Saturday, January 26, 2008

Keeping the Memory of the Beltsy Jewry Tragedy




August 7, 2006 was 65 years from 1941, when a tragedy took place for Beltsy Jewish people between Tammuz 17 and Av 9. Over 3,500 Jews who lived in Beltsy were driven to Reutsel Forest, 22 kilometers from the town. The elderly, women and children were thrown by Romanian Nazis behind the barbed wire. Hundreds of them were shot or died of starvation and thirst. Others were driven off to concentration camps and ghettos outside Moldova. Romanian generals reported that Beltsy was “Judenfrei”.
65 years passed. Dozens members of today’s Beltsy Jewish community and inhabitants of Reutsel village gathered at the memorial stone laid on the place of the future monument.

78-years old Philip, who lives in Reutsel, was a witness of the tragic events. “My brother and I tried to help people behind the wire. We threw them ears of corn and the guards lashed us.”
After saying Kadish (a Jewish memorial prayer) and singing “Atikva” (the National Anthem of the State of Israel) people lit candles. Then, witnesses of the tragedy led the groups and showed where the barracks of the concentration camp stood and the places where prisoners dug graves for themselves.
People walked in the forest listening to the leaves rustle, a voice of their hearts and an echo of the tragedy that is never gone.

From the below web site:
http://jewish.md/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=130&Itemid=2

Association of the Jewish Organizations of Beltsy

Established – 1989.
Chairman – Lev Bondari
Phone – (373-31) - 25270,
e-mail – AOE_beltsy@mail.ru

In 1998 the Jewish Culture Society established in 1989 was reorganized into Association of the Jewish Organizations of Beltsy. Association unites: JCC, Hava women organization, association of former ghetto prisoners, association of World War veterans, Hesed Yakov, religious community, JAFI and Israeli Cultural center branches. In 2000 twinning of Beltsy with Greensboro Federation, USA was established. It is an important example of a small Moldovan community partnership relations with an American Federation. Thanks to the generous financial assistance of Greensboro Jewish Federation, Jewish Campus was opened in Beltsy in 2005. Jewish Campus director – Polina Raspitina.
JCC programs: Kabbalat Shabbat · Jewish tradition · Summer family retreat · Intellectual games · Hebrew classes · English classes · Family club · Youth club · Cinema club · Computer classes · Jewish dance group · Applied art studio · Sport sections: tennis, chess · Art studio · Musical programs
Welfare Center “Hesed Yakov”

In August, 2005 Moldova was visited by members of the Greensboro Jewish Federation, North Carolina, USA, in the framework of Greensboro-Beltsy partnership.
Besides participating in the “DELET 5” family Retreat the guests had the opportunity to visit Jewish Organizations in Kishinev and Beltsy, do home visits to the clients, visit Jewish historical places and monuments. The VIP mission included Deborah Kintzing, Director of Campaign and Community Relations; Natalie Ross, Chairman of the 2006 Greensboro Jewish Federation; Doug Dodd, Member Board of Trustees Greensboro Federation; Robin Lecin, Member of Beth David Synagogue. On August,14 they all participated in the Beltsy Campus opening ceremony.

Established - 1997.

Board Chairman – Efim Groisman.

Hesed Director - Polina Raspitina.

Phone – (373-31) - 21278, fax – 26394,

e-mail – hesed@mtc-bl.md

Welfare programs: Number of clients in the city (incl. children and periphery) – 855 · Food packages · Meals-on-Wheels · Hot meals · Fresh food sets · Home care services · Winter relief · Warm homes · Medical equipment loan · Medical consultations · Medicines distribution · SOS · Day center · Hesed-on-Wheels (44 locations, 9 routes) · Club programs.

Religious community: Religious services - Roman Soibelis. Administrator – Alexander Fisman. Phone – (373-31) – 27054.Up to 55 people gather on Shabbat, Jewish holidays and prayers.

Kishinev Genealogy Addresses

Archives
Arhiva Nationala a Republicii Moldovei (Moldovan National Archives)
str. Gheorghe Asachi, Nr. 67-B
Chisinau 277028
Republica Moldova
Tel.: 00373-22-73-58-27
Tel.: 00373-22-72-97-93
Fax: 00373-22-73-58-36

Open 08:00 - 12:30, 13:30 - 17:00. Closed Sat, Sun.

