New extended road built over the original lane looking down	Extended road to cemetery, constructed by the Mayor Mr. Neculai Botezatu in the summer of 2011	New extended road built over the original lane looking up

On entering the cemetery, it was discovered that part of the area which had been cleared in May 2011 had become a new jungle. On close examination, it was discovered that in the area in which all the vegetation had been cut down to earth level, seeds had germinated in the clean soil and new shoots nearly two meters tall had sprouted. In the areas where a light ground cover of grass had been left, there were very few new weeds or trees.

It took two days for six men to clear away the new vegetation and to leave a light ground cover of grass. I hope this will be sufficient to ensure minimum growth of new vegetation before my next visit in the spring of 2012.

In the nine working days at our disposal, most of the time was spent in the cemetery.

The main gates to the cemetery were painted in blue and a white Magen David stencilled on the face of the gate. There had been an error in the original date of the establishment of the cemetery so an extra sign correcting the error was affixed. In order to allow Mr. Ion Balint, the official key holder, easy access to the cemetery, a personnel gate was made and fixed on the north east side.

A lot of time was spent in restoring graves, recording graves and searching for graves. The work was very varied and very time-consuming but there came with it the excitement of discovery.

Some was routine, just sheer hard work: the damaged metal railings around some of the graves were re-assembled and secured: all the fallen grave stones in the cemetery area were lifted and set in place neatly, either in their correct location according to their numbers, or in the location where they were discovered. Photographs of the inscriptions were then taken.

But there were also surprises. Trees and vegetation in the area thought to contain the graves of suicides were cut down and cleared.   In the process, a large number of small grave stones, probably marking the graves of children, were exposed.  A large area of vegetation to the north east of the general area of graves was cleared and approximately 50 more graves were discovered. Many of them were covered by 30 cm. of earth which had piled up, washed down by the winter rains. There are probably many more graves still covered by this movement of earth as a result of erosion.

In an area north west of the general area of graves, approximately ten grave stones all in matching design were discovered.  Their inscriptions,  in Hebrew, stated that the deceased laid to rest here had been murdered, probably in a pogrom.

Row of graves from a Pogrom

Altogether, several hundred grave stones were cleaned and their inscriptions photographed.

I also  had time to re-examine the area of the original entrance and I found the foundations of a second building It is likely that this was once the home of the caretaker to the cemetery.

The Mayor of Rǎducǎneni Mr. Neculai Botezatu unvailing the plaque on the gates of the Jewish cemetery 13th September 2011

Sunteti invitati + You're Invited

By Prof. Marietta Matei
in "Vestea  buna" October 2011
the magazine of the Orthodox Community.

Aşa scria pe invitaţia pe care am primit-o de la Domnul Marcel Adrian Glaskie, entuziastul evreu care, de câteva luni, a-a ocupat de repunerea în drepturile fireşti a trei monumente istorice consfinţind existenţa, la Răducăneni, timp de aproape 200 de ani a unei puternice comunităti evreieşti. Este vorba despre evenimentul care a avut loc în ziua de marţi, 13 septembrie 2011, şi a costat în dezvelirea a trei plăci comemorative în limba română, engleză şi idiş, evidenţiind Cimitirul Evreiesc, Şcoala Evreiască (azi, Şcoala Nr. 2) şi a Vechii Sinagoge (azi atelierul de tâmplărie al lui Cezar Bulai)

Domnul Marcel este acum bine cunoscut la Răducăneni. Cu un suflet larg şi cuceritor, cu un zâmbet la fel, plin de o energie şi vitalitate uimitoare, Domnul Marcel ţi se pare cunoscut de-o viaţă. Nu vorbeşte româneşte (deşi cred că înţelege mai multdecât vrea să arate!), ci o engleză fluentă - atotcuprinzătoare, căci o exprimă nu numai prin lexic, cişi cu ochii, cu mâinile, cu mimica expresivă, încât îl înţelegi. chiar dacă n-ai învăţat engleza. A cercetat arhive, a vorbit cu oameni, a format echipe de colaboratori şi a pus în aplicare gândul de recunoaştere faţă de strămoşii săi (aăci, din câte ştiu, străbunicii dumnealui au locuit în Răducăneni).

A curăţat Cimitirul Evreiesc, năpădit de tufişuri, a ordonat cât s-a putut monumentele funerare, a împrejmuit terenul şi a pus poartă, la care străjuiesc (deocamdată) două prăştini cu drapelele românesc şi al Israel. Pe poartă este o placă pe care scrie în româneşte, în engleză şi ebraivă faptul că acolo este Cimitirul Evreiesc - monument istoric. Mai mici, dar tot în trei limbi şi cu acelaşi conţinut, sunt plăcile puse pe zidul Şcolii Nr. 2 şi pe... stâlpul de electricitate de lângă Vechea Sinagogă (n-am înţeles bine cine şi de ce a refuzat montarea pe zid).

