International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

ROMAN: (Neamt judet) [Románvásár, Romesmark, Románvásár ,

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46°55' N, 26°55' E [ˈroman]; Hungarian: Románvásár, German: Romesmark) is a mid-sized city, municipality, located central Moldavia, a traditional region of NE Romania, 46 km east of Piatra Neamţ, 50 km from Piatra Neamt in Neamţ County at the confluence of the Siret and Moldova rivers. No alternative names. 1900 Jewish population: 6432.

Saw cemetery from a distance with many stones, in good condition. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.: [date?]

REFERENCE: See: abandoned sites Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to East-Central Europe . Gruber, Ruth Ellen. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. 221-224; tombstone; 222- 201.

 

US Commission No. ROCE-0440

The cemetery is located at str. Bogdan Dragos, no. 184, Neamt judet, Romania 4. Moldavia region, 26°57' 46°51', 6.61 km from Bacău. Present town population is 25,000-100,000 with 0-100 Jews.

Local Authority: Mayor Carpusor Dan, str. Roman Voda no. 1, Roman, jud. Neamt. Phone: 724278; 731651

Religious Authority: The Jewish Community of Piatra Neamt, str. Petru Rares no. 7, Piatra Neamt. Phone: 223815

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:. Director: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Caretaker and keyholder: Petrisor Vasile, str. Bogdan Dragos no. 184, Roman-5550, Neamt judet

 

The Census from 1821 registered 104 Jewish families. The 1852 Census registered 562 Jewish inhabitants. The 1930 Census registered 5925 Jewish inhabitants. In 1941, the Jews were deported to Transnistria. Prominent residents include Max Blecher (writer/scribe); Sergiu Celibidache (dirijor); Razvan Theodorescu (istoric). This Jewish cemetery was established in the 18th century. The last known Jewish burial in cemetery was in 1999. The unlandmarked Conservative cemetery is 1 km from the congregation that used it. com. Gîdinti (Neamt judet); com. Horia (Neamt judet); Sagna (Neamt judet); Dulcesti (Neamt judet); Cordun (Neamt judet); and Sabaoani (Neamt judet) also used this cemetery.

The isolated urban flat land has a sign in Romanian mentioning Jews, the Jewish Community, and famous individuals buried in cemetery and symbols on wall and gate. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission. A continuous masonry wall and a gate that locks surround the site. The pre- and post-WWII size is 250 m X 150 m. About 15,000 graves are visible in the cemetery. 1 to 20 are not in original location. More than 75% are toppled or broken. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access. Water drainage is good all year. No special sections.

The gravestones date from 1803 through the 20th century. Marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, slate, and other material are rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, and flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, sculpted tombstones, and multistone monuments. Some have traces of painting on their surfaces, with iron decorations or lettering, with other metallic elements, and/or metal fences around graves. Inscriptions are in Hebrew, Yiddish, German, and Romanian. The cemetery has a monument to Jewish soldiers.

The national Jewish community owns the cemetery now used for Jewish cemetery purposes only. Properties adjacent are commercial, agricultural, or industrial and residential. Boundaries are smaller because the Moldova River flooded the rear of the cemetery. Frequently, private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) and local residents stop.

The cemetery was vandalized. Care has been annual cleaning stones, clearing vegetation, fixing of fence and gate by Jewish individuals abroad and the local caretaker. Current care is occasional clearing pr cleaning by individuals and regular unpaid caretaker paid by the government by the use of the cemetery house. The separate preburial house has a tahara (table), a catafalque, and wall inscriptions.

Weather erosion, pollution, and vegetation are moderate threats.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Clinicilor str., no. 19, Cluj, Romania, tel. 064/190107 completed the survey on July 22, 2000 using the following documentation:

  • Leonida Colescu, Analiza rezultatelor recensamîntului general al populatiei Romaniei de la 1899, cu o prefată de Sabin Manuila, Bucuresti, Institutul de statistica, 1944.
  • I.M. Dinescu, Fiii neamului de la 1859 la 1915. Statistica sociala pe întelesul tuturora, Iasi, Institutul de Arte Grafice N.V.Stefaniu, 1920.
  • Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities Romania, I-II, Jerusalem, 1980.
  • D. Ivanescu, Populatia evreiască din orasele si tîrgurile Moldovei între 1774-1832 , în "Studia et acta historiae iudaeorum Romaniae", II, Bucuresti, Edit.Hasefer, 1997, p. 59-65.
  • George I. Lahovari, Marele dictionar geografic al Romaniei, 5 vol., Bucuresti, Edit.Socec, 1899.
  • E. Schwarzfeld, Din istoria evreilor: împopularea, reîmpopularea si întemeierea tîrgurilor si tîrgusoarelor în Moldova, Bucuresti, 1894.

N. Sutu, Notiti statistice asupra Moldaviei, Iasi, 1852.

He visited on July 16, 2000 and interviewed Petrisor Vasile, Roman, str. Bogdan Dragos no. 184. [June 2002]

 

[UPDATE] Photos by Charles Burns [April 2016]

 

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Parent Category: EASTERN EUROPE