TÎRGU OCNA: Bacău judet,Moldavia region

TÎRGU OCNA I: US Commission No. ROCE-0065

Alternate names: Aknavasar/ Targu Ocna/ Targul Ocna. Located at 46°17' 26°37' in Bacău County, Moldavia region. The cemetery is located at str. Cimitir, 32, Tîrgu Ocna, Bacău judet, Moldavia region at 46°21' 26°42', 13 km from Onesti. The cemetery is located at str. I.C. Negri, 52, TÎRGU Ocna, Bacău judet, Moldavia region at 46°21' 26°42', 13 km from Onesti. Present town population is 25,000-100,000 with under 10 Jews.

• Local Authority: Mayor Hiloti Octav, str. Trandafirilor 1, Tîrgu Ocna, Bacău judet. Phone: 034/340482.
• Religious Authority: The Jewish Community of Bacău, str. Alexandru cel Bun 16
• Regional Authority: The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Romania, Sf. Vineri str., no. 9-11, sector 3, Bucharest, Romania.
• Interested: "A.D. Xenopol" Institute of History, Lascar Catargi str., no. 15, 6400- Iasi (Iasi judet), Romania. Tel. 032/212614; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Director: Alexandru Zub.
• Caretaker with key: Anton Mihai, str. Cimitir 10, Tîrgu Ocna, Bacău judet. Phone: 340147.
• May have more information: Sfart Pincu, str. Zorelelor 7. Phone: 319370

The Census from 1820 registered 7 Jewish families and 1831 Census registered 17 Jewish families. The 1899 Census registered 252 Jewish inhabitants. The 1930 Census registered 867 Jewish inhabitants. In World War I there were here battles in which many local Jews died (1917). Prominent residents include Iehosua Falk Wolfsohn (born 1835), scholar rabbi. This Jewish cemetery was established in the 18th century. The last known Jewish burial in cemetery was in the 19th century. The unlandmarked Conservative cemetery was 3 km from the congregation that used it. The isolated suburban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing private property access is entirely closed. A continuous masonry wall and a gate that locks surround. The pre- and post-WWII size is 80 m X 60 m. 20 to 100 gravestones are visible. 1 to 20 are not in original location. 25% - 50% are broken or toppled. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is not a problem. Water drainage is good all year. Tombstones date from the 18th and 19th century. Sandstone and limestone are rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones, and finely smoothed and inscribed stones. Some have portraits on the stones. Inscriptions are in Hebrew. The present owner of the cemetery property is a private individual: Dr. Cristea Nicolae, Bucharest. The site is used for agricultural purposes. Adjacent properties are agricultural. Boundaries are smaller, reduced as a result of agriculture. Rarely, private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) local residents stop. The cemetery was vandalized prior to World War II, not in the last ten years, and occasionally. Annual clearing of vegetation by a regular unpaid caretaker is the care. No structures. Security and pollution is a slight threat. Weather erosion is a moderate threat. Lucian Nastasa, Clinicilor str., no. 19, Cluj, Romania, tel. 064/190107. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. completed the survey on July 19, 2000 using the following documentation:

• Schwarzfeld, Din istoria evreilor: împopularea, reîmpopularea si întemeierea tîrgurilor si tîrgusoarelor în Moldova, Bucuresti, 1894.
• N. Sutu, Notiti statistice asupra Moldaviei, Iasi, 1852.
• George I. Lahovari, Marele dictionar geografic al Romaniei, 5 vol., Bucuresti, Edit.Socec, 1899.
• I.M. Dinescu, Fiii neamului de la 1859 la 1915. Statistica sociala pe întelesul tuturora, Iasi, Institutul de Arte Grafice N.V.Stefaniu, 1920.
• Leonida Colescu, Analiza rezultatelor recensamîntului general al populatiei Romaniei de la 1899, cu o prefata de Sabin Manuila, Bucuresti, Institutul de statistica, 1944.
• Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities Romania, I-II, Jerusalem, 1980.
• Gh.Ungureanu, Catagrafia locuitorilor Moldovei din anul 1820, în "Revista de statistica", no. 7/1967.
• D.Ivanescu, Populatia evreiasca din orasele si tîrgurile Moldovei între 1774-1832, în "Studia et acta historiae iudaeorum Romaniae", II, Bucuresti, Edit.Hasefer, 1997, p. 59-65.

