06 - Tiraspol, Soroki, Rascani, Teleneshty

Tiraspol
, city in S.E. Moldova. In 1847 the number of Jews amounted to 1,406 and by 1897 it had risen to 8,668 (27% of the total population). In 1910 Tiraspol had two Jewish private schools, one for boys and one for girls. In 1926 there were 6,398 Jews (29.1%) in the town. During the Nazi occupation Tiraspol was under Rumanian administration; almost all its Jewish population perished. In the late 1960s the Jewish population of Tiraspol was estimated at about 1,500. The only synagogue was closed by the authorities in 1959, but kasher poultry was still available.

[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]

Soroki
(Rum. Soroca), city in N. Moldova, in the region of Bessarabia. The first mention of Jewish settlement in Soroki is in 1657. However, information concerning an organized community there only dates from the beginning of the 18th century. In 1817 there were 157 Jewish families. In the early 19th century, R. David Solomon Eibenschutz served as rabbi and encouraged the study of Torah in the city. The community grew in the 19th century with the Jewish immigration to Bessarabia, and at the end of the century also the frequent expulsions of Jews from the neighboring border area and from the villages. In 1864, 4,135 Jews were registered in Soroki and in 1897 there were 8,783 Jews (57.2% of the total population). In 1863 a government Jewish school was opened. At the end of the century among the teachers in Soroki ware the writers Noah Rosenblum, and Kadish-Isaac Abramowich-Ginzburg, who laid the foundations of a new system of Jewish education and culture among the Jews of the town on a secular and national basis. Many of the Jews of Soroki engaged in agriculture, primarily in the growing of tobacco, grapes, and other fruit. In 1900 the Jewish Colonization Association established a training farm near Soroki. From the 1880s the economic situation of the Jews deteriorated and a wave of immigration to the United States began. In 1930 there were 5,462 Jews (36.3% of the entire population). Before World War II several educational and social institutions existed in Soroki, including Hebrew elementary and secondary schools, a hospital (founded in 1885), and an old-age home. The community was destroyed with the entry of the Germans and Rumanians into Bessarabia in July 1941. The Jewish life of Soroki is described by Shelomo Hillels in the novel, Har ha-Keramim (1930). In the late 1960s the Jewish population was estimated at about 1,000. The only synagogue was closed down by the authorities in 1961. In April 1966 the mazzah bakery was closed down by authorities, the bakers were arrested, and the baking of mazzah was discontinued. Use of the cemetery and ritual poultry slaughtering was still permitted in 1970.

[Eliyahu Feldman]

Rascani
RYSHKANY (formerly Ryshkanovca, also Rascani), town in N. Moldova. Ryshkany developed into an urban community during the 19th century as a result of the large Jewish settlement in Bessarabia at that time. In 1897 there were 2,247 Jews (69% of the total population) in the town, and in 1930 there were 2,055 (66% of the total). In the 1930s the communal institutions included a kindergarten and an elementary school, both maintained by the Tarbut organization. The community was destroyed when the Germans and Rumanians entered Bessarabia in July 1941. In 1970 the Jewish population was estimated at about 150 families.

[Eliyahu Feldman]

Teleneshty
, town in Central Moldova in the region of Bessarabia. Teleneshty was founded at the end of the 18th century by Jews invited by the estate's owner. In 1794, a hevra kaddisha was founded, the register of which was preserved until World War II. In 1796 the owner of the estate concluded an agreement with the Jews laying down their privileges and obligations and fixing the amount of taxes to be paid for wine and spirits brought into the place and sold there. The community grew during the 19th century as a result of the large Jewish immigration to Bessarabia. In 1897 there were 3,876 Jews (89% of the total population), many of them engaging in viniculture, wine processing, and tobacco production. The 636 members registered in 1925 in the local fund included 205 tradesmen, 188 artisans, and 156 farmers. In 1930 there were 2,811 Jews in Teleneshty (73.9% of the total population). The communal institutions included a hospital founded in 1870. The community was destroyed when the Germans and Rumanians invaded Bessarabia in July 1941. In the late 1960s the Jewish population was estimated at about 800. There was no synagogue. The writer S. Ben-Zion was born and began his literary activities in Teleneshty which is described in his story "Nefesh Rezuzah" ("A Crushed Soul," 1952). [El.F.]

Source:
www.heritagefilms.com

See details of:
* History: Moldova