The archive is unable to undertake research requests by mail. Visit, or hire a private researcher. See Avotaynu XIII:2 (Summer 1997), p. 67.
ZAGS Archive or Department of ZAGS (Otdel Zapisi Aktov Grazhdanskogo Sostoyaniya)

Vital records are registered in the ZAGS office, which is usually located in the local town hall or mayor's office. Jewish vital records registered after World War II were incorporated into the general registrations of the entire town.” (Weiner, Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldavia, p. 38). The use of these records is subject to strict state regulation and access to them for genealogical purposes cannot be guarenteed. If you want to try to use them see the advice Miram Weiner gives in Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldavia on page 38. The vital records are called metrical books and each town maintains its own set, except for the smallest towns in which case they were maintained in a larger town or city nearby. Kishinev, being a large city, contains the metrical books for many smaller surrounding towns.

Note: To contact a specific ZAGS office in towns throughout Moldova, first write to the above office, specifiy the town that interests you (using current spelling) and request address, telephone number and name of director of the ZAGS office in that town. Make your inquiry very brief as few people in this office are fluent in English. Then write to director of the ZAGS office in the town that interests you, again keeping your inquiry brief and specific.

Arhiva Actelor Starii Civile (Archives of Ancient Acts)
31 August Street, Nr. 82
Chisinau 277019
Republica Moldova
Tel/Fax: 373/0422/23-70-50
(holder of civil registrations)

Libraries
Biblioteca Evreiasca “I. Maier” (I. Manger Jewish Library)
Bul. Renasterii, Nr. 4
Chisinau 2005
Republica Moldova
Tel.: 22-15-02

Biblioteca Nationala a Moldovei (National Library of Moldova)
str. 31 August, Nr. 78
Chisinau 2012
Republica Moldova
Tel.: 22-51-11

Biblioteca Centrala Stiintifica a Academiei Stiinte a Moldovei
(Central Scientific Library of the Moldovan Scientific Academy)
Bul. Stefan cel Mare, Nr. 1
Chisinau 2001
Republica Moldova
Tel.: 26-42-79

Biblioteca Nationala Universitarii de stat a Moldovei
(Scientific Library of Moldova State University)
str. A. Matievici, Nr. 60
Chisinau 2009
Republica Moldova
Tel.: 27-07-89; 25-12-10

State Archive of Chernivtsy Oblast
ul. Shevchenka 2
Chernivtsy 274000, Ukraine
Tel.: 380/3722/2-30-29

Kamyanets Podilsky City-State Archives
ul. Frantsiskanska 14
Kamyanets Podilsky 32300, Ukraine
Tel.: 380/3849/2-10-45

Russian State Historical Archives
Angliiskaia nab. (formerly Krasnogo Flota), 4
St. Petersburg 190000 Russia
Tel.: 7/812/311-0926; Fax: 7/812/311-2252
E-mail: rgia@NP7758.spb.edu
Website: http://www.rusarchives.ru/federal/rgia/
Also see: Russian State Historical Archive (International Institute of Social History)

Addresses and Phone Numbers
Friends of Kishinev Jewry (US)
720 Lefferts Ave. #2
Brooklyn, NY 11203
Tel/Fax: (718)756-0458
email: kishinev.jewry@worldnet.att.net
Website: http://kishinev.lk.net/FKJ.html (accessed June 24, 2006)

Kishinev Synagogue - (3732)22-12-15

Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of the Republic of Moldova (AJOCRM)
Teodor Magder, Executive director

All-Israel Association of Jewish Immigrants from Moldova
Yefrem Bauch, head

Institute for Ethnic Research of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova (IER AS RM)
Doctor of History Ivan Bodrug, Director
Professor Yakov Kopansky, chief research officer
Vladimir Anikin, senior research officer
Dr. Rita Kleiman, director of the department for history and culture of the Jews of Moldova
Dr. Clara Jignea, senior researcher of the Department of Jewish History and Culture of Moldova

“Hesed Yehuda” charity fund (Chisinau)

