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Jewish Communal Service in Romania and Poland 1986-2006: Partnership, Challenges, and Transitions
Author(s): Feine, Zvi
Date: 2019
Topics: Main Topic: Other, Jewish Revival, Care and Welfare, Community Development, Charity / Tzedakah, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Jewish Organisations
Abstract: Dr. Zvi Feine served the Jewish communities of Romania and Poland as country director for the Joint Distribution Community during those two countries respective transitions from Communist rule. This memoir of his work under the constraints of communism, through the violent December 1989 revolution in Romania and the more peaceful transition in Poland, and in the aftermath of transition to democracy describes the challenges of effective communal service in turbulent times. The mission of the JDC was to support and partner with the Jewish communities that remained after the devastation of the Holocaust, sustaining the Jews of Eastern Europe with material and communal assistance. Dr. Feine relates poignant and harrowing memories of working under the constant surveillance of the Securitate secret service agency and dealing with the aftermath of the revolution and the resistance to change, all the while navigating a complex and delicate web of history, religious and cultural mores, personalities, ideals, and hopes. Illustrated here are numerous principles of communal work, including the importance of understanding the cultural context, resource and leadership development, and the crucial role that lay leaders can play. Communal workers in the Jewish community and beyond will benefit from Dr. Feine's accumulated wisdom over a lifetime of community service in positions all over the globe.
Polls and Antisemitism in Post-Communist Romania
Author(s): Shafir, Michael
Date: 2012
Topics: Main Topic: Antisemitism, Antisemitism, Surveys
Abstract: As in many other former communist countries of East Central Europe, antisemitism in Romania resurged almost concurrently with the demise of the previous regime. Empirical research on antisemitism, however, emerged only considerably later and did not become a main focus until the establishment of the National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania “Elie Wiesel” (INSHREW) in 2005. This does not imply that the subject of Jews, attitudes to Jews measured by instruments such as stereotypic perceptions and/or “social distance,” or attitudes toward controversial Romanian historical figures linked to the country’s antisemitic past were not tangentially or even directly tackled occasionally. What was lacking until 2005, however, was an effort to use a systematic method, such as a standard questionnaire capable of producing comparative results, that would permit focusing on the phenomenon of the strong reappearance of antisemitism in both its synchronic and diachronic unfolding. In other words, the task of gathering longitudinal data on antisemitism in the country to allow forging a “perceptual map” that would select in consistent aspects and select out inconsistencies is still just beginning.
Can Convenience Samples be Trusted? Lessons From the Survey of Jews in Europe, 2012
Author(s): Staetsky, L. Daniel
Date: 2019
Topics: Main Topic: Antisemitism, Methodology, Surveys, Antisemitism, Demography
Abstract: Jews living in the Diaspora form a very small proportion of the total population in all countries without an exception. This situation (‘the rarity problem’) presents a major obstacle to survey taking among Jews: Jews are nearly impossible to capture in numbers conducive to statistical analysis in regular national sample surveys. Various probability-based sampling methods have been applied in the context of Jewish surveys. The key development in the field of Jewish social surveys in Europe, however, is the shift from probability sampling to methods that are reliant on non-probability sampling, either partially or exclusively. Can the insights produced by such samples be trusted? To what extent can they be understood, by academics and policy makers, as a true representation of the realities lived through by contemporary European Jewish populations? These questions are empirically investigated using the FRA 2012 survey - the first cross-European survey of Jewish perceptions and experiences of antisemitism conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and polling agency IPSOS Mori in 2012.
Revisionism in Post-Communist Romanian Political Culture: Attempts to Rehabilitate the Perpetrators of the Holocaust
Author(s): Ioanid, Radu
Editor(s): Roth, John K.; Maxwell, Elizabeth; Levy, Margot; Whitworth, Wendy
Date: 2001
Topics: Main Topic: Antisemitism, Holocaust Denial, Post-1989
Holocaust Education in Post-Communist Romania
Author(s): Waldman, Felicia
Date: 2004
Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Education
Abstract: As Israeli historian Leon Volovici has pointed out in a recent article, Romania is nowadays facing a point in time marked by the concurrent presence of a prolific nationalistic media with strong anti-Semitic accents and a swell of events dedicated to the history of its Jews. This remarkable paradox is perhaps just one more example of the originality of Romania’s post-communist transition, the more so since the object of both trends is becoming less and less numerous every day: there are only about 9,000, mostly elderly Jews living in contemporary Romania. After 45 years of “relative silence” imposed by the communists and eight more years of “relevant silence” imposed by the neo-communists, as of 1998 the Holocaust is finally mentioned and discussed, but “in the third person”, as it were: it’s true, it happened, but not in Romania!
Perceptions of antisemitism
Date: 2018
Topics: Main Topic: Antisemitism, Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Monitoring, Surveys, European Union
Abstract: Summary:

This Special Eurobarometer survey on 'perceptions of antisemitism' was carried out in December 2018 and presents a snapshot of the way European perceive antisemitism.

