Alternate names: Bendery [Rus], Bender [Yid, Ger], Tighina [Rom], Benderî, Tehinia, Tigina, Tiginia, Russian: Бендеры. Moldovan: Тигина. Ukrainian: Бендери. בענדער, טיגינא-Yiddish. 46°50' N, 29°27' E, In SE Moldova, on the Dniester, 31 miles ESE of Chişinău (Kishinev), 9 miles W of Tiraspol. 1900 Jewish politician: 10,654.
KehilaLink [October 2012]
- Sefer Zikaron; Bendery Memorial Book, ed. M. Tamari, Tel-Aviv, 1975. Project Coordinator for the translation - Gloria Green, Yizkor Book Project, JewishGen. Kehilat Bendery; sefer zikaron, (Tel Aviv, 1975).
Jewish history [October 2012]
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), I, p. 132: "Bendery".This port city on the Dniester River in East Moldova was a Genoese colony called Tigin built during the 14th century. The first Jews appeared in this region of Moldova probably arrived at the beginning of the 10th century. The town of Bendery was founded in 1408 as a fortress Tigina (Osman Empire). In 1580, the locality later named Beltsy formed around a small Jewish tavern (kerchma). A synagogue was built early the 18th century on fortress property. In 1812, Bendery as part of Bessarabia joined Russia. After 1850, Jews were more than 50% of the population in Beltsy and small surrounding settlements. Jewish population: 1930 was 8,000; 1989 was 6,000 people. In 1918-1940, Bendery became a Romanian town renamed Tighina. After 1944, it belonged to the Moldovan SSR. Between 1944 and 1989, it belonged to the USSR. Beginning in 1990, Bendery is in Pridnestrovye/ Transdniestria, 64 km from Kishinev with a total population of 130,000. In 1992, Bendery became the main battlefield of the war between the secessionist Transdniestran (Russian) army and the Moldovan army. In 1989, the Beltsy Jewish community was the second biggest after Kishinev as well as regional center for 49 small towns and villages in northern Moldova. Current Jewish population of the town and two peripheral settlements is 905 people, down from 2,000 (plus about 600 from Beltsy surroundings). The Beltsy community twinned with the Jewish Federation of Greensboro, NC in 2000. In 2004, the "Halom" Jewish Community Cultural Welfare Center was founded for welfare, cultural, and educational programs. History [March 2009]
CEMETERY:
The cemetery registry will have about 5,000 records with almost all tombstones photographed. To date, about half of the records, 2654, with photos - 2364 are uploaded to JewishGen JOWBR and will be available translated/transliterated online with the next JOWBR upload. The remaining part of the project will be ready in the spring of this year. I am asking our members to donate for the project (Bendery Cemetery project) that we could pay for the photographs taken. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Bessarabia SIG Coordinator [January 2013]
Another 2500-2700 records will be ready to share with JewishGen this spring. Most photos are received for this second part. We plan to post the plan of all sectors of Bendery Cemetery and the history of the cemetery. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Bessarabia SIG Coordinator [Mar 2013]
The Registry for the Jewish Cemetery in Bendery is created. The Jewish Cemetery located at the south corner of Bendery occupied 3.5 gektar or 8.6 acre. The exact address of the cemetery is 42 Zagorodnaya Street. Created in 1912, the first burials were in 1913. The cemetery was divided in 6 sections. A mass grave holds remains from the old Jewish cemetery, named Caucasus ("KAVKAZ" in Russian). In the center of the cemetery are unnamed graves with inscriptions in Hebrew. All other parts are recent burials with inscriptions in Russian or Russian and Hebrew.. Soource: Doctor E. Simkhovich, Bendery, January 1997 from Burial Registry of Jewish Cemetery in Bendery published in 1997 and donated to JewishGen by Jewish Community of Bendery, Moldova, Transnistria. The rregistry project started by JewishGen Bessarabia SIG in September of 2012 first translated/transliterated the entire registry's aprroximately 5,000 burial records in Russian and Hebrew. As of March 24, photographing of the cemetery is almost done. Each row is approximately 25 tombstones. The last couple of hundreds records need to be double checked. To date, we only collected portion of the sum we need to pay the photographer. Mass graves photos are available at Bessarabia SIG /Cemetery section website. Half of the records are already uploaded to JOWBR at JewishGen. Te rest will be sent shortly. To donate for this project, please go to JewishGen-erosity - Bessarabia SIG Projects and select the Bendery Cemetery Project. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Bessarabia SIG Coordinator [Mar 2013]
Cemetery Registry: The guide compiled by Dr. Yefim Simkhovich in Russian needs an online translator. [Apr 2014]
Restoration project is completed and in a pdf. The history of the Bendery Jewish cemetery with names of people who helped translating records from Russian [June 2013]