News archive

The following message was posted on JewishGen discussion groups.

The Yizkor-Books-In-Print Project of JewishGen is proud to announce the publication of its 80th title,The Jews of Kishinev, Moldova

This is a hard cover book, 11 inches by 8.5 inches with 168 pages.
This book is a translation of Yehudei Kishinev

Original Yizkor Book was written by Yitzchak Koren in Hebrew - 264 pages
Printed in Tel Aviv, Avoka Publishing, 5710 (1950)
Translation Project Coordinator: Yefim Kogan
Translated from the Hebrew by Sheli Fain
Cover Design: Nina Schwartz, Impulse Graphics, LLC.

List price: $47.95 Available on Amazon for around $35 may have lower prices elsewhere
For more information go to: https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ybip/YBIP_kishinev.html

Alternate names are: Chisinau [Rom], Kishinev [Rus], Keshenev [Yid], Kischinew [Ger], Kyshyniv [Ukr], Kiszyniow [Pol], Kisiniv [Cz], Kisinev [Turk], Keshinov, Khisinau, Kishinev, Kishinef, Kiscinea

Chisinau, Moldova is located at 47°00' N, 28°51' E

Nearby Jewish Communities:
Petrovca 11 miles E
Straseni 14 miles NW
Razeni 16 miles S
Corjova 16 miles ENE
Hincesti 18 miles SW
Ivancea 20 miles N
Dragusenii Noi 20 miles W
Criuleni 21 miles NE
Mascauti 21 miles NNE
Lapusna 22 miles WSW

Researchers and descendants of the town will want to have this book.
For more information, go to: https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ybip/YBIP_kishinev.html

The Yizkor-Books-In-Print Project now has 80 titles available. To see all the books, go to: http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/ybip.html

We hope you find this of interest for you and your family in discovering the history of your ancestors. This would make a birthday or holiday gift for a loved one.

Reduced price for orders 4 or more books to one address in the US, UK, Canada or Australia; we can offer you a significantly reduced price of $22 per book including shipping (Amazon discount price is about $35 plus shipping). Email to ybip@jewishgen.org

Email to ybip@jewishgen.org to get prices for other locations outside of the US.

Joel Alpert, Coordinator of the Yizkor-Books-In-Print Project

The following article appeared on the Moldovan State Press Agency

17:13 | 05.12.2018
Category: Official

Chisinau, 5 December /MOLDPRES/ - The Jewish Cemetery from Chisinau will be restored and turned into a Jewish historic cultural centre, at an initiative by Prime Minister Pavel Filip. The centre will include more historical objects, being an area for the commemoration of the Holocaust victims, as well as a place of attraction for tourists, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.

To give the cabinet the capacity needed to develop the centre, the cemetery will be transferred to the management of the Chisinau Municipal Council, subordinated to the Education, Culture and Research Ministry. The government approved a decision to this effect today. The document establishes the building where the museum of history of Jews from Moldova will be placed – it will be part of the cultural centre and will contribute to the preservation of the Jewish heritage in Moldova.

The PM has recently visited the Jewish cemetery, which is presently in a disastrous state – two thirds of the cemetery is practically destroyed. At that time, the prime minister demanded working out of an action plan for the cemetery’s restoration and building a Jewish historical cultural centre on this place.

This message was posted by Paul Auerbach on the Bessarabia SIG mailing list

This might be old news to some Bessarabian researchers out there, but I
only recently discovered that Jewish vital records for Kishinev have
been scanned and are freely accessible on FamilySearch. Those records,
which are in Russian Cyrillic and Hebrew script, cover the years
1829-1915. Here's a direct link:

https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/771676?availability=Family%20History%20Library


The great news is that these records have already been indexed by
JewishGen, and the index entries can be used to get to the actual
records, even if you're like me and can't read Russian Cyrillic or
Hebrew script. To illustrate, here's how I accessed the birth record
for my great-grandfather, Mordka Shoil AVERBUKH:

1. Searched for him in JewishGen's Romania database
. Jotted down the following
information from the last two columns of his index entry:

Year -- 1884
Record -- M555
Microfilm No. -- 2255343 Item 2

2. Went to the FamilySearch Catalog page for Kishinev Jewish vital
records (see link above). Scrolled down to Film 2255343 Item 2. Noticed
that Item 2 covers 1880 births, which is inconsistent with my GGF's
birth year (1884), as shown in his index entry. The correct item number
is Item 6, which covers births from 1884 to 1885.

3. Clicked on the small camera icon next to Film 2255343 Item 6. This
took me to a screen with thumbnails of 985 images.

4. The key images to focus on initially are the ones in black with
typed white lettering. Even in thumbnail view, it's easy to see the item
numbers on those images. Scrolled down to Image 446, which is the
beginning of Item 6.

5. Scrolled through the images in Item 6 until I got to Record M555
(Image 737)

Note that Record M555 means the 555th male child within the particular
item number. Kishinev birth records are numbered separately for male and
female children. The female numbers are in the first column on the left,
and the male numbers are in the next column.

While I haven't checked, it's possible that vital records for
Bessarabian towns other than Kishinev might be available on
FamilySearch. For those who are interested in other towns, just go to
the FamilySearch Catalog search page
and do a place search for your
town of interest. If Jewish records appear in the results, click on the
link, scroll down to the Film Notes, and look at the icon next to the
film numbers. If it's a camera, you're in luck!

Credit for the above goes to Michael Moritz, who was kind enough to walk
me through a similar process for accessing Lithuanian vital records on
FamilySearch.

This message was posted on April 12 by Yefim Kogan on the Bessarabia SIG discussion list.

We read about acts of vandalism on Kishinev Jewish Cemetery.

On March 29, 2017, at the Jewish cemetery in Kishinev (Chisinau), unknown people set fire.
Desecrating Jewish graves not only with arson, but also inhuman cruel treatment of animals (two puppies were burned).

See more here in Russian or its English google translation

Yefim Kogan
JewishGen Bessarabia SIG Leader and Coordinator

The Bessarabia SIG Project on Kishinev Jewish Cemetery has reached a new milestone.

Sector 2 was photographed and indexed. 1341 burial records with 1202 photos, also 48 photos of Unknown Graves.

See Kishinev Cemetery report with maps, schemas of the Sector 2, and photos at Skulyani Cemetery Project Report on Sector 2 (pdf)
You can also visit the Kishinev Jewish Cemeteries Page

Ariel Parkansky
Bessarabia SIG, Kishinev Town Leader