Further information:

The Report shows that perceptions among Europeans on this issue are very divided - while every other European considers Antisemitism to be a problem in their country, 4 in 10 Europeans actually do not consider it to be an issue in their country. The results also show that there is a perception gap on Antisemitism: while 89% of Jews say that Antisemitism significantly increased over a period of 5 years, only 36% of the general public consider it has indeed increased.
Holocaust Remembrance Project: How European Countries Treat Their Wartime Past
Author(s): Echikson, William
Date: 2019
Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Commemoration, Holocaust Denial, Holocaust Education, Memory, Nationalism, Restitution and Reparations, Antisemitism
Abstract: This first-ever report rating individual European Union countries on how they face up their Holocaust pasts was published on January 25, 2019 to coincide with UN Holocaust Remembrance Day. Researchers from Yale and Grinnell Colleges travelled throughout Europe to conduct the research. Representatives from the European Union of Progressive Judaism (EUPJ) have endorsed their work.


Key Findings:

●Many European Union governments are rehabilitating World War II collaborators and war criminals while minimising their own guilt in the attempted extermination of Jews.
●Revisionism is worst in new Central European members - Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Lithuania.
●But not all Central Europeans are moving in the wrong direction: two exemplary countries living up to their tragic histories are the Czech Republic and Romania. The Romanian model of appointing an independent commission to study the Holocaust should be duplicated.
●West European countries are not free from infection - Italy, in particular, needs to improve.
●In the west, Austria has made a remarkable turn-around while France stands out for its progress in accepting responsibility for the Vichy collaborationist government.
●Instead of protesting revisionist excesses, Israel supports many of the nationalist and revisionist governments.
The Holocaust as reflected in Communist and Post-Communist Romanian textbooks
Author(s): Bărbulescu, Ana; Degeratu, Laura; Guşu, Cosmina
Date: 2013
Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Education, Schools: Non-Jewish, Post-1989, Communism
Abstract: Romanian history textbooks were mostly silent about the Holocaust during the Communist era. The authors reconstructed the different models of remembering the Holocaust that are present in post-Communist Romanian textbooks. The analysis revealed the existence of six different models of recollecting this history. The six models of representing the Holocaust are: (1) The Holocaust is completely absent; (2) Romania as a saviour of Jews; (3) Discrimination without deportations; (4) Deportations to camps for unnamed victims; (5) Deportations without the final solution; and (6) The Romanian Holocaust: discrimination, pogroms and deportations. The analysis focused on Romanian History textbooks published before and after 1989; A qualitative analysis of the textbooks was employed.
Holocaust Public Memory in Postcommunist Romania
Editor(s): Florian, Alexandru
Date: 2018
Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Commemoration, Holocaust Memorials, Holocaust Education, Memory
Abstract: How is the Holocaust remembered in Romania since the fall of communism? Alexandru Florian and an international group of contributors unveil how and why Romania, a place where large segments of the Jewish and Roma populations perished, still fails to address its recent past. These essays focus on the roles of government and public actors that choose to promote, construct, defend, or contest the memory of the Holocaust, as well as the tools—the press, the media, monuments, and commemorations—that create public memory. Coming from a variety of perspectives, these essays provide a compelling view of what memories exist, how they are sustained, how they can be distorted, and how public remembrance of the Holocaust can be encouraged in Romanian society today.

Contents:

Memory under Construction: Introductory Remarks / Alexandru Florian

Part I: Competing Memories and Historical Obfuscation
1. Ethnocentric Mindscapes and Mnemonic Myopia / Ana Brbulescu
2. Post-Communist Romania’s Leading Public Intellectuals and the Holocaust / George Voicu
3. Law, Justice, and Holocaust Memory in Romania / Alexandru Climescu
4. Romania: Neither "Fleishig" nor "Milchig": A Comparative Study / Michael Shafir
5. "Wanting-not-to-Know" about the Holocaust in Romania: A Wind of Change? / Simon Geissbühler

Part II: National Heroes, Outstanding Intellectuals or Holocaust Perpetrators?
6. Mircea Vulcnescu, a Controversial Case: Outstanding Intellectual or War Criminal? / Alexandru Florian
7. Ion Antonescu’s Image in Post-Communist Historiography / Marius Cazan
8. Rethinking Perpetrators, Bystanders, Helpers/Rescuers, and Victims: A Case Study of Students' Perceptions / Adina Babe
Fourth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2018
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2018
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: The Fourth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2018 presents the results of an online survey offered in 10 languages and administered to 893 respondents in 29 countries. Conducted every three years using the same format, the survey seeks to identify trends and their evolution in time.