Center for Research of the History of the Jews of Romania, of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania
Leah Benjamin, research officer

“Beit Bessarabia” foundation (=World Union of Bessarabian Jews)
Dr. Dani Korn, director and chairman

Moldova Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities
(=Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of the Moldovan Republic)
Jacob Tichman, chairman
Semion Schoikhet, chairman (June 2003)

Moldova Jewish Congress (Jewish Congress of Moldova)
Alexander Pinchevsky, resident


"We are going to pay considerable attention to charitable activities, coordinate and finance educational, cultural and social projects, attract youth to Jewish life, develop relationships with Jewish organizations both in Moldova and abroad as well as pay attention to training professional employees who will work for the Community” says Pinchevsky.
“KEDEM” Chisinau Jewish Community Center

Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC)
Alexander Machkevitch, president
Web site: http://www.eajc.org/index_e.php (accessed June 24, 2006)

The Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 1376
Secaucus, NJ 07096-1376
http://www.rtrfoundation.org/ (accessed June 24, 2006)

Historical Organizations
American Union of Roumanian Jews, a Federation of Roumanian Jews, Federations of Bessarabian Organizations

The Bessarabian Federation of American Jews was dissolved in the 1950s. Refer to A Guide to YIVO's Landsmanshaftn Archive for information about the records of this group and two other Bessarabian landsmanshaftn. Also, write to YIVO Institute for the current address of the National Council for Bessarabian Jews which many members of the Bessarabian Federation of American Jews joined when that group dissolved. (EP)

Besaraber Landsleyt-farayn in Argentine

Goldstein Centre for the History Of the Jews in Romania

Other Key Institutions
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS)
104 Franklin Avenue
Yonders, NY 10705
http://www.iajgs.org/ (accessed June 24, 2006)

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
212 246-6080
http://www.yivoinstitute.org/ (accessed June 24, 2006)

Center for Jewish History
New York, NY

The Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center at Beth Hatefutsoth
(The Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora) Tel Aviv, Israel
Website: http://www.bh.org.il/Genealogy/index.aspx (accessed June 24, 2006)
About: http://www.isragen.org.il/ROS/ARCHIVES/archive-beit-hatefuzot-2.html (accessed June 24, 2006)
Description of activities


Family trees can be registered with the Center’s database, free of charge, by uploading GEDCOM files from any genealogy software program directly on the website of the museum: www.bh.org.il/Genealogy/howtosendged.aspx
Yad Vashem
P.O.B. 3477
Jerusalem 91034 Israel
Phone: 972-2-644-3712
Fax: 972-2-644-3669
E-mail: holocaust.resources@yadvashem.org.il
Website: http://yadvashem.org/ (accessed June 24, 2006)
About: http://www.isragen.org.il/ROS/ARCHIVES/archive-yad-vy-3.html (accessed June 24, 2006)

Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
Address: 46 Jabotinsky Street, Jerusalem
(ppposite the President's residence)
P.O.B 1149, Jerusalem 91010, Israel
Phone: 972-2-5635716
Fax: 972-2-5667686
E-mail: archives@vms.huji.ac.il
Website: http://sites.huji.ac.il/archives/ (accessed June 24, 2006)
About: http://www.isragen.org.il/ROS/ARCHIVES/archive-CAHJP-2.html (accessed June 24, 2006)

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW
Washington, DC 20024
http://www.ushmm.org/ (accessed June 24, 2006)

New York Public Library
42nd Street & Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
http://catnyp.nypl.org/ (accessed June 24, 2006)

Researchers in Moldova

Dr. Clara Jignea is a senior researcher of the Department of Jewish
History and Culture of Moldova at the Institute of Inter-Ethnic
Research at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Dr. Jignea is a
specialist in the Jewish history of Bessarabia during the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries. She is the author of several articles
about the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903.

Professor Yakov Kopansky is the director of the Department of
Jewish History and Culture of Moldova at the Institute of Inter-
Ethnic Research at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Professor
Kopansky is the author of the book Joint in Bessarabia: Pages of History
(Kishinev: Liga, 1994); the article “Image of Bessarabian Jewry
during the Inter-War Period” (Tel Aviv, 1996, in Hebrew); and a
series of other publications on the Jewish history of twentieth-century
Moldova. Professor Kopansky is also the chairman of the board of
the philanthropic center Hesed Yehuda.