He visited July 15, 2000 and interviewed Anton Mihai, str. Cimitir 10, Tîrgu Ocna, Bacău judet. Phone: 340147. [June 2002]

TÎRGU OCNA II: US Commission No. ROCE-0066
See Tîrgu Ocna I for town details.

• Caretaker with key: Anton Mihai, str. Cimitir 10, Tîrgu Ocna, Bacău judet. Phone: 340147
• May have more information:. Sfart Pincu, str. Zorelelor 7. Phone: 319370

The Census from 1820 registered 7 Jewish families and 1831 Census registered 17 Jewish families. The 1899 Census registered 252 Jewish inhabitants. The 1930 Census registered 867 Jewish inhabitants. In World War I, battles here killed many local Jews (1917). Prominent residents include Iehosua Falk Wolfsohn (born 1835), scholar rabbi. This Jewish cemetery was established in the 19th century. The last known Jewish burial in cemetery was Aug. 28, 1998.

The unlandmarked Conservative cemetery is 1.5 km. from the congregation that used it. Slanic Moldova (Bacău judet) and Onesti (Bacău judet) also used this cemetery. The urban flat land, separate, but near other cemeteries, has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission. A continuous masonry wall and a gate that locks surround.

The pre- and post-WWII size is 100 m X 80 m. 500 to 5,000 tombstones are visible. 1 to 20 are not in original location. More than 75% are toppled or broken. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is not a problem. Water drainage is good all year. No special sections.

Tombstones date from the end of the 19th century through the 20th century. Marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and other material are flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, and flat stones with carved relief decoration and multistone monuments. Some have portraits on the stones and metal fences around graves. Inscriptions are in Hebrew, German, and Romanian. The cemetery has a monument to Jewish soldiers.

The national Jewish community owns the cemetery property now is used for Jewish cemetery purposes only. Adjacent properties are agricultural and the Greek-Orthodox cemetery. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose the same area. Occasionally, private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) local residents stop.

The never vandalized cemetery maintenance includes re-erection of stones and cleaning and patching broken stones by Jewish individuals within the country and Jewish individuals abroad in 1999 by the regular unpaid caretaker. No structures. Security and vandalism are moderate threats. Pollution and vegetation are slight threats.

Lucian Nastasa, Clinicilor str., no. 19, Cluj, Romania, tel. 064/190107. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. completed the survey on July 19, 2000 using the following documentation:

• E.Schwarzfeld, Din istoria evreilor: împopularea, reîmpopularea si întemeierea tîrgurilor si tîrgusoarelor în Moldova, Bucuresti, 1894.
• N. Sutu, Notiti statistice asupra Moldaviei, Iasi, 1852.
• George I. Lahovari, Marele dictionar geografic al Romaniei, 5 vol., Bucuresti, Edit.Socec, 1899.
• I.M. Dinescu, Fiii neamului de la 1859 la 1915. Statistica sociala pe întelesul tuturora, Iasi, Institutul de Arte Grafice N.V.Stefaniu, 1920.
• Leonida Colescu, Analiza rezultatelor recensamîntului general al populatiei Romaniei de la 1899, cu o prefata de Sabin Manuila , Bucuresti, Institutul de statistica, 1944.
• Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities Romania, I-II, Jerusalem, 1980.
• D.Ivanescu, Populatia evreiasca din orasele si tîrgurile Moldovei între 1774-1832, în "Studia et acta historiae iudaeorum Romaniae", II, Bucuresti, Edit.Hasefer, 1997, p. 59-65..
• Gh.Ungureanu, Catagrafia locuitorilor Moldovei din anul 1820, în "Revista de statistica", no. 7/1967.

He visited on July 15, 2000 and interviewed Anton Mihai, str. Cimitir 10, Tîrgu Ocna, Bacău judet. Phone: 340147. [June 2002]
Only five Jews live there now. Mihai Anton, hired by Bacău Federation, Str. Cimitr Nr. 10 tends the cemetery. He could scrutinize every readable stone in three or four hours. In the middle of a bare mud field not far from the first cemetery, there is a barbed wire fence with no gate enclosing ____ about 1/10 the size of the first. Inscriptions are in Hebrew. Source: Researching Jewish Romania On Site by Paul Pascal.
The Washington Jewish Week , October 5, 1995 article by Sherie L. Silverman on page 12 states: "More than 700 Jewish cemeteries are home to neglected headstones."

[UPDATE] Photos by Charles Burns [April 2016]