\nThe
\narchitect Irina Nem\u0163eanu recently published a study entitled
\nAspects of habitation of the Jewish community in Moldavia
\n(1775-1930) in
\nwhich she looks at the way of life of Moldavia’s old Jewish
\ncommunities.
\nHer endeavour started from her realisation that the history of
\nmulticulturalism in the Romanian lands had an influence on the local
\nurban fabric and architecture.
\n<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nWith
\nrespect to the history of Jewish
\nmigration to Moldavia, this
\naspect also depended on the social and economic policies pursued by
\nthe different foreign occupations that dominated historical Moldavia:
\nthe Habsburg, Ottoman and Russian empires. The Jews began to settle
\nher even before 1775, when the migration waves intensified. They
\nbenefited from a certain policy of the Ottoman empire, which had
\nsovereignty over the principality of Moldavia and thus held a
\nmonopoly on the international sale of many goods that came from
\nMoldavia. Under the circumstances, the settlement of foreign
\nmerchants in these parts – and who were not subject to the monopoly
\nimposed on the locals – gave an impetus to
\ntrading
\nwith
\nareas outside of the empire and made the Moldavian route one of the
\nmost important trading routes in the region.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nIrina
\nNem\u021beanu explains in more details how the Jews came to settle in
\nMoldavia as a result of the regional policy of the big empires:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nhistory of these communities in
\nMoldavia does not begin at the end of the 18th
\ncentury, but much earlier. We know there existed older communities in
\nSiret and Ia\u0219i
\nfrom as early as the 17th
\ncentury. What happens at the end of the 18th
\ncentury is that the phenomenon was becoming much more visible at an
\nurban level. A very large number of communities began to migrate to
\nMoldavia as part of a certain context, which explains many things
\nthat have to do with the areas outside of Moldavia. I’m also
\nspeaking of the fact that the Habsburg Empire took over a number of
\nterritories, including Bukovina, as well as of the area of resistance
\nin the Russian empire, for example. We should also take into account
\nthe various restrictions faced by the Jewish communities who wanted a
\ncertain amount of freedom of habitation and of practising trade,
\nfreedom they were more likely to find in Moldavia. In certain
\nrespects, the situation here was better than what was happening
\nelsewhere.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nQuite
\na few market towns had developed in time in Moldavia, which had been
\ncrossed, as early as the Middle Ages, by a series of important
\ninternational commercial routes. The Jews settled in the proximity of
\nthese market towns, even resuscitating some of them which had become
\nimpoverished. Irina Nem\u021beanu explains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nOn
\nthe one hand, I’m referring to Moldavia’s major market towns
\nwhich acquired a new role from the beginning of the 19th
\ncentury owing to a special political and economic context, places
\nlike Ia\u0219i, Roman, Dorohoi and other big settlements. On the other
\nhand, a series of smaller towns began to develop in this changed
\neconomic context and which grew in fact as settlements with a
\ncommercial role near already existing villages and in some cases on
\nthe land of Moldavian boyars. There are many such places: Podu
\nIloaiei, Frumu\u0219ica in Ia\u0219i county, \u0218tef\u0103ne\u0219ti, Bere\u0219ti. There
\nare very many examples that in effect demonstrate that this was a
\nwider phenomenon, although also developing depending on certain
\nperiods and the waves of immigration of these communities, which were
\nmainly made up of merchants and numbered many Jews.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nJewish houses and shops in the area were typical of merchant homes
\neverywhere: the shop on the ground floor and the residential quarters
\neither upstairs or at the back. Architect Irina Nem\u021beanu tells us
\nmore about the characteristics of the Jewish districts in these
\nmarket towns:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nWe
\ncan’t really talk of a Jewish architectural style, but we can say
\nthere were certain common elements throughout the region. A defining
\nfeature is a systematic organisation of certain functions around a
\nbusy commercial route and the intention to hide the ethnic and
\nreligious aspect. This latter aspect also had to do with the host
\ncountry, which imposed certain rules for the integration of this
\ncommunity. On the other hand, at least until the mid 19th
\ncentury, the Jewish communities probably tended to hide their places
\nof worship. This is why the synagogues were most often located
\nsomewhere in the background, not visible, but hidden behind the
\nhouses and the shops. It’s also for this reason, in fact, that
\nuntil early 20th
\ncentury, owing to this characteristic of the Jewish communities, they
\nwere to be found especially on the outskirts of the city.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nGiven
\nthis tendency for the Jewish communities to hide the religious aspect
\nof their way of life, what can be said about the cohabitation of the
\nJews with the majority population? Architect Irina Nem\u021beanu
\nexplains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThere
\nare two different aspects. On the one hand, these communities lived
\nin market towns, where habitation would be naturally diffuse, mixed,
\nso they would have established connections with other allogeneic or
\nindigenous groups. The settlement was in fact a cultural melting pot.
\nOn the other hand, owing to the fact that these communities were the
\nmost numerous in the market towns, the latter appeared as if they
\nwere almost Jewish settlements. It wasn’t necessarily an intention,
\nbut the result of the settling of people who somehow shared a common
\ncultural past.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nappearance of these former market towns is much changed today, with
\nmany of the Jewish houses having disappeared in time. Those that are
\nstill standing are in need of conservation and promotion as part of
\nthe historical and ethnic context in which they first emerged.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New book looks at the way of life of Moldavia’s Jewish communities going back to the 18th century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":123226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-170218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n