The survey asked Jewish lay leaders and community professionals questions regarding future community priorities, identifying the main threats to Jewish life, views on the safety and security situation in their cities, including emergency preparedness, and opinions on an array of internal community issues. Examples include conversions, membership criteria policies on intermarriage, and their vision of Europe and Israel.

The respondents were comprised of presidents and chairpersons of nationwide “umbrella organizations” or Federations; presidents and executive directors of private Jewish foundations, charities, and other privately funded initiatives; presidents and main representatives of Jewish communities that are organized at a city level; executive directors and programme coordinators, as well as current and former board members of Jewish organizations; among others.

The JDC International Centre for Community Development established the survey as a means to identify the priorities, sensibilities and concerns of Europe’s top Jewish leaders and professionals working in Jewish institutions, taking into account the changes that European Jewry has gone through since 1989, and the current political challenges and uncertainties in the continent. In a landscape with few mechanisms that can truly gauge these phenomena, the European Jewish Community Leaders Survey is an essential tool for analysis and applied research in the field of community development.

The Survey team was directed by Dr. Barry Kosmin (Trinity College), who has conducted several large national social surveys and opinion polls in Europe, Africa and the U.S., including the CJF 1990 US National Jewish Population Survey.
Staging Encounters with Estranged Pasts: Radu Jude’s The Dead Nation (2017) and the Cinematic Face of Public Memory of the Holocaust in Present-Day Romania
Author(s): Popescu, Diana I.
Date: 2018
Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Memory, Holocaust Commemoration, Film
Abstract: This article provides a close analysis of Radu Jude’s The Dead Nation (2017), a documentary essay that brings together authentic archival sources documenting the persecution and murder of Jews in World War II. The sources include a little-known diary of Emil Dorian, a Jewish medical doctor and writer from Bucharest, a collection of photographs depicting scenes from Romanian daily life in the 1930s and 1940s, and recordings of political speeches and propaganda songs of a Fascist nature. Through a careful framing of this film in relation to Romanian public memory of World War II, and in connection to the popular new wave cinema, I will contend that Jude’s work acts, perhaps unwittingly, to intervene in public memory and invites the Romanian public to face up to and acknowledge the nation’s perpetrator past. This filmic intervention further offers an important platform for public debate on Romania’s Holocaust memory and is of significance for European public memory, as it proposes the film happening as a distinct and innovative practice of public engagement with history.
The long silent revolution: capturing the life stories of Soviet-Jewish migrants to the West, 1970–2010
Author(s): Kobrin, Rebecca A.; Oppenheim, Jay
Date: 2017
Topics: Main Topic: Demography and Migration, Russian Emigration, Russian-Speaking Jews, Aliyah, Oral History and Biography
Abstract: How can the prism of self-reflection help scholars see the mass exodus of Jews from the Soviet Union and its successor states in new ways? This article discusses the first effort to collect the life stories of the 1.6 million Jews and their non-Jewish relatives who left the former Soviet Union between 1970 and 2000. Believing that autobiographical essays elicits a unique perspective on Russian Jewish migration that would otherwise not be known, the authors set out to collect autobiographical materials from members of this last wave of Russian-Jewish migration through autobiography contests modeled after contests run by Max Weinreich and the YIVO Institute in the early twentieth century. Through its discussion of the two winning autobiographies collected through the contests, the article demonstrates why the full social scientific study of the role Russian Jewish migrants played in shaping Jewish history needs to pay heed to the voices and stories of regular migrants
Values and Religious Identification among Affiliated Jews in Eastern Europe
Author(s): Cohen, Erik H.; Kovács, András
Date: 2013
Topics: Main Topic: Identity and Community, Surveys, Statistics, Values, Jewish Community
Abstract: This article analyzes data on the values of adults affiliated with the
Jewish community in Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Romania.
There was wide agreement among the populations’ value prioritization,
but they are not monolithic. Overall, family-related values were more
important than materialistic values. Those in Romania were the most
religious, those in Hungary the least so.

