International Jewish Cemetery Project - Romania Bo-Bu
also see BACAU
BUHUSI: (Bacau judet) US Commission No. _
The cemetery is located at str. Al.I.Cuza, 1, Buhusi, Bacau judet, Moldavia region at 46°39' 26°48' or 46°43' 26°42', 15 km from Bacau. Alternate name: Buhus, Budesti. Present town population is 25,000-100,000 with under 10 Jews.
- Local Authority: Mayor Turcea Ionel, str. Republicii 11, Buhusi, Bacau judet. Phone: 034/261221
- Religious Authority: The Jewish Community of Buhusi. Mr.Alterescu David, str. Republicii 18, phone 262072
- 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 and keyholder: Mircescu Gheorghe, str. Al.I .Cuza 1, Buhusi, Bacau judet.
The 1831 Census registered 82 that from 1899 registered 271 Jewish inhabitants. The 1930 Census registered 1941 Jewish inhabitants. The Jewish Community was founded in 1831. Prominent residents include Mordechai of Sadagura, Mose David Sapira, Sabetai ben Itac, Avram Arie Rosen-scholar rabbis. This Jewish cemetery was established in the 19th century. Noteworthy people buried in cemetery include Dr. Ghelber Aizic Hers; prof. Bruno Engler; av. Lupescu Filip. The last known Jewish burial in unlandmarked Conservative cemetery was Sept.14, 1999. The site is 1.5 km from the congregation that used it.
The isolated flat suburban cemetery location has no sign, but has Jewish symbols on gate or wall. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission. A continuous masonry wall, a continuous fence, and a gate that locks surround the site.
The pre- and post-WWII size is 200 m X 160 m. 500 - 5,000 gravestones are visible in the cemetery. 1 to 20 are not in original location. More than 75% are toppled or broken. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access. Water drainage is good all year. No special sections. Tombstones date from the 19th century to the 20th. Inscriptions are in Hebrew, German, and Romanian. A special memorial monument to Jewish soldiers exists.The marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and other materials tombstones and are rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, sculpted tombstones, and multistone monuments. The cemetery has tombstones with traces of painting on their surfaces, with iron decorations or lettering, with other metallic elements, portraits on stones, and metal fences around graves.
The local Jewish community owns the property used for Jewish cemetery and agriculture.Adjacent properties are agricultural and Industrial or commercial. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose the same area. Occasionally, private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) stop.The site was vandalized, possibly during World War II. No maintenance was ever done. Care is by a regular caretaker paid by the Buhusi Jewish community. There is a preburial house with a tahara (table) and a catafalque. Vegetation is a moderate threat. Security, weather erosion, and vandalism are slight threats.
Lucian Nastasa, Clinicilor str., no. 19, Cluj, Romania, tel. 064/190107. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. completed the survey on July 21, 2000 using the following documentation:
- 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 prefată de Sabin Manuila, Bucuresti, Institutul de statistica, 1944.
- 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.
- George I. Lahovari, Marele dictionar geografic al Romaniei, 5 vol., Bucuresti, Edit.Socec, 1899.
- E.Schwarzfeld, Din istoria evreilor: împopularea, reîmpopularea si întemeierea tîrgurilor si tîrgusoarelor în Moldova, Bucuresti, 1894.
- N.Sutu, Notiti statistice asupra Moldaviei, Iasi, 1852.
He visited July 20, 2000 and interviewed Mircescu Gheorghe, str. Al.I .Cuza 1, Buhusi, Bacau judet; Alterescu David, str. Republicii 18, Buhusti, Bacau judet (phone: 262072). [June 2002]
REFERENCE:
Ruth Gruber. Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992* p. 213-214. "noted Chassidic center headed by Rabbi Isaac Friedman of the Ruzhyn Dynasty and still has its "marvelous" synagogue which is well maintained, although it was vandalized in in the 1980s."
Buhusi in Bacau province had a population of 8,198 in 1948 and was located on a railroad line about 20 miles southeast of Piatra Neamt. It was a woolen and textile-manufacturing center and also did oil refining, distilling, and manufacturing of candles and cheese. Source: 1962 Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer [December 2000]
Photos [January 2016]