Jeremy: Your trip to Romania sounds amazing! Congratulations on so many unique and interesting finds!
I have checked your list of records against the ones JewishGen has already indexed and it appears that much of what you have collected (although not all) has been indexed (JewishGen generally does not place images of original online). They have indexed records for Suceava, Gura Humorolui and Campulung. It appears that some of the more recent records that you collected are not included in their collection. The inventory of their indexed records may be found at: https://www.jewishgen.org/new/romanian-collection-bukovina-vital-records/ Emily Garber Phoenix, AZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jeremy Pacht wrote: Hello, I've just returned from a trip to Romania where I was able to gain access to a number of documents in the Suceava Archives and in Vatra Dornei. This message is to let you know what I found and what I photographed, and also to ask for advice on what to do with the material -- I would like to share this with you, insofar as it is useful, but I don't necessarily know how to go about doing this, and I need advice on whether it is OK to publicise the information. The other thing is I don't alway have a precise idea what the material is about, someone more competent to judge would need to clarify. At the Suceava Archives I photographed a number of metrical books from Campulung and Gura Humorolui which -- since they are listed on the Leo Baeck Institute website among the available holdings at the Suceava archive -- may already have been photographed (if so, please confirm), namely: Campulung: births 1859-93, deaths 1857-77 Gura Humorolui: marriages 1857-1907, deaths 1857-1909 I was also given access to metrical books that do not appear on the list of Suceava archive holdings advertised on the Leo Baeck Institute website, which I also photographed: Suceava: births 1906-1909, 1910-1913, marriages 1904-1909, deaths 1906-1911, 1911-1916 In addition, it transpires that the Suceava Archives hold cadastral records for Campulung, Dorna Candrenilor and Vatra Dornei, which I also photographed in part. (These were the only localities about which I enquired, presumably the archives hold similar records for other localities.) For each locality, I took photos of the available cadastral map, dating from around 1856, of the title pages of each item in the file relating to that locality, and in selected cases, all of the pages pertaining to a given item. Items included registers of Grundparzellen, Bauparzellen and Gelöschenparzellen for the years 1861 and 1866, and also something entitled "Verzeichnis", which seem to be some kind of census or headcount (listing the individual's address). I'm afraid my German is basic, and while I think I know what some of these things are, all I am prepared to say is the registers list names and other biographical data of interest. It would be helpful if someone more knowledgeable could translate/explicate the precise nature of the documents. I photographed the 1866 Grundparzellen and Bauparzellen registers in their entirety for each locality, and also if I remember correctly, the earliest such registers, if any was available for a year prior to 1861. I also learned fortuitously that the Suceava Archives hold "Nationality Registers" for many districts. I am not sure what these are about, but I suppose they record individuals who acquired Romanian nationality after 1918. I was only able to take a few furtive snapshots of one or two of the volumes, as the archives are closely guarded by a small and very irritable gnome. These registers do record Jewish names, with their dates of birth and other details (I have yet to review the material). The Archives have an index of Nationality Registers (i.e., of the localities or districts for which there are registers), which I also photographed. În Suceava I also met with someone who provided me with a file of some sort of Romanian (?) "passport" applications. I am still awaiting clarification on the nature of these documents. It seems these were requests for visas to travel through former Austrian lands (Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia) for periods of up to several months. The index provides the names of applicants over the period 1921-30, but the records proper that have been made available to me cover only the years 1921-1923. Each record provides biographical data of the applicant (from memory: place and date of birth, domicile, occupation, a detailed physical description, intended destination(s), duration of voyage, and date of application or date of issue. In Vatra Dornei I gained access to the Temple, where I photographed a number of registers. I am not sure what these are about. I think they all date from after WW II. One in particular seems to be a register of the Jews who returned to Vatra Dornei after the war (indicating inter alia the date of their return, their address in Vatra Dornei and, in annotations, dates they left for Israel or passed away), another lists contributions of some kind and so forth. Again, the one thing I can state quite confidently is there is information attached to names. I learned that in Vatra Dornei they have the land registers and property deeds going back to 1873. As a favour I was shown an index listing a number of PÄCHTs and their former assets (designated by numbers), as well as the documentation associated with one of these assets. However, when I pressed for full access to the PÄCHT records my request was rebuffed on the grounds this would be a gargantuan job. I don't know if this was true or if it was a pretext to prevent me from getting the information. Elsewhere I was told that many current "owners" (who paid to acquire their dwelling or business) have no legal title to the asset, so they are exposed to the risk of claims by descendants of former owners. Finally, I visited the old cemetery in Siret and the cemetery in Vatra Dornei, and took quite a few photographs in case they are of interest. A local in Vatra Dornei has since offered to do some searching for me in the cemetery there, but before responding to his offer I would like to know what work if any has already been carried out in the context of the various cemetery preservation / restoration initiatives that I understand have been underway for a number of years now. Who should I approach to find out what has been done / what is projected for the Vatra Dornei cemetery? ******************************************************************************* This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions expressed in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members or entities connected with this mailing list. 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