Semion Shoikhet is the chairman of the Association of Jewish
Organizations and Communities of the Republic of Moldova and
emeritus architect of Moldova. Mr. Shoikhet has designed general
construction plans for the cities of Kishinev, Beltsy, Bendery,
Dubossary, Kahul, Rybnitsa, Tiraspol and others; many buildings;
and various monuments devoted to historical events and famous
people, including the memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of
the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903 and the memorial complex devoted
to those who died in the Kishinev Ghetto.

Jewish Communities in Moldova

The information below is adapted from the website of the Federation of Jewish Communities.
http://www.fjc.ru/Communities/instIndex.asp?cid=89094

Association of Jewish Communities
Semen Shoikhet

Synagogue
Chabad Lyubavich
str. 8
Kishinev, Moldova 270005
Tel.: (377 2) 54-10-23
Fax: (377 2) 54-10-20
Rabbi Zalman Abelsky

There is a Jewish Community Center Bieltsy.

There is a Jewish Community Center Kishinev.
http://www.manger.araxinfo.com/program_en.php?theme=museum

JCC Director, Anna Batsmanova
4 Diorditsa Street
2005, Kishinev Moldova
manger@araxinfo.com
The following organizations have also been established in Moldova since 1992:

• Kishinev Jewish Library
• Organization of Jewish Veterans of World War II
• Organization of Former Refugees
• Women’s organization HAVA
• Society of Jewish Culture
• Association of Former Prisoners of Concentration Camps and Ghettos
• Federation of Jewish Religious Communities
• Educational University of Jewish Culture
• TV program Af der Yiddisher gas (“On the Jewish Street”)
• Radio program Yiddish lebn (“Jewish Life”)

Two rabbis serve in Moldova, both based in Chisinau: Chabad Rabbi Zalman Abelsky is Chief Rabbi of Moldova and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Moldova. He has been in Chisinau since the early 1990s. Rabbi Moshe Budilovsky, who is associated with Agudat Israel, arrived in 1997. He is widely admired for his outreach efforts.

Chabad Lubavitch maintains synagogues in Chisinau and Tiraspol and is active throughout Moldova. The movement runs one of the two Jewish day schools in Moldova – the 250-student Jewish School #15, a rabbinical school operated through the synagogue, and two pre-schools. In addition, Chabad runs several welfare and supplementary education programs and publishes a monthly newspaper, Istoky (“Roots”).

Agudath Israel, under the leadership of Rabbi Budilovsky, operates the yeshiva high school, Torat Emet, where up to 200 boys and girls are separated into two programs. The Yeshiva is located in the same building as the once famous synagogue and yeshiva of the pre-World War II era that was headed by Rabbi Leib Yehuda Tsirelson. Rabbi Tsirelson was killed on the first day of Germany’s invasion by a bomb. The Torat Emet stands across from a large sports stadium in which Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

Jewish School #22, established in 1991, educates up to 300 students. This school was established by the Israeli government’s Lishkat Hakesher (Nativ) as part of its Maavar (Tsofia) program. World ORT established technology and media centers within the school in 2001. These Jewish schools are all funded in part by the Moldovan government and the Israeli Cultural Center. At least eight Jewish Sunday schools operate throughout Moldova – three in the capital, and one each in Bender, Soroky, Beltsy, Rybnitsa and Tiraspol.

The Israeli Embassy’s Israeli Cultural Center operates in Chisinau, and the Israeli Government and Moldovan Education Ministry jointly run a school to prepare children for aliyah. Jewish Agency For Israel also has a presence and runs Nesharim summer camps and winter seminars on Jewish history and tradition. Israel’s Open University, sponsored by JDC, is based in the capital, while Chisinau State University and the Academy of Sciences each have a Judaica department. More generally, Jewish programs are included in Moldovan university curricula, though a critical shortage of teachers and funding threatens these programs.

