Name of synagogue: TEMPLUL CEL MARE (GREAT TEMPLE)
Street address: 5 SF. ILIE (formerly Paloda) ST.
City and postcode: BÂRLAD, 731034
Website of Jewish community or synagogue (if they have one) -
Website of Federation of Jewish Communities from Romania www.jewishfed.ro
Contacts
Contact at Jewish community (president): RABINOVICI HAIM
Street address of Jewish community: 5 SF. ILIE ST.
Telephone number: +40235.412.001 and email comevbarlad@yahoo.com
Street address of Jewish cemeteries in Bârlad:
(1) 2 Tutovei St.
(2) 24 Tecuciului St.
(3) 26 Eminescu St.
Condition of the cemetery? -
Synagogue facts
When was it built: in 1834 (historical monument) (1789 in some sources)
Year(s) when it was remodeled or expanded -
Name of architect(s) – N/A
Other synagogues that this architect built – N/A
Is it known who designed the brass candelabras etc? – N/A
Is it known who was the artist who painted on the walls? – N/A
How would you describe the condition? - Good
Jewish statistics
How many Jews lived in this city before the Holocaust? In 1930, there were 3,727 Jews from a total population of26,204.
What was its peak year of Jewish population? 5,883 (in 1899)
How many synagogues were in the city then? Eight synagogues were active in 1940.
How many now? 1.
Are the others used as synagogues? – N/A
If not, what are they used for? – N/A
If possible, give their addresses. – N/A
Holocaust related
What was the fate of the Jews of this city during the Holocaust?
In 1941, after the outbreak of World War II, Jews from neighboring Plopana, Murgeni, Avrameşti, and Rădeni were forced to move to Bârlad. Consequently, there were 3,224 Jews in Bârlad in 1942.
How many were murdered? - (unknown at this point. Still researching).
How many were living in the city from 1945 – 1948? The postwar Jewish population reached 3,100 in 1947.
How many emigrated? The vast majority.
How many live there today? 27, many of them old women (no minyan).
What are the social services for Jews in the city, if any? – N/A
Sources:
Congresul Mondial Evreesc. Secțiunea din România, Populația Evreească in cifre. Memento statistic (Bucharest, 1945): 26, 44
FCER, Memoria cimitirelor evreiești (Bucharest, 2007): 39
Lucian Herşcovici, “Obştea din Bârlad în secolele trecute,” in Revista Cultului Mozaic, no. 221 (1 January 1970): 5
Ițic Kara-Schwartz, “Cimitire vechi din fostul județ Vaslui: Bârlad,” Buletinul Centrului, Muzeului şi Arhivei istorice a evreilor din România , no. 2 (1998): 69–71
http://www.jewish-romania.ro/monumente.php
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Barlad
The Romanian Synagogue Documentation Project
Underwritten by the David Berg Foundation
Grant recipient: Centropa, Vienna, Edward Serotta, Director,
Organizing Partner: The Center for Hebrew Studies and the Goldstein Goren
Center for Israel Studies, University of Bucharest, Felicia Waldman, Coordinator
Researcher: Anca Tudorancea, Center for the Study of the History of Romanian Jews
Photography: Daniel Gruenfeld, Oliver Beck Assistant
Web coordinator: Dragos Parasca