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From the Pinkasei Ha'kehillot in the Ahad Ha'Am section of the library in Bet Ariella, Tel Aviv.
The compilers of the entry give their sources:
(the archives of Yad Vashem, the archive of Fielderman and the archive of M. Karp)
Translated from Hebrew to English by: Dr. Stella Statman
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The Establishment of the Jewish townships in
Moldavia.
The Jews played a special role in the establishment of
the townships
in the princedoms, especially in Moldavia. At that time, the princedoms
suffered from under–population as a result of constant attacks from the
Tartars, the Poles and the Hungarians, the Turks and the Cossacks. From
the
beginning of the 15th century, special rights were granted
to
foreigners of any nation or religion, including members of the Jewish
religion,
in order to attract them to settle in the villages, the townships and
the
cities. In this way, farmers, craftsmen and traders from neighboring
countries
were drawn to the area. Among them, there were many Jewish craftsmen who settled in the cities while, in the
townships, some Jews opened hostelries, which, in practice, were both taverns and
stores where the local inhabitants could buy anything
they might need. Other
Jewish newcomers to the area built flour
mills and set up the apparatus to ferment and distill brandy. They
rented lands
from the nobility, engaged in agriculture, raised fish in ponds and
developed other
branches of the economy that hitherto had been unknown.
Most of the new Jewish settlers came from
According to A. Schwarzfeld, the oldest township was
established at
Oniţcani in
With the
establishment of the townships, agreements
with the nobility, the landowners, were signed,
agreements
according to which the Jewish population
was granted social privileges such as
the gift of a plot of land on which to build a house of prayer, a
cemetery, a
mikveh and so on. The agreement with the
In spite of all
these efforts, Moldavia still suffered from under - population. At the
end of the 18th
century, there were only 250,000 souls, four to each square kilometer. In the year 1843, there were only 40 townships
in the whole of Moldavia. Towards the end of the rule of Mikhail
Storza, the
number rose to 62. The Jews who came to settle in these areas were
called Hrisoveliti,
that is, people who had come to the land according to a royal decree
(Hrisov).
In addition to exemption from taxation for the first five years of
their stay
in the area, the new settlers enjoyed many privileges ranging from
political
rights equal to those of the Gentiles to participation in the running
of the
township. Thus, for example, the
agreement of 1845 concerning the founding of the
While the establishment of the townships by the Jews was
still in
progress, Moldavia was conquered by the Russians, who began a campaign
of
persecution against the Jewish population. Following the institution of
the Urugano
Regulations in 1844, the House of Representatives of Moldavia passed a
law by
which they sought to forbid the Jewish population from engaging in
trade in the
townships and villages. The ruler, Mikhael Storza,
who himself had instituted laws against the
Jews, refused to ratify the proposed law and explained his decision in
the
following ways, all of which throw light on the important role played by the Jews in the economic life of the
townships. 1. The townships of Moldavia are inhabited mainly by Jews as
the
local populations are farmers 2. If we prevent the Jews from engaging
in trade,
the townships will be deserted. 3. This would harm the estate -owners
and
agriculture would suffer 4. The revenue of the treasury would be
affected. The
prince agreed to apply the law only to those Jews in the villages and
this only
on a trial basis. In practice, the law was never applied. Afterwards,
another
20 townships were established. In the document giving permission to
found the
township of Iveşti, the following justification appears, "A
proliferation
of townships is a necessity for the promotion and development of
trade." The last township to be
established in Moldavia by Jews was Drânceni in 1862 on the
estate of the
statesman and historian, Mikhael Kogalnitziano. The economic value of these townships was stressed by Prince Storza
and recorded in the agreement to establish the
The word "township" in Romanian means "fair" (Târg)
and, indeed, the Jewish settlers helped to promote sales of local
products and
goods finding them markets outside the borders of Moldavia. Many of the
Jews
were craftsmen, a field still undeveloped among the Romanian
population. The
Jews in the townships also played an important part in the development
of the
first industries. In 1768, Prince Grigorie Gika granted a license to
the
Jews to set up a factory for the
manufacture of glass and a factory for the production of paper
at
Hârlău - a license that included
exemption from tax and the right to
engage three Jewish supervisors. They were the first industries of
their kind.
Jews were also active in the development of the oil industry in
Gârlele-
Găzăriei and Moineşti: the timber industry was developed in the hilly
areas, in
Dârmăneşti and in Caiuţi: in Buhuşi, Jews were involved in the
development of
woven fabrics and, in Paşcani, in the metal trade. Quarries, like the
salt
quarries at Târgu- Ocna were begun
while
the wine industry was set up in Panciu, Ordobeşti,
Nicoreşti and Iveşti. There were mills in Târgu-
Frumos, Podul-Iloaei, Herţa and Căuşani.
The geographer, Topsko, acknowledged the part played by
the Jews of
the townships in setting up the early industries but, nevertheless,
showing his
anti-semitic views, he claimed that, in the townships, there remained "
an
artificial element", distinct from its surroundings
in its setting, in its dress and in its
tradition, an element that was foreign
"ethnically." He continued to
describe the Jewish population of the townships as a "rabble" who
"had come from across the border." In
spite of this, Topsko could not but remark
on the natural position of
the
townships – a remark in contradiction to his claim
about
the artificial character of the
places – as they were set up along all
the main arteries of transportation and
near bridges like Podul- Turcului
and Podul Iloaei (in Romanian, the word
"podul" means bridge) and at
the junction of roads. When the railway was laid, the townships that had been
established on the side roads
like Nicoresti, Bâra and Sculeni lost their importance or disappeared
completely "when the
Jewish
trading element moved to different
places. " Those townships
that were established at
railway junctions like Paşkani, Adjud and
others flourished. The border area was also very convenient for the
development
of the townships, especially those near the NW and NE borders because
they were
on the way travelled by "the
Jews who traversed the area as they moved
from Galicia to the Ukraine" as the same author puts it. Following
changes
in the border in 1775 and 1812, the need for new commercial centers was
felt
and some of these townships like Paltichin developed into major cities.
