(JHE) — We posted just last week about the restoration under way at the former synagogue in Seini, in northwest Romania — and here we are again, as JHE’s Ruth Ellen Gruber (who is on a Jewish heritage trip in Romania) was able to visit the site briefly. As we posted last year, the €2.4 million project will transform the long-disused building complex into a Museum of the Jews of Transylvania, concert hall, and cultural space.
Here are a few photos of the work in progress, as of July 17. She was not able to go inside, so they are just external shots.
The roof is off, to be replaced; and the cupolas that topped the two side towers have been removed (and are resting in front of the building). Scaffolding is up n the side walls.
The Jewish community in Seini dated from the late 18th century, and the town became a major centre of Jewish printing in the first half of the 20th century. Its Jewish population of around 615 people were deported to Auschwitz in 1944; some survived and reestablished the community after the war, but virtually all eventually emigrated.
Ruth also visited the Jewish cemetery in Seini — from the outside. In the high summer it appears to be very overgrown, and with the heat wave temperature raging at 40+ centigrade, she did not want to enter — though the elderly woman who lives next door enables people to visit.
The cemetery has a small entry building, and the area is fenced.
There is a matzevah and plaque inside the entry.
A survey carried out more than 20 years ago (and on the IAJGS cemetery web site) described it as very large compared to the rest of the village cemeteries in Maramures county” and “exceptionally beautiful, and exceptionally rich in historical and artistic details.”
It contains two sections divided by age and contains a number of distinctive features. The first is a large gatehouse with an ornate iron gate with a plaque in Hebrew inside. Inside the gate, a central pathway separates two large sections of “modern” graves containing approximately 200-250 stones. There appears to be a section for Cohanim along the front fence (to the right of the gate by the road) and graves for women and children appear to be “clumped” together in scattered sections within the whole area. This modern section also contains a large memorial to Jewish soldiers, although the caretaker was unable to tell us in which war they had fought. In addition, several Holocaust memorials were erected after the war by surviving family members. The site contains many obelisks and other fine marble and granite stones. Many of the stones contain inscriptions in both Hebrew/Yiddish and Romanian or Hungarian.
Behind this “front” section is an open space with several fruit trees. To the left, and obscured by brush and undergrowth, we discovered what was clearly a much older section of the cemetery. The stones here are massive – often 1foot thick, ornately decorated, and densely inscribed. With the assistance of the caretaker, we were able to clear and photograph three particularly beautiful enormous stones. We estimate that there are probably between 60-75 stones in this section alone, many of which are leaning or have fallen
An update from 2019 said the front parts of the cemetery “were fully accessible and only somewhat overgrown” but the back section “was not visible at all.”
Read our July 11 post about the synagogue restoration (with video)
1 comment on “Romania New Update: Photos of the Seini synagogue (under restoration) and Jewish cemetery”
Where are the local records for this cemetery located? My cousin is buried there and his Hebrew name is not on the gravestone. Thank you