Au fost prezenţi invitaţi de marcă din partea Comunităţii Evreieşti: Dl. Geldman Abraham - preşedintele Comunităţii Evreieşti din Iaşi; Dl. Rozenberg Rudolf - oficiant cult; Dl. Rotenstein Carol, Dl. Lozneanu Albert - consilier juridic; Dl. Bernard, Dl. Steimberg - profesor de merceologie de la Huşi şi alţii, mai tineri, copii. La Cimitir s-a ţinut o slujbă comemorativă şi s-a împrăştiat pământ adus din Ţara Sfântă, de la Ierusalim. Rostită şi în româneşte, ne-am dat cu toţii seama că  Rugăciunea pentru cei răposaţi nu este cu mult diferită faţă de cele ale noastre - ortodocşi şi catolici, că toţi ne dorim ca cei morţi să ajungă în Împărăţia şi în grija lui Dumnezeu. Au ţinut scurte alocuţiuni Dl. Marcel Adrian Glaskie şi Dl. Primar, ing Neculai Botezatu, care a dezvelit placa de comemorare. S-au adus mulţumiri oficialităţilor comunei, care au amenajat drumul de acces spre Cimitirul Evreiesc, şi au ajutat la precizarea unor date de arhivă, domnilor Ion Balint şi Sandu Bişog - cei care au coordonat tinerii lucrători şi au grijă de acest monument. (va urma)

אתם מוזמנים   
מאת פרופ. מריאטה מאטי.
  "Vestea buna" פורסם במגזין הקהילה האורתודוקסית
אוקטובר 2011.

"אתם מוזמנים" זה מה שהיה רשום בהזמנה שקיבלתי ממר מרסל אדריאן גלסקי, יהודי נלהב שפעם זה, כמה חודשים לשיחזורן הטבעי של שלוש מצבות הזיכרון ההיסטוריות ברדוקנני, שהן עדות לקיום 200 שנה של קהילה יהודית רבת עוצמה. האירוע נערך ביום שלישי, ה13 לספטמבר, 2011, בו הוצגו שלושה לוחות הנצחה עם כתובות בארבע שפות: רומנית, אנגלית, יידיש ועברית, המסמנים את בית העלמין היהודי, בית הספר היהודי (כיום בית ספר מס. 2) ובית הכנסת הישן (כיום נגריה' צ'זר בולאי).
מר מרסל גלסקי הוא דמות ידועה ברדוקנני.
הוא איש עם נשמה גדולה ומקסימה, עם חיוך רחב ובעל אנרגיה וחיוניות מדהימה. נראה לנו כאילו שמר מרסל חי בקרבנו מאז ומעולם.
אמנם הוא אינו דובר רומנית (אם כי לדעתי הוא מבין יותר ממה שהוא רוצה לגלות לנו...) אבל הוא דובר אנגלית שוטפת ומקיפה, שכן הוא מתבטא לא רק באמצעות המילים, אלא גם באמצעות עיניו, מבטו, ידיו ותנועות גופו, כך שאתה מבין אותו גם אם לא למדת אנגלית מעולם.

הוא חקר בארכיונים, דיבר עם אנשים, הקים צוות עובדים, יישם בפועל את החקירה אחר אבותיו (ככל הידוע לי, כאן ברדוקנני, התגוררו סביו).

בית הקברות היהודי, שלפני בואו היה מוצף בשיחים, נוקה. מר מרסל עשה ככל יכולתו לסדר את מצבות הקבורה, גדר את שטח בית העלמין והתקין שער, שלצדיו מוצבים שני עמודים הנושאים שני דגלים, אחד של רומניה ואחד של ישראל. על השער התקין שלט "בית העלמין היהודי". השלט רשום בשלוש שפות: רומנית, עברית ואנגלית.
שלטים קטנים יותר הנושאים כתובת באותן השפות, ממוקמים על בית הספר מספר 2, ועל עמוד החשמל ליד בית הכנסת הישן.

בטקס זה השתתפו אורחים רמי דרג מן הקהילה היהודית:
מר אברהם גלדמן, נשיא קבילת יהודי יאש.
מר רוזנברג רודולף- מנהל טקסים דתיים.
מר רוטנשטיין קרול, מר לוזרנו אלברט- היועצים המשפטיים.
מר שטיינבררג ומר ברנרד- מורים לשיווק בעיירה "חוש".
וגם צעירים אחרים וילדים.

בבית העלמין נערך טקס אזכרה לנפטרים ואדמה שהובאה מירושלים, ארץ הקודש, פוזרה.
היות והטקס נערך בשפה הרומנית יכולנו להבין את התפילות, שאינן שונות בהרבה מהתפילות של האורתודוקסים והקתולים.
כולנו מייחלים שנשמות מתינו יכנסו למלכות שמיים, למלכות האל.

בתום האזכרה מר מרסל אדריאן גלסקי וראש העיר, המהנדס ניקולאי בוטזטו, נשאו נאום קצר אשר הציג בפני הקהל את שלט ההנצחה של בית העלמין.
בנוסף, הושמעו דברי תודה מרגשים לכל אלה שסייעו בשיפוץ:
לאנשי הכפר, שסללו את כביש הגישה לבית הקברות היהודי וידעו במדוייק על כמה ממצאים היסטוריים.
בנוסף הוקדשו מילות תודה למר יון בישוג וסנדו באלינט שהקימו צוות עובדים צעיר הדואג כעת לבית העלמין.
ההמשך יבוא.

תורגם ע"י רחל שמואל

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In May 2011, Marcel Glaskie went for the third time to Raducaneni  where he engaged six local labourers to work for a week in the Jewish cemetery as  part of a personal restoration project. Their task was to cut down the trees and wild, overgrown vegetation  in order to expose all the gravestones and then to clean the inscriptions on the stones.

When this was done, Marcel Glaskie surveyed the area and drew up a detailed plan of all the graves. He took photographs of all the graves with visible inscriptions  and it is hoped that they will appear in this site in the near future.

Marcel Glaskie found an area with gravestones relating to the earliest days of Jewish settlement in Raducaneni and is reasonably convinced there is only one Jewish cemetery. The results of his research contradict the official surveys by Lucia Nastasa and the other listings in the Lo Tishkach foundation  which claim that there are two cemeteries in the small township.

Details of the cemetery as it is today appear below.

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