21 May 2022

The Jewish Cemetery of Radautz (4,056 km)

(2022-05-19/21) Radautz, of course, was not the capital of Bukovina, and yet the stonemasonry in the Jewish Cemetery of Radautz testifies to the significance that the Jewish community once had here. The headstones harmonize with the old trees and - unlike elsewhere - there are hardly any signs of vandalism.







I dare to say that there is no other place in Bukovina than Radautz where the Jewish Heritage is so well documented. In years of meticulous work, Yossi Yagur, supported by his wife Miriam and Bondy Stenzler have managed to record the gravestones on the basis of photographs, transcribe the inscriptions and match them with the civil registers. The results of this literally monumental task can be found here:


It also took us years to present the results of the Seven Seals Project. What is behind it? The late Dorin Fränkel and I digitized the civil registers of Radautz for the period 1857-1929, my wife Martina did the transcription, while Bruce Reisch, supported by his son Lucas, developed the search engines.


Because everyone involved worked closely together, the results are unique. From the cradle to the grave, even to the cemetery, the fate of our ancestors can be traced back. Is this the end of the story? No, there are still some "white spaces" to fill in the cemetery; a fundraising campaign is on the way. As for the registers, an update is pending, which will include grandparents to the birth registers, and the neighboring villages of Vicov and Solca will also be added.

The inspiration for these projects came from our late friend, Dorin Fränkel of Rădăuţi, who began to digitally photograph the town's Jewish vital records as early as 2008. We dedicate our efforts to his memory.


2 comments:

Emily Garber said...

Thanks to you, Bruce, Yossi, Miriam, Bondy, Martina and the late Dorin for all the fantastic work that has so benefited all of us Radauti researchers. It has been a wonderful contribution.

Emily Garber

Edgar Hauster said...

Thank you so much, dear Emily, that‘s very encouraging. Very much appreciated.