The Jewish Cultural Center
4 Diorditsa Street
Phone: 011-373-22-224-814

Gleizer Sheel (The Glaziers Synagogue)
8 Chabad Lubavitch Street
Phone: 373-22-541-052
Fax: 373-22-226-131
This was the only fuctioning synagogue under the Soviets. It is beautifully decorated, according to ancicent tradition, with painted signs of the zodiac. The Gleizer Sheel is led by Rabbi Zalman Abelsky of Israel.

The Ghetto Memorial
Jerusalem 3000 Street
Memorials take place every year here onYom Hashoah.

Contacts
Yeshiva of Kishinev
Shutafa 5 277001
Kishinev
Phone: 264-238, 264-331

Kishinev Synagogue
Yakimovsky per. 8 277000
Phone: 221-215

Teleneshty Synagogue
4 28th June Street

Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce Vital Decords from Bieltsy

According to the Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation's web site (as of this date), there are records available in two archives - Moldova National Archives and the Archives of Ancient Acts.
http://www.rtrfoundation.org/SrchResults2.asp?rbSearchBy=DMSearch&txtTown=bieltsy&Town_Submit.x=53&Town_Submit.y=9&Town2=BELTSY

Moldova National Archives
67b Gheorghe Asachi Street
Kishinev 277028, Republic of Moldova
Tel: 373/0422/73-58-27

Archives of Ancient Acts (civil registrations)
82, 31 August Street
Kishinev 277019, Republic of Moldova
Tel/Fax: 373/0422/23-70-50

Birth records are available for the following years in the Moldova National Archives - 1845; 1854-1861; 1863; 1865; 1867-1879; 1882-1883; 1889; 1891; 1893-1901
Birth records are available for the following years in the Archives of Ancient Acts - 1892 - 1929

Death records are available for the following years in the Moldova National Archives - 1858; 1860; 1867; 1877; 1887-1892; 1893; 1901; 1905; 1908
Death records are available for the following years in the Archives of Ancient Acts - 1913-1914; 1917; 1919-1922; 1924-1929

Marriage records are available for the following years in the Moldova National Archives - 1845; 1854-1881; 1885; 1887-1888; 1890 (ALPHA INDEX 1855-1869); 1894-1896; 1903-1905; 1908
Marriage records are available for the following years in the Archives of Ancient Acts - 1909-1912; 1914-1929

Divorce records are available for the following years in the Moldova National Archives - 1879

Photographs of Bieltsy - Yesterday and Today

If anyone has photographs of Bieltsy or knows where on some web page there are any photographs, please post a comment or send me an e-mail message at binenbaum@earthlink.net (to post a comment go to the bottom of this posting and click on the red word "comments").

Synagogues in Bieltsy

If anyone has information about a synagogues that was either in existence or is still in existence, please post a comment or send me an e-mail message at binenbaum@earthlink.net (to post a comment go to the bottom of this posting and click on the red word "comments").

Surnames of Our Ancestors from Bieltsy

If you know of any additional Surnames and would like to add one or more Surnames, post a comment or send me an e-mail message at binenbaum@earthlink.net (to post a comment go to the bottom of this posting and click on the red word "comments").

Abramovici, Ackerman, Adelstein, As, Azrilevich

Banchik, Banchuk, Barr, Batushansky, Bavli, Belsky, Belt, Beltz, Benembaum, Benenbaum, Bienembaum, Bienenbaum, Binembaum, Binenbaum, Binnenbaum, Bonchik, Bonchuk, Borr, Braiman, Braunstein, Braverman, Brayman, Broner, Bronshteyn, Bryman

Cantor, Cera, Chijner, Chokler, Cogan, Crasneansky, Creimerman

Dansker, Dasevschi, Dats, Doctorovich, Ducach

Edelstein

Faerstein, Faiman, Fayton, Feigis, Feiner, Feldman, Fidler, Fingeret, Fingerhut, Fishler, Fleet, Freedman, Friedman, Fuchs

Galanter, Galitski, Garber, Geinberg, Gelfand, Gellman, Germansky, Giterman, Gitis, Glassman, Gleiser, Goffman, Goichman, Goldenberg, Goldener, Goldman, Gontar, Goziker, Greenberg, Greenspan, Grinfeld, Grinspun, Grobman, Grosslerner, Grumberg

