Botosani, Romania

other names: Botoschan (Ger), Botoszany (Pol), Botoshani (Rus,Ukr),  Botuschani.  Location 47°45' / 26°40'

Botosani early 1900s

Botosani Today

Take a Tour 

Old Botosani

New Botosani

Botosani History

Botosani is a major city in northeast Romania and the capital of Botosani Judet (county).  Early Jewish population is known from the 16th/17th centuries. Over the next few hundred years Jews leaving the Russian Empire, Galicia, and Germany headed south toward northern Romania (Moldovia and Bukovina). Jewish population growth was very rapid throughout the 19th century. Botosani Judet  and Dorohoi Judet became major Jewish centers along with Jassy. Dorohoi merged with Botosani after WW2.  

Elias Schwarzfeld, writer and Romanian Jewish historian from Jassy, wrote two important articles which appeared in the American Jewish Yearbook, 1901-02:

The Jews of Roumania - From the Earliest Times to the Present Day [pages 25-62] and Situation of the Jews in Roumania - Since the Treaty of Berlin (1878) [pages 63-87]

Radu B. Rosetti (a.k.a. Verax) wrote his own view of how the Jews came to Romania in Romania and the Jews, 1904. 

A key turning point in Jewish life in Romania occured in 1866 with laws that  denied them citizenship, schooling, and economic opportunity. In 1878 the Congress of Berlin attempted to legislate basic rights for religious and other minorities, however it soon became apparent that nothing had changed for Jews in Romania. At the same time a new era of economic and religious opportunity opened across the Atlantic. It was not surprising that from 1890 to 1910 about 90% of all Romanians who emigrated to the United States were Jewish. [Samuel Joseph, 1914], chapter IV. 

A large community remained up through the Holocaust and tried to regroup after WW2. However, the communist regime placed numerous restrictions on Jews including measures such as closing schools, outlawing all Jewish organizations and restricting occupations/professions that were common to Jews.  This time the new state of Israel was relatively close and a very friendly option. At first Jewish families slowly left for Israel until eventually a critical mass was achieved and the emigration rate increased significantly. The following table tells the story:

Population numbers by ethnicity from census reports for the period 1930-2002,   Romanian National Institute for Statistics.

Botosani Links

Botosani Research projects

In 2008 a group of dedicated Botosani descendants/researchers started an independent project to photograph and develop computer spreadsheet indexes for all Jewish civil records and other registers located at the Botosani branch of the Romanian State Archives. This project is not part of the Jewishgen Romania Database. 

As of 2017  all available Jewish Botosani civil records (over 120,000) from locations with a significant Jewish presence in the former historical counties of Botosani and Dorohoi are now indexed.  Other nearby towns have also been indexed. 

We dedicate our project to the memory of our friend and colleague Rony Shaham who was one of the primary translators from the beginning.

Completed Civil Birth, Marriage, Death (BMD) record indexes:

Details of the initial project were published in Avotaynu - The International Review of Jewish Genealogy [Vol 27-2, Summer 2011, 11-13].

We need people familiar with the Romanian language and Jewish names for future work at home using the photographed records. We also need to pay for the photographer,  archive fees, and  small administrative costs. All money received go directly to acquiring records.   

 Romania and Border Countries

Additional Maps

Google Maps: Satellite View of Botosani

Botosani, Romania

other names: Botoschan (Ger), Botoszany (Pol), Botoshani (Rus,Ukr),  Botuschani.  Location 47°45' / 26°40'

Botosani early 1900s

Botosani Today

Take a Tour 

Old Botosani

New Botosani

Botosani History

Botosani is a major city in northeast Romania and the capital of Botosani Judet (county).  Early Jewish population is known from the 16th/17th centuries. Over the next few hundred years Jews leaving the Russian Empire, Galicia, and Germany headed south toward northern Romania (Moldovia and Bukovina). Jewish population growth was very rapid throughout the 19th century. Botosani Judet  and Dorohoi Judet became major Jewish centers along with Jassy. Dorohoi merged with Botosani after WW2.  

Elias Schwarzfeld, writer and Romanian Jewish historian from Jassy, wrote two important articles which appeared in the American Jewish Yearbook, 1901-02:

The Jews of Roumania - From the Earliest Times to the Present Day [pages 25-62] and Situation of the Jews in Roumania - Since the Treaty of Berlin (1878) [pages 63-87]

Radu B. Rosetti (a.k.a. Verax) wrote his own view of how the Jews came to Romania in Romania and the Jews, 1904. 

A key turning point in Jewish life in Romania occured in 1866 with laws that  denied them citizenship, schooling, and economic opportunity. In 1878 the Congress of Berlin attempted to legislate basic rights for religious and other minorities, however it soon became apparent that nothing had changed for Jews in Romania. At the same time a new era of economic and religious opportunity opened across the Atlantic. It was not surprising that from 1890 to 1910 about 90% of all Romanians who emigrated to the United States were Jewish. [Samuel Joseph, 1914], chapter IV. 

A large community remained up through the Holocaust and tried to regroup after WW2. However, the communist regime placed numerous restrictions on Jews including measures such as closing schools, outlawing all Jewish organizations and restricting occupations/professions that were common to Jews.  This time the new state of Israel was relatively close and a very friendly option. At first Jewish families slowly left for Israel until eventually a critical mass was achieved and the emigration rate increased significantly. The following table tells the story:

Population numbers by ethnicity from census reports for the period 1930-2002,   Romanian National Institute for Statistics.

Botosani Links

Botosani Research projects

In 2008 a group of dedicated Botosani descendants/researchers started an independent project to photograph and develop computer spreadsheet indexes for all Jewish civil records and other registers located at the Botosani branch of the Romanian State Archives. This project is not part of the Jewishgen Romania Database. 

As of 2017  all available Jewish Botosani civil records (over 120,000) from locations with a significant Jewish presence in the former historical counties of Botosani and Dorohoi are now indexed.  Other nearby towns have also been indexed. 

We dedicate our project to the memory of our friend and colleague Rony Shaham who was one of the primary translators from the beginning.

Completed Civil Birth, Marriage, Death (BMD) record indexes:

Details of the initial project were published in Avotaynu - The International Review of Jewish Genealogy [Vol 27-2, Summer 2011, 11-13].

We need people familiar with the Romanian language and Jewish names for future work at home using the photographed records. We also need to pay for the photographer,  archive fees, and  small administrative costs. All money received go directly to acquiring records.   

 Romania and Border Countries

Additional Maps

Google Maps: Satellite View of Botosani