Logistics

Name of synagogue (if it has one)

TEMPLUL MARE LEIPZIGER/ BETH HAMIDRASH (Great Temple of the merchants from Leipzig)

Street address: 7 DIMITRIE ERNICI ST.

City and postcode: PIATRA NEAMȚ

Website of Jewish community or synagogue (if they have one) -

Website of Federation of Jewish Communities from Romania www.jewishfed.ro

Contact person for synagogue with telephone and email -

Contact at Jewish community (if different from above): Nadler Emanuel

Street address of Jewish community: 7 Petru Rareș St., Piatra Neamț

Telephone number 0233/223.815 and email comevrnt@yahoo.com

Street address of Jewish cemetery?

(1) 2 ORHEI ST. (old) abandoned

(2) 4 P. MOVILĂ ST. (new)

Condition of the cemetery? - Good

Synagogue facts—you will not find all the answers, but it’s important to ask

When was it built? In 1839, rebuilt in 1898 and 1904.

Year(s) when it was remodeled or expanded - N/A

Name of architect(s) – Brothers Smiel, David and Pinchas Calomeer

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? – Very good

Jewish statistics

How many Jews lived in this city before the Holocaust? In 1930, there were 7,595 Jews in Piatra Neamț, from a total population of 31,539.

What was its peak year of Jewish population? 8,489 in 1907 (representing approximately half of the town’s population)

How many synagogues were in the city then? In the interwar period there were 24 synagogues in Piatra Neamț. In 1941, there were 19. Seventeen were later on demolished by the communist regime.  

How many now? 2.

Is the other used as synagogue? No.

If not, what are they used for? Museum.

If possible, give their addresses. SINAGOGA CATEDRALĂ - BAAL ȘEM TOV (BAAL SHEM TOV WOODEN CATHEDRAL SYNAGOGUE) (Historical monument), 7 Dimitrie Ernici (same court), built in 1766.

Holocaust related

What was the fate of the Jews of this city during the Holocaust?

In 1941, approximately 600 Jews from neighboring villages and towns were forcedly moved to Piatra Neamț. Some 600 men aged 15 to 66 were forced to perform hard labor throughout the county; another 500 were sent off to labor detachments.

How many were murdered?

How many emigrated? In 1947, approximately 8,000 Jews remained in Piatra Neamț, but the number of Jewish inhabitants gradually decreased as a consequence of emigration.

How many live there today? In 2003, just 153 Jews were living there.

What are the social services for Jews in the city, if any? -

Sources:

Congresul Mondial Evreesc. Secțiunea din România, Populația Evreească in cifre. Memento statistic (Bucharest, 1945): 47

FCER, Memoria cimitirelor evreiești (Bucharest, 2007): 44

Pinkas ha-kehilot. Romanyah, vol. 1 (Jerusalem, 1969): 208- 216

Josef Kaufman, Cronica comunităților israelite din județul Neamțu cuprinzând hrisoave, documente, inscripții, fotografii, vol. 2 (Piatra Neamț, 1928)

Pincu Pascal, Obştea evreilor din Piatra-Neamț (Piatra Neamț, 2005).

Arh. Aristide Streja, Arh. Lucian Schwartz, Sinagogi din România (Bucharest, 1996): 103 - 106

www.jewishfed.ro

http://www.jewish-romania.ro/monumente.php

http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Piatra_Neamt

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