Hecker, Heller, Hoffman, Horwitz

Jasper, Javelberg, Jivilik

Kaster, Katz, Kerenblum, Kerman, Kleiman, Kodransky, Korenstein, Kornstein, Kosick, Kozak, Kramerman, Krasniansky, Krasnynasky, Kreymerman, Kushner, Kushnir

Landman, Learman, Leibowitz, Lembert, Levenson, Levensun, Lieberman, Louis, Lubarsky

Malajeschter, Massis, Meiseles, Melman, Meyer, Micinik, Mogilevskiy, Mogilevsky

Nisman, Nissenbaum, Nosikovsky

Okstein, Oxengorn

Penenbaum, Pilch, Piltch, Pinchevsky, Polonewsky

Raier, Ramras, Rapoport, Reffkin, Refkin, Revcolevsky, Roisner, Roitman, Rokach, Rokeach, Ronis, Rosenbaum, Rosenfeld, Rosenzweig, Rothman, Rubin, Russowsky

Saltzman, Scheinfeld, Scheinfeld, Schneidman, Schoenfeld, Schushansky, Seligman, Shnaidman, Shoshansky, Shushansky, Shuster, Simborg, Simchovitz, Singer, Sleepak, Slepak, Slipak, Sorin, Stiberman, Stivelmacher, Stoleru, Streidelman, Strogatz, Sushansky, Sussman

Trachtenberg, Trager

Vaida, Vainer, Vainstein, Varzar, Varzer, Vaynshteyn, Vcherashnia, Veksler, Vishniak, Voloch

Waida, Wainer, Wantman, Wechsler, Weinstein, Weintraub, Weiser, Weiss, Weitzman, Winthrop

Yashan, Yaskin, Yavelberg, Yoelson, Yulman

Zaltzman, Zaslawsky, Zaslover, Zibelowsky, Zibowsky, Zieselman, Zilberman, Zisselman

Searching for Our Jewish Ancestors from Bieltsy

As of this date, there are 126 people who are searching for 223 ancesors who at one time might have been born, died, married or lived in Bieltsy.

A list of these 126 researchers and their contact information can be found at the below UR: (you have to be a member of JewishGen to access the information):
http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~jgff~~[FEATURE]-2276030:BALTI~MOLD~ST~ALL


To join JewishGen for FREE (you do not have to be Jewish) go to the below URL:http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~jgff~~[FEATURE]-1035317:BELZ~UKR~ST~ALL

Friday, January 25, 2008

Web Sites with Information about Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi

http://www.europe-east.com/balkan/ebalti.shtml
http://www.loc.gov/rr/european/phonemo/molfondr.html
http://www.manger.araxinfo.com/news_en.php

Memorial, Rememberance, Yizkor Book of Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi

There is a Balti Memorial Book that was published in 1993 in Jerusalem, Israel by the Agudat Yots'e Beltsi. It is 655 pages and in Hebrew and Yiddish.

The original title is Sefer Beltsi Basarabia: yad ve-zekher le-yahadut Beltsi. The English title is Balti Basarabia: a memorial of the Jewish community.

This is a collection of articles.
Chapter 1 (pp. 27-87) discusses the history of the Jewish community of Balti from its establishment in the 1780s, including anti-Jewish legislation under Russian rule in the 1880s and under Romanian rule in the interwar period.
Chapters 2-6 deal with Jewish communal life.
Chapter 7 (pp. 560-655) contains testimonies of Holocaust survivors from Balti, relating their experiences during World War II.

There is no known English translation of this Memorial Book. It would be nice to have a complete English translation of this Memorial Book. If there are any additional people who would like to see an English translation of this Memorial Book, please post your comments here.

Copies of this Memorial Book are know to be located in the following libraries:


  • Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, , Israel, Call No: D47(498.5)
  • New York Public Library, Jewish Division, New York, NY, United States, Call No: *PXW+(Beltsy) 95-2708
  • British Library, London, , England
  • Price Library of Judaica, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
  • YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Library, New York, NY, United States, Call No: /88100
  • Yale University Library, Judaica Collection, New Haven, CT, United States

The Memorial Book can be purchased at Book Gallery, Jerusalem (Book number: A 200 024) for about US$ 95.00 - http://www.bookgallery.co.il/content/english/bookpageschema.asp?BookPageID=46472 .

