This town also might be at 47°32' N, 27°26' E, 26 miles NNW of Iaşi, on the Prut river with Jewish population of 1,000 (in 1885.. Bivolari is a commune composed of five villages: Bivolari, Buruieneşti, Soloneţ, Tabăra and Traian. NOTE: The old long/lat reported by the Soviet Union were inaccurate so the town probably is that listed above.
Ayaratenu Bivolari
Pinkas HaKehilot, Romania, Vol. 1 (1969), p. 77: "Bivolari"
- JewishGen Romania SIG
- Photos [January 2016]
US Commission No. _
Bivolari is located in Vaslui judet, Moldavia region at 47°25' 27°30' , 45 km from Iasi. The town population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
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- Local Authority: Mayor Teodorescu Liviu, com. Bivolari, Iasi judet.
- Religious Authority: The Jewish Community of Iasi, str. Elena Doamna 15, Iasi-6600, Iasi judet. Phone: 113711; 114414
- Regional Authority: The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Romania, Sf. Vineri str., no. 9-11, sector 3, Bucharest, Romania.
- Interested: "A.D. Xenopol" Institute of History, Lascar Catargi str., no. 15, 6400- Iasi (Iasi judet), Romania. Tel. 032/212614; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Director: Alexandru Zub.
- Caretaker with key: Chiriac Petru, com. Bivolari, Iasi judet.
1838 Census registered 59 Jewish families and that from 1899 registered 112 Jewish inhabitants. The 1930 Census registered no Jewish inhabitants. The Jewish community dates from 1834. Prominent residents include Mordehai Hurvit, scholar rabbi. This Jewish cemetery was established in the 19th century. The last known Jewish burial in cemetery was in the 20th century.
The unlandmarked Orthodox cemetery is 0.5 km from the congregation that used it. The isolated, rural (agricultural) flat land has no sign or marker but has a gate that locks. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission.
The pre- and post-WWII size is 170 m X 100 m. 500 - 5,000 gravestones are visible in the cemetery. 500 to 5,000 are in original location. 1 to 20 are not in original location. More than 75% are toppled or broken. More than 75% are toppled or broken. Vegetation overgrowth and water drainage in the cemetery are not problems.
The oldest gravestone dates from the 19th century. 20th century burials exist. The marble, limestone, and granite tombstones are rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, and flat stones with carved relief decoration, some with portraits on the stone and/or Hebrew and Romanian inscriptions.
The national Jewish community owns the cemetery property used for agricultural purposes. (crops or animal grazing). Adjacent properties are agricultural and residential. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose the same area. Rarely, private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) stop. The never vandalized cemetery has no regular but has a regular caretaker. No structures. Weather erosion and vegetation are slight threats.
Lucian Nastasa completed the survey on July 25, 2000 using the following documentation:
- E.Schwarzfeld, Din istoria evreilor: împopularea, reîmpopularea si întemeierea tîrgurilor si tîrgusoarelor în Moldova, Bucuresti, 1894.
- N.Sutu, Notiti statistice asupra Moldaviei, Iasi, 1852.
- George I.Lahovari, Marele dictionar geografic al Romaniei, 5 vol., Bucuresti, Edit.Socec, 1899.
- I.M.Dinescu, Fiii neamului de la 1859 la 1915. Statistica sociala pe întelesul tuturora, Iasi, Institutul de Arte Grafice N.V.Stefaniu, 1920.
- Leonida Colescu, Analiza rezultatelor recensamîntului general al populatiei Romaniei de la 1899, cu o prefata de Sabin Manuila, Bucuresti, Institutul de statistica, 1944.
- Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities Romania, I-II, Jerusalem, 1980.
- D.Ivanescu, Populatia evreiască din orasele si tîrgurile Moldovei între 1774-1832, în "Studia et acta historiae iudaeorum Romaniae", II, Bucuresti, Edit.Hasefer, 1997, p. 59-65.