The history of the Jews in Iași dates back to the late 16th century, when

Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

first arrived in the city.

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

has been the center of Jewish life in

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

for centuries. Once home to a thriving Yiddish culture, the first

Yiddish theater Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; na ...

in the world was founded in the city. The city's Jewish community was devastated by the

Iași pogrom The Iași pogrom (, sometimes anglicized as Jassy) was a series of pogroms launched by governmental forces under Marshal and Leader Ion Antonescu in the Romanian city of Iași against its History of the Jews in Iași, Jewish community, which la ...

of 1941; one of the worst massacres of World War II, over 13,000 Jewish people were murdered during the pogrom. Today, the community has dwindled and has between 300 and 600 members and two operating synagogues.

Contemporary community

The Iași Jewish community maintains two synagogues, including the Great Synagogue. The Great Synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue in Romania and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Monuments in Romania The National Register of Historic Monuments () is the official English name of the Romania government's list of national heritage sites known as Monumente istorice. In Romania, these include sites, buildings, structures, and objects considered wo ...

. There is a Jewish hospitality house in Iași that caters to Jewish tourists. Open during the summer, the house helps tourists who are visiting the graves of tzaddikim buried in the region. In 2021, the

Parliament of Romania The Parliament of Romania () is the national Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate of Romania, Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament i ...

held a meeting in the presence of survivors of the

of 1941. The Romanian Prime Minister

Florin Cîțu Florin Vasile Cîțu (; born 1 April 1972) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between December 2020 and November 2021 (acting/ad interim between October and November 2021). Sometimes labeled as Romania's first liber ...

stated that "We, as a nation, must openly admit that our past was not always glorious." Silviu Vexler, the head of Romania's Jewish commented that more work was needed to acknowledge the pogrom, citing "praise for war criminals" from elected representatives of the far-right, nationalist

Alliance for the Union of Romanians The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (, AUR) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Romania and Moldova. It was founded in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Romanian local elections, 2020 Romanian local and 2020 Romanian legisl ...

Notable Jews from Iași

Sorel Etrog Sorel Etrog, (August 29, 1933 February 26, 2014) was a Romanian-born Israeli-Canadian artist, writer, and primarily, a sculptor. He specialized in modern art works and contemporary sculpture. Etrog's works explore his first-hand experience of the ...

, a Romanian-born Israeli-Canadian artist, writer, philosopher, and sculptor. *

Rita Klímová Rita Klímová, née Rita Budínová (10 December 1931 – 30 December 1993) was a Czech economist and politician. She was Czechoslovakia's ambassador to the United States before that country's breakup in 1992. Early life Klímová was born ...

, a Romanian-born Czech economist and politician. *

Magda Lupescu Magda Lupescu (born Elena Lupescu; 3/15 September 1899 – 29 June 1977), later officially known as Princess Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the mistress and later wife of King Carol II of Romania. Early life and family Many of the fa ...

, the mistress and later wife of King Carol II of Romania. *

Bernard Natan Bernard Natan (born Natan Tannenzaft; 14 July 1886 – 1942 or 1943) was a French-Romanian film entrepreneur, director and actor of the 1920s and 1930s. Natan worked in cinema from a young age, working his way up from projectionist and chemist ...

, a French-Romanian film entrepreneur, director and actor of the 1920s and 1930s. *

Lupu Pick Lupu Pick (2 January 1886 – 7 March 1931) was a Romanian-German actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter of the silent era. He appeared in 50 films between 1910 and 1928. Born in Romania, Pick's father was a Jewish Austrian,Hans ...

, a German actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter of the silent era. * Émile Natan, a Romanian-born French film producer. * Arthur Segal, an artist and author. * Iancu Țucărman, an agricultural engineer and survivor of the Holocaust and the Iași pogrom. * David Twersky, the Rebbe of the Skverer Hasidism. * Zeydl Shmuel-Yehuda Helman, an actor, songwriter, journalist, and educator.

References

{{Reflist Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Romania Jewish Romanian history Sephardi Jewish culture in Romania

Contemporary community

Notable Jews from Iași

See also

References