Topsko also offered a political reason to explain why the princes
of Moldavia facilitated the
"penetration of Jews". In
1821, the rule of the Greek princes
(Fanarioţi) was brought to an end and
that of the Romanian princes was renewed. These changes created
opposition towards the Greek traders and preference for the Jewish merchants. This would also explain the
cruel
anti-semitism of the Greeks in
In 1828, there was another historical event which gave
impetus to
the migration of Jews, namely, the
Adrianopol treaty which opened the Romanian princedoms to international
trade and
put an end to the Turkish monopoly. At the same time, the Russian
influence on
the princedoms started to increase and
this caused a considerable worsening in the legal situation of the Jews.
The internal organization
The Hacham-Pasha. The earliest recorded documents
referring to the
organization of Jewish religious life in the townships appears at the
beginning
of the 18th century. When the Romanian princedoms were under
Turkish
rule, the religious organization resembled that of the
Yitzchak Cohen, Bezalel's son, was recognized by the
prince of Moldavia
in 1743 as the religious leader of the Jewish community. He was allowed
to
appoint his own representative in
The position of Hacham Pasha was inherited. These leaders
of the
community who had inherited their title and status
did not enjoy special respect in
the
eyes of the Jewish community as, for
the most part, they were concerned to ensure their own
income and did not excel in their knowledge
of their traditional culture. At the
same time, especially in Iaşi, a number of rabbis of standing, famous
for the
quality of their spiritual life, served
the community.
At the beginning of the 19th century, many
Jews from
Austrian Galicia and Russian Bessarabia came to settle in Moldavia,
especially
in Iaşi. Among them were people whose main aim was to settle in the new
towns
while others had fled from Russia out of
fear that their children would be kidnapped and made to serve in the
Russian
army (according to the law of 1827). These
settlers were not used to the Turkish kind of
organization with a Hacham
Pasha. There were also religious differences between them and the local
Jews because
the newcomers tended towards the chasidut stream. They saw
themselves
superior culturally and complained about the cultural level of those
who were
serving as Hachamim. Because they were foreign nationals, they refused
to pay
the taxes that were due to the Hacham and they undermined his authority
by
approaching their own consuls and complaining. In 1819, Prince
Alexandru Şuţu
decided that the Hacham would be appointed only by the local Jews while
those
Jews who were foreign nationals would not be subject to the judgment of
the Hacham
or to his demands. In 1832, these Jews turned to the Romanian
authorities and
requested them to abolish the position of Hacham suggesting that taxes be paid directly to the state. The bringing of this dispute to the
authorities caused a weakening of
the
power of the communal authorities and opened the way for the direct
intervention of the government in the internal affairs of the
community. The
Jews of foreign nationality were absolved of all obligations towards
the community
and, in fact, were excluded from its confines…..
… With the disintegration of
the office of Hacham-Pasha, the guilds which had operated mainly in the
religious
sphere also disappeared and for a while there was utter chaos in the
Jewish
public world. This lasted until the modern Jewish community came into
being and
was organized.
During the years following, the collective rate of tax
was fixed by the
government whereas previously it had been determined by the community
itself.
The tax was collected under
supervision
from the authorities publicly in the Houses of Prayer in the presence
of the
congregation: after the tax had been paid to the state, what was left
of the monies
collected was used to cover the needs of the community. In the history
of each
community it is possible to follow the complications that this
situation aroused
as time passed. In the villages in which there were no congregations,
the Jews
paid their taxes directly to the institutions of the state.
The dependence of the communities on the authorities had
another negative
effect. The communities were burdened with the task of acting like
police: they
were told to pursue "wandering" Jews and those who came from across
the border to settle in the land. The representatives of the
communities had to
participate in selection committees and, in this way, against their
will, they were
forced to apply all the laws and regulations imposed on those
considered to be
"wanderers", which meant, in fact, that they were party to the
expulsion
of those Jews from the land. Many of the Jewish leaders refused to
accept the
role of informers and struggled against the police measures with which
they were
forced to co-operate.
The requests of the leaders of the community to the
authorities
asking for legal status for the communities caused further intervention
in Jewish
life by the authorities. In 1850, for example, the community in Iaşi
asked to hold
elections for a new leadership and the government of Moldavia exploited
the situation
by limiting the right of the Jews to receive donations without official
permission. The running of the communities improved but at the price of
harming
their autonomy…..
…..According to M. Schwarzfeld, the oldest trade union was
that known as " The Righteous Workers" in
Romanian; it was established in 1794 and
its name was copied by many of
the Jewish workers unions. In 1797, in
Iaşi, a union was set up by the hat workers and by those who made the
mitres
for the priesthood while in 1809, a
union of shoemakers was established. These
unions also took upon themselves some of
the functions of the community: they
maintained
the Houses of Prayer, they supported charitable organizations and
Talmud Torah,
and they were in contact with the burial societies and so on. Unlike
the
members of the guilds, the members of the unions were allowed to be
foreign
nationals married to Jewish women who had been born in the country. A
person who
was not a member of the union was not allowed to practice his craft.
The unions
also wanted to ensure the support of the authorities and in order to
achieve
this they paid a certain sum to the person in charge of the province
and to the
Austrian consul…