The above information was found at http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~yizkor~Bălţi~TE

Photographs of Bieltsy - Yesterday and Today

Does anyone have any photographs of Bieltsy?

History of Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi

http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Colonies_of_Ukraine/Beltsy.htm
Beltz
Belz, Beltsy
Located NW of Odessa; NW of Kishinev
A City in Bessarabia, Moldava, known in Romanian as Balti. The city was in Romania from 1918 - 40 and from 1941 - 44. Jews were invited to live there in 1779 when an urban nucleus was formed in what was then a village.
The community numbered 3,124 in 1864 and had grown to 10,348 in 1897 (560f the total population) even though Jewish domicile was limited by legislation and Jews were often expelled from the city as illegal residents. As an outcome of these expulsions, coupled with economic difficulties, many Jews from Beltsy emigrated toward the end of the 19th century, including a group to Eretz Israel. In 1847 a Jewish state school was opened in Beltsy. a talmud torah, founded in 1889, provided instruction in both Jewish and general subjects. By the 1930's Jewish educational institutions included a kindergarten, three elementary schools, and two secondary schools, for boys and girls. Welfare institutions included a hospital and old - age home. The Jews in Beltsy were mainly occupied in commerce and crafts; some living in the vicinity engaged in agriculture. The Jewish population numbered 14,259 (4620030054f the total) in 1930.When Bessarabia passed to Russia in June 1940, the communal organization was disbanded.
The Holocaust Period and After
In June 1941, about two - thirds of the town's buildings were destroyed in German and Romanian air raids. The Jews fled to the nearby villages, mainly to Vlad. On July 7, a gang of Vlad peasants fell upon homes sheltering the refugees, murdered the occupants and set fire to the houses. The next day, a group of Romanian soldiers came upon 50 Jews on the road to Beltsy, drove them into the swamps and shot them to death. Beltsy was captured by the Germans on July 9 and those Jews who had returned were deported to a concentration camp. The same day ten Jews who had been taken as hostages were executed. The Gestapo also asked the ghetto committee to furnish a list of 20 "Jewish communists" who were to be put to death. When they refused to do so, all the committee members, together with another group of 44 Jews, were forced to dig their own graves and shot. Twenty more Jews were shot by the Germans on July 16. On July 11, 1941 all the surviving Jews were concentrated in the courtyard of the Moldova Bank. The Romanian guards who took over transferred them from their to an internment camp in the Rautel forest, some seven and a half miles (12 km.) from the town. Many of the inmates died from starvation and disease. By August 30, 1941, only 8,941 Jews were left in the entire district (as against the 31,916 residing there according to the 1930 census). They were concentrated in three camps, and later on all were deported to Transnistria. Even the Jewish tombstones were removed from the cemetery in Beltsy to erase all traces of the Jewish inhabitants of the town, Jews returned to Beltsy after the war. The only synagogue was closed by the authorities in 1959 and the Jewish cemetery was badly neglected. In 1962 militia broke into a house where Jews had assembled for prayer; those attending were taken to the public square where communist youth had been gathered to jeer them. Their children were expelled from school.
Courtesy of:"Encyclopedia Judaica"©1972, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem LtdJerusalem, Israel

formerly Belts, also spelled Beltsy, or Belcy, city, northern Moldova, on the Raut (Reut) River. Balti, dating from the 15th century, is a major railway junction and the centre of the rich agricultural Balti Steppe. Most industries are concerned with processing farm produce, notably flour milling, sugar refining, and wine making, but furniture, agricultural machinery, and fur clothing also are made. Balti has a teacher-training institute and a medical school. Pop. (1991 est.) 164,900.

Jewish Cemetery of Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi

Alternate name: Beltsy. 4746 2756 Beltsy/Balti/Baltsy/Belci/Beltsi/Byelcy/Bielce/Belzy in Beltsy Raion. Source: Goberman, David. Carved Memories: Heritage in Stone from the Russian Jewish Pale. NY: Rizzoli, 2000
http://www.routestoroots.com/html/beltsy.html has photo of cemetery.

