July 1941, Mihai Antonescu, deputy prime minister and Romania's ruler at the time, made a declaration in front of the Ministers' Council:
⦠With the risk of not being understood by some traditionalists which may be among you, I am in favour of the forced migration of the entire Jew element from Bessarabia and Bukovina, which must be thrown over the border. Also, I am in favor of the forced migration of the Ukrainian element, which does not belong here at this time. I don't care if we appear in history as barbarians. The Roman Empire has made a series of barbaric acts from a contemporary point of view and, still, was the greatest political settlement. There has never been a more suitable moment. If necessary, shoot with the machine gun. (This quote can be found in "The Stenograms of the Ministers' Council, Ion Antonescu's Government", vol. IV, JulyâSeptember 1941 period, Bucharest, year 2000, page 57) (Stenogramele ÅedinÅ£elor Consiliului de MiniÅtri, Guvernarea Ion Antonescu, vol. IV, perioada iulie-septembrie 1941, BucureÈti, anul 2000, pagina 57).
The killing squads of Einsatzgruppe D, with special non-military units attached to the German Wehrmacht and Romanian Armies were involved in many massacres in Bessarabia (over 10,000 in a single month of war, in JuneâJuly 1941), while deporting other thousands to Transnistria. The majority (up to 2/3) of Jews from Bessarabia (207,000 as of the last census of 1930) fled before the retreat of the Soviet troops. However, 110,033 people from Bessarabia and Bukovina (the latter included at the time the counties of CernÄuÅ£i, StorojineÅ£, RÄdÄuÅ£i, Suceava, Câmpulung, and Dorohoi: some other 100,000 Jews) â all except a small minority of the Jews that did not flee in 1941 â were deported to Transnistria, a region that was under Romanian military control during 1941â1944.In ghettos organized in several towns, as well as in camps (there was a comparable number of Jews from Transnistria in those camps) many people died from starvation, bad sanitation, or by being shot by special Nazi units right before the arrival of Soviet troops in 1944. The Romanian military administration of Transnistria kept very poor records of the people in the ghettos and camps. The only exact number found in Romanian sources is that 59,392 died in the ghettos and camps from the moment those were open until mid-1943.Maresal Ion Antonescu, worldwar2.ro; accessed 27 August 2017.{{self-published inline|date=January 2021}} This number includes all internees regardless of their origin, but does not include those that perished on the way to the camps, those that perished between mid-1943 and spring 1944, as well as the thousands who perished in the immediate aftermath of the Romanian army's taking control of Transnistria (see Odessa massacre).In JuneâJuly 1941, about 10,000 (mostly civilians) were killed during the military action in the region in 1941 by German Einzatsgruppe D units and on some occasions by some Romanian troops. In Sculeni, several dozen local Jews were killed by the Romanian troops. In BÄlÅ£i around 150 local civilians were shot by Einzatsgruppe (the young women were also raped), and 14 Jewish POWs by the Romanians. In MÄrculeÅti, 486 Soviet POWs of Jewish origin (many conscripted locals), who were left behind by the Soviet army because of wounds, to avoid being surrounded, were shot. Approximately 40 corpses of Jews were found dumped at the outskirts of Orhei, executed either by the German or Romanian units.File:DupÄ trecerea unui convoi între Birzula Èi Grozdovca.jpg|thumb|left|Aftermath of the Odessa Massacre: Jewish deportees killed outside Brizula ]]From 1941 to 1942, 120,000 Jews from Bessarabia, all of Bukovina, and the Dorohoi county in Romania proper, were deported to ghettos and concentration camps in Transnistria, with only a small portion returning in 1944. The ones who died did so in the most inhuman and horrible conditions. (In the same ghettos and camps there were many Jews from that region as well, responsibility for whose death lies on the Romanian authorities that occupied it in 1941â44.)The remainder of the 270,000 Jewish community of the region survived World War II. Mostly these were Bessarabian Jews who wisely retreated before the departure of the Soviet troops in mid-July 1941. However, the only good thing that can be said about their fate during 1941â1944 