Moldova, inc. Transnistria Region

Goberman, David. Carved Memories: Heritage in Stone from the Russian Jewish Pale. NY: Rizzoli, 2000 lists information for the following Moldova towns:
4716 2819 Calarashi/Kalarash/Calarasi Targ/Kelarasz/Kelerash Tyrg/ in Kalarash Raion
4722 2851 Orhei/Orgeyev in Orgeyev Raion

Jewish community in Moldova:

• http://www.haruth.com/JewsMoldova.html
  http://www.fjc.ru/moldovafr.htm
  http://www.heritagefilms.com/MOLDOVA.html
  
• JewishGen Bessarabia SIG [October 2012]

Shtetlink [March 2009]

• Carved memories: heritage in stone from the Russian Jewish Pale. David N.(David Noevich) Goberman, introduction by Robert Pinsky; essay by Gershon Hundert. [New York: Rizzoli, 2000], 167 p. : ill., maps ; 30 cm. ISBN: 0847822567. USHMM - NB1880.U38 G63 2000. Publisher description: 125 Pictures and explanations of carvings on Jewish tombstones from West Central Ukraine, West Ukraine and Moldova, most of which were destroyed by the Nazis or later as part of a program in the Soviet Union to elminate vestiges of religion in society. Includes a bibliography.)
• Jewish tombstones in Ukraine and Moldova. David N.(David Noevich) Goberman, [translated from the Russian by L. Lezhneva ; editor of English text, Lynne Hulett], text in English and Russian, 263 p., N 7415 .S5 v.4
• Gravestones of the Destroyed Jewish Cemeteries in Moldova. D.N. Goberman. During the 1950s, Goberman, a pioneer in the field of researching Jewish gravestones, photographed gravestones in the cemeteries of the largest Jewish communities in Moldova: Kishinev, Beltsy and Argeevo. Later, these cemeteries were destroyed. Goberman is not only a folk art investigator, but an artist as well. His pictures are notable for their original artistic vision and particular expressiveness. Accompanying the photographs is an article by the author on the creative work of the Jewish folk artists of Moldova.The book lists information for the following Moldova towns:
  -4716 2819 Calarashi/Kalarash/Calarasi, Targ/Kelarasz/Kelerash Tyrg/ in Kalarash Raion
  -4722 2851 Orhei/Orgeyev in Orgeyev Raion

Sephardic merchants using Bessarabia as a trade route between the Black Sea and Poland in the 15th century settled in northern and central Bessarabia. In 1812, about 2,000 Jews lived there. Massacres on April 6-7, 1903 spurred by a blood libel printed in a national newspaper resulted in 49 Jews killed, 500 wounded and hundreds of Jewish homes and businesses severely damaged. Czarist authorities ignored it. United States condemnation and trade restrictions against Russia resulted. Thousands of Moldovan Jews emigrated. Massacres during the 1905 Russian Revolution killed hundreds more Jews across Moldova. 1920 Jewish population: about 267,000. After the 1941 Nazi invasion, nearly 100,000 Jews died in mass shootings, deportations, ghettos, and concentration camps. Many Moldovans collaborated with the German and Romanian occupiers. 53 Moldovans "Righteous Among the Nations" risked their lives to save Jews. Now, 20,000 Jews live in Chisinau, 2,500-3,000 in Beltsy, and over 2,000 in Tiraspol (capital of Transnistria) as well as in Bender, Orgei, Rybnitsa, and Soroky with a few in 45 villages. Almost half of the community is elderly. About 12,000 Jews left due to hostilities in 1991. Jewish Communal institutions are in Chisinau: Moldovan Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities is the umbrella for the Jewish community. There are six JCCs in Moldova and Hillel chapter in Chisinau. Chabad Lubavitch maintains synagogues in Chisinau and Tiraspol. Chabad Rabbi Zalman Abelsky is Chief Rabbi of Moldova and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Moldova. Jewish schools are all funded in part by the Moldovan government and the Israeli Cultural Center include eight Jewish Sunday schools. No policy of anti-Semitism exists at the state level, but incidents occur. The Jewish community received only two of the many communal properties seized during the Soviet period. The U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad encouraged the Moldovan to sign  a Declaration of Cooperation with the US government to establish protocols for protection and preservation of cultural sites. In February 2002, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council signed an agreement with the Moldovan government, giving the Council free access to World War II-era government intelligence archives.