Rabbis of Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi

Rabbi Averbukh http://books.google.com/books?id=bJBH5pxzSyMC&pg=PA271&lpg=PA271&dq=(baltsi%7Cbaltsy%7Cbel)+(tsy%7Cbelts%7Cbeltsi%7Cbeltsy%7Cbeltz%7Cbelzy%7Cbieltsi%7Cbyelcy%7Cbyelcy)+and+population&source=web&ots=xYwaCjDKGL&sig=NQAIv8MR_Uo-DyxD3y-42DQLdJM

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Population of Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi

Baltsi OR Baltsy OR Bel’tsy OR Belts' OR Beltsi OR Beltsy OR Beltz OR Belzy OR Bieltsi OR Byelcy OR Byelcy AND population

145,900 in 2007
162,000 in 1990
118,690
1897 total 18,457 with 10.350 jews or 56%
1864 Jewish population was 3,124
1930 Jewish population was 14,256 or 46.2%

Nearby Jewish Communities - 1930

Alexăndreni 7 miles ENE
Frumuşica 16 miles NNE
Mărculeşti 17 miles ENE
Făleşti 17 miles SW
Dumbrăviţa 21 miles SSE
Valea lui Vlad 22 miles SSE
Rîşcani 22 miles NW
Chetrosu 22 miles N
Ştefăneşti 23 miles E
Dumbrăveni 24 miles NE
Zguriţa 24 miles N
Căpreşti 25 miles E
Mihălaşa 26 miles SE
Pohoarna 27 miles E
Lucăceni 27 miles SW
Stoicani 27 miles NE
Teleneşti 27 miles SE
Briceva 27 miles NNW
Cornova 28 miles SSE
Bivolari, Romania 28 miles SW
Corneşti 29 miles S

Location of Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi (written description)

Bălţi (Бэлць) Moldova or Romanian, Bel'tsy (Бельцы) Russian, Belz (Yiddish), Bielce (Polish), also can be written as Baltsi, Baltsy, Bel'cy, Bel’tsy, Belts', Beltsi, Beltsy, Beltz, Belz', Belzy, Bieltsi, Byelcy or Byelcy. There are two Russian names - the older one is Бельцы (Bel'tsy), the newer, and quite often used spelling is Бэлць (Belts').

The name might derive from the marshland with the same name near the town. The town is also referred to as the Capital of the North.

The town straddles the small river Răut, a tributary of the Dniestr, which is flowing eastwards direction. Due to occasional floods, the river was straightened and dams were erected. The town itself occupies a small valley and is surrounded by rolling hills. Around the town, the very fertile Chernosem ('black soil') allows intensive agriculture. The area around the town is also called Bălţi Steppe.

Bieltsy is today the third largest city in Moldova.

Bălţi is an industrial town surrounded by huge factories. However, many of the factories seem to have shut down years ago. Next to the industrial complexes there are many rather dull residential areas. Some parts of the suburbs are characterized by very poor looking tiny huts. The center itself is quite spacious. The main road is the long Boulevard Ştefan cel Mare. The oldest buildings of the town line up along this road.

Bălţi was first mentioned in the year 1421, but at the end of the same century it was destroyed by the Tartars. Not much happened until the 18th century. At that time, the town became one of the major battlefields in the struggle agains the Ottomans. Bălţi and the rest of Moldova was part of Moldovia, which is present day Eastern Romania with Iaşi as its capital. In 1818, Bălţi was granted town rights. Later on, it became the centre of industrialization. In the Soviet Union, the industrialization was pushed ahead. Workers were needed, and so many Russians settled in and around Bălţi. Since almost the entire industry broke down after 1991, Balti started to suffer a severe economic crisis, which explains the dramatic drop in the population

The latitude and longitude coordinates of Bieltsy are 47°46' 27°56'.

Bieltsy is:
• 68 miles NW of Chişinău (Kishinev)
• 40 miles SE of Edineţ (Yedintsy),
• 44 miles NNE of Iaşi (Yash).

Location of Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi (on map)


Coordinates are 47°46' 27°56'.
Click on the map to enlarge.
Bieltsy, Belz, Beltz or Bălţi is shown as a red star at the upper left corner of map.