was that they survived, because the conditions under which they traveled to the interior of the USSR (e.g., to Uzbekistan) in the summer of 1941 and their conditions at their arrival were very bad. Around 15,000 Jews from CernÄuÅ£i and further 5,000 from elsewhere in Bukovina were saved by the then-mayor of the city Traian Popovici. Nevertheless, he was not able to save everyone, and some 20,000 Bukovinian Jews were deported to Transnistria. At the end of the war, the remaining Jewish community of Bukovina decided to move to Israel.As a result of the departure of the Romanian intellectuals in 1940 and 1944, of the Bukovinian Germans in 1940â41, of the surviving Bukovinian Jews in 1945, and of the forceful repatriation of Bukovinian Polish to Poland, CernÄuÅ£i, one of the cultural and university "jewels" of Austria-Hungary and Romania ceased to exist as such: its population (already 100,000 in 1930) being greatly reduced. After the war, some Bukovinian Ukrainians from the countryside, as well as a few Ukrainians from Podolia and Galicia moved to the city. However, they were generally excluded from the Soviet apparatus and higher positions in the economy and administration, which was formed mostly by people known to be loyal to the Soviet system sent from eastern Ukraine or from other parts of the USSR.Present day
(File:Stamp of Moldova md020st 2003.jpg|thumb)(File:Stamp of Moldova md043st.jpg|thumb|alt=Menora.|Stamp of Moldova)By the end of 1993, there were an estimated 15,000 Jews in the Republic of Moldova. In the same year 2,173 Jews emigrated to Israel. There were two Jewish periodical publications, both published in ChiÈinÄu. The one most widely circulated was Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð³Ð¾Ð»Ð¾Ñ Nash golos —××× ××ער ק×× Undzer kol ("Our Voice"), in Yiddish and Russian.Jews in Bessarabia |
County | align="center" bgcolor="#98FB98" | 1817 census > | 1856 census | align="center" bgcolor="#98FB98" | 1897 census > | 1930 census | align="center" bgcolor="#98FB98" | 1941 census > | 1942 | align="center" bgcolor="#98FB98" | 1959 census > | 1970 census | align="center" bgcolor="#98FB98" | 1979 census > | 1989 census | align="center" bgcolor="#98FB98" | 2002, 2004census |
Hotin County | rowspan="2" align=right | N/A | rowspan="2" align=right | 35,985 | rowspan="2" align=right | N/A | align=right | 1 > | N/A1 | align=right | 1 > | N/A1 | align=right | 1 > | Ukrainian part |
N/A2 | align=right | 2 > | N/A2 | align=right | 2 > | 1072 | align=left |Moldovan part |
Soroca County (Romania) | > | N/A | align=right | c. 31,000 | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A3 | align=right | 3 > | N/A3 | align=right | 3 > | 1243 |
BÄlÈi County (Romania) | > | N/A | align=right | c. 17,000 | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A4 | align=right | 4 > | N/A4 | align=right | 4 > | 4594 |
Orhei County (Romania) | > | N/A | align=right | c. 26,000 | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A5 | align=right | 5 > | N/A5 | align=right | 5 > | 975 |
LÄpuÅna County (Romania) | > | N/A | align=right | c. 53,000 | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A6 | align=right | 6 > | N/A6 | align=right | 6 > | 2,7086 |
Tighina County (Romania) | > | N/A | align=right | c. 16,000 | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A7 | align=right | 7 > | N/A7 | align=right | 7 > | 4377 |
Cahul County (Romania) | > | N/A | align=right | c. 11,000 | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A8 | align=right | 8 > | N/A8 | align=right | 8 > | 678 |
Ismail County | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A | align=right | N/A9 | rowspan="2" align=right | 9 > | N/A9 | rowspan="2" align=right | 9 > | N/A9 |
Cetatea AlbÄ County | rowspan="2" align=right | N/A | rowspan="2" align=right | 11,390 | rowspan="2" align=right | N/A | align=left | Ukraine>Ukrainian part |
N/A10 | align=right | 10 > | N/A10 | align=right | 10 > | 110 | align=left |Moldovan part |
Total | align=right bgcolor="#98FB98" | 78,751 | align=right bgcolor="#98FB98" | Moldova". Jewish Virtual Library. > | ... | align=right bgcolor="#98FB98" | ... | align=right bgcolor="#98FB98" | ... | align=right bgcolor="#98FB98" | ... | align=right bgcolor="#98FB98" | ... |
- RecensÄmântul General al PopulaÅ£iei României din 29 Decemvrie 1930. Vol. II: Neam, LimbÄ MaternÄ, Religie. BucureÈti 1938.
- Moldovan Census (2004)
- Hotin County: Hotin, 5,781, Briceni-Târg, 5,354, EdineÅ£i-Târg, 5,341, Lipcani-Târg 4,693, Secureni-Târg, 4,200, SuliÅ£a-Târg 4,152, CliÅcÄuÅ£i 452, EdineÅ£i-Sat, 398, other localities 5,614. Total: 35,985
- Soroca County: Soroca, 5,417, ZguriÅ£a, 2,541, Briceva, 2,431, Otaci-Târg 2,781, MÄrculeÅti-Colonie, 2,319, Vadu-RaÅcu, 1,958, Vârtejeni-Colonie, 1,834, CÄpreÅti-Colonie, 1,815, DumbrÄveni, 1,198, FloreÅtii-Noi 372, Cotiujenii Mari 367, DondoÅani-GarÄ, 277, Liublin-Colonie 274, Târnova, 236, OcniÈa-GarÄ, 200, other localities 5,171. Total: 29,191
- BÄlÈi County: BÄlÈi, 14,229, FÄleÅti, 3,263, RÄÈcani-Târg 2,055, Ungheni-Târg, 1,368, Valea-lui-Vlad, 1,281, Sculeni-Târg, 1,204, PârliÅ£a-Târg, 1,064, Alexandreni-Târg, 1,018, CorneÈti-Târg 338, Glodeni, 212, other localities 5,663. Total: 31,695
- Orhei County:
- LÄpuÈna County:
- Tighina County:
- Cahul County: Leova, 2,324, Cahul, 803, Baimaclia, 509, other localities 798. Total: 4,434
- Ismail County: Chilia-NouÄ, 1,952, Ismail, 1,623, Bolgrad, 1,215, Reni, 1,170, other localities 346. Total: 6,306
- Cetatea AlbÄ County: Cetatea AlbÄ 4,239, Tarutino, 1,546, Tatar-Bunar, 1,194, Bairamcea, 805, Volintiri 420, Arciz, 342, SÄrata, 316, other localities 2,528. Total: 11,390
- 2,649 in ChiÅinÄu,
- 411 in BÄlÈi,
- 385 in Tighina (Bender),
- 548 in other localities under ChiÅinÄu control, and
- 7 in suburbs of Tighina (Bender) under Tiraspol control.
See also
- Batushansky
- History of the Jews in Moldova
- History of the Jews in Bukovina
- Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova
- Jewish agricultural colonies in the Russian Empire
- Diana Dumitru, Moldovan researcher of the Holocaust in Bessarabia
Further reading
- JOURNAL, Solonari, Vladimir, September 2006, "Model province": Explaining the Holocaust of Bessarabian and Bukovinian Jewry, Nationalities Papers, 34, 4, 471â500, 10.1080/00905990600842106, 129413315,
- BOOK, Weiner, Miriam, Ukrainian State Archives (in cooperation with), Moldovan National Archives (in cooperation with), Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories, 1999, Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation, Secaucus, NJ, 978-0-96-565081-6, 607423469,
- BOOK, Jews of Bessarabia on the Eve of the War, Atlas of the Holocaust, rev. ed. by Sir Martin Gilbert, 1993, William Morrow, New York, 978-0-965-65080-9,weblink Reprinted with permission from the publisher
- BOOK, Massacres, Deportations, and Death Marches from Bessarabia, From July 1941, Atlas of the Holocaust, rev. ed. by Sir Martin Gilbert, 1993, William Morrow, New York, 978-0-965-65080-9,weblink Reprinted with permission from the publisher
References
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