A graphic portrayal of the data is presented and interpreted, guided
by the Schwartz axiological typology. Sub-populations by home country
and age group are compared in the context of this model. The older
cohort tends towards Family-related values, while the younger cohort
tends towards values of Hedonism and Stimulation. The placement of
the national sub-groups illustrates their relative emphasis on materialist
values versus post-materialist values of self-enhancement, which reflects
the degree of democratization of the countries and the socio-economic
level of the Jewish communities.
From Taboo to Acceptance: Romania, the Jews, and the Holocaust
Author(s): Waldman, Felicia
Date: 2008
Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Commemoration, Jewish Heritage
Abstract: The existence of Jews on Romanian territory was suppressed under Communism. Romania’s complicity in the Holocaust was a taboo. In the post-Communist era, attitudes were slow in changing. President Ion Iliescu’s remark that there had been no Holocaust on Romanian territory represented a particularly low point. Only with the integration of Romania into international organisations and the convening of the Elie Wiesel commission of inquiry did the climate change. Now Romania is increasingly willing to accept responsibility, to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, and to integrate the country’s Jewish heritage into its national remembrance culture.
Jewish heritage tourism in Bucharest: reality and visions
Author(s): Corsale, Andrea
Date: 2017
Topics: Main Topic: Culture and Heritage, Jewish Heritage, Tourism
Abstract: Heritage tourism linked with past or current cultural diversity and ethnic minorities has become a significant part of the tourism industry. This paper contributes to the discussion about heritage management related to niche tourism development and minority group participation. The specific theme of Jewish heritage tourism is analysed, particularly through the case of the present Jewish community of Bucharest. Empirical results are presented and discussed in order to understand how this community and the local tourist sector perceive the tourist potential of its heritage, and envisions its development. A reflection on the discourse behind the current and possible future management of Jewish legacy can thus contribute to a better understanding of the complexity of niche heritage tourism processes in former or present multi‐ethnic sites.183(3)
Bringing the Dark Past to Light The Reception of the Holocaust in Postcommunist Europe
Editor(s): Himka, John-Paul; Michlic, Joanna Beata
Date: 2013
Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Memory, National Identity, Antisemitism, Holocaust Memorials, Holocaust Survivors, Holocaust Commemoration, Jewish Revival, Post-1989, Communism, Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations
Abstract: Despite the Holocaust’s profound impact on the history of Eastern Europe, the communist regimes successfully repressed public discourse about and memory of this tragedy. Since the collapse of communism in 1989, however, this has changed. Not only has a wealth of archival sources become available, but there have also been oral history projects and interviews recording the testimonies of eyewitnesses who experienced the Holocaust as children and young adults. Recent political, social, and cultural developments have facilitated a more nuanced and complex understanding of the continuities and discontinuities in representations of the Holocaust. People are beginning to realize the significant role that memory of Holocaust plays in contemporary discussions of national identity in Eastern Europe.

This volume of original essays explores the memory of the Holocaust and the Jewish past in postcommunist Eastern Europe. Devoting space to every postcommunist country, the essays in Bringing the Dark Past to Light explore how the memory of the “dark pasts” of Eastern European nations is being recollected and reworked. In addition, it examines how this memory shapes the collective identities and the social identity of ethnic and national minorities. Memory of the Holocaust has practical implications regarding the current development of national cultures and international relationships.

Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
John-Paul Himka and Joanna Beata Michlic
1. "Our Conscience Is Clean": Albanian Elites and the Memory of the Holocaust in Postsocialist Albania
Daniel Perez
2. The Invisible Genocide: The Holocaust in Belarus
Per Anders Rudling
3. Contemporary Responses to the Holocaust in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Francine Friedman
4. Debating the Fate of Bulgarian Jews during World War II
Joseph Benatov
5. Representations of the Holocaust and Historical Debates in Croatia since 1989
Mark Biondich
6. The Sheep of Lidice: The Holocaust and the Construction of Czech National History
Michal Frankl
7. Victim of History: Perceptions of the Holocaust in Estonia
Anton Weiss-Wendt
8. Holocaust Remembrance in the German Democratic Republic--and Beyond
Peter Monteath
9. The Memory of the Holocaust in Postcommunist Hungary
Part 1: The Politics of Holocaust Memory
Paul Hanebrink
Part 2: Cinematic Memory of the Holocaust
Catherine Portuges
10. The Transformation of Holocaust Memory in Post-Soviet Latvia
Bella Zisere
11. Conflicting Memories: The Reception of the Holocaust in Lithuania
Saulius Sužied<edot>lis and Šarūnas Liekis
12. The Combined Legacies of the "Jewish Question" and the "Macedonian Question"
Holly Case
13. Public Discourses on the Holocaust in Moldova: Justification, Instrumentalization, and Mourning
Vladimir Solonari
14. The Memory of the Holocaust in Post-1989 Poland: Renewal--Its Accomplishments and Its Powerlessness
Joanna B. Michlic and Małgorzata Melchior
15. Public Perceptions of the Holocaust in Postcommunist Romania
Felicia Waldman and Mihai Chioveanu
16. The Reception of the Holocaust in Russia: Silence, Conspiracy, and Glimpses of Light
Klas-Göran Karlsson
17. Between Marginalization and Instrumentalization: Holocaust Memory in Serbia since the Late 1980s
Jovan Byford
18. The "Unmasterable Past"? The Reception of the Holocaust in Postcommunist Slovakia
Nina Paulovičová
19. On the Periphery: Jews, Slovenes, and the Memory of the Holocaust
Gregor Joseph Kranjc
20. The Reception of the Holocaust in Postcommunist Ukraine
John-Paul Himka
Conclusion
Omer Bartov
Contributors
Index
Gypsy/Klezmer Dialectics: Jewish and Romani Traces and Erasures in Contemporary European World Music
Author(s): Silverman, Carol
Date: 2015
Topics: Main Topic: Culture and Heritage, Klezmer, Jewish Music, Jewish Heritage, Multiculturalism, Globalisation, Memory
Abstract: As klezmer and Balkan Romani music have become popularised in Western Europe since 1989, an increasing number of performers in both of these genres are non-Roma and non-Jews. This holds especially true for the new performance complex Gypsy/klezmer that imputes connections between two of Europe's quintessential Others, and, in transforming their ethnic specificities into a generic hybridity, facilitates the appropriation of their cultural goods by outsiders. I interrogate this complex and its semiotic conflation of Jews (absent Others constituted historically as over-present) and Roma (too-present Others who are historically absent) in the current European political climate that is multiculturalist but increasingly xenophobic. I note that Gypsy/klezmer performers claim a double authenticity based on a kind of hybridity that validates appropriation. I argue that specificities of Romani and Jewish geography, history and musical style are erased precisely as the Gypsy/klezmer complex becomes more popular.
Reportage: Romania and its Jewish museums
Author(s): Julean, Dan-Ionuţ
Date: 2015
Topics: Main Topic: Culture and Heritage, Jewish Museums, Jewish Community, Jewish Heritage
Abstract: After the proclamation of the People's Republic of Romania, at the end of 1947, until 1988, about 300,000 Jews have left Romania. Currently, in Romania, the Jewish population is around 12,000–15,000, generally aging. Despite the general interest of the Romanian society in Judaism and the Jewish communities, as the article highlights, there are only about half a dozen Jewish museums, most of them being rather unknown and modest community exhibitions, dusty and decrepit. The article focuses on these particular museums and their collections, but trying to point out the resources and real potential of the Jewish heritage in Romania, envisaging that it is high time to experience new Jewish museums
Introduction: New Jewish museums in post-communist Europe
Author(s): Gershenson, Olga; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara
Date: 2015
Topics: Main Topic: Culture and Heritage, Jewish Museums, Post-1989, Jewish Revival, Memory, Holocaust Commemoration
Antisemitism: Overview of data available in the European Union 2006-2016
Author(s): European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
Date: 2017
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Monitoring, Hate crime, Law, Government, European Union, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: Antisemitism can be expressed in the form of verbal and physical attacks, threats, harassment, property damage and graffiti or other forms of speech or text, including on the internet. Antisemitic incidents and hate crime violate fundamental rights, including the right to human dignity, the right to equality of treatment and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

This annual overview compiles the available evidence on antisemitic incidents collected by governmental and non-governmental sources, covering the period 1 January 2006– 31 December 2016, where data are available. In addition, it includes a section that presents evidence from international organisations. No official data on reported antisemitic incidents in 2016 were available for 11 Member States by the time this report was compiled in September 2017.

‘Official data’ are understood here as those collected by law enforcement agencies, other authorities that are part of criminal justice systems and relevant state ministries at the national level. ‘Unofficial data’ refers to data collected by civil society organisations.
Overview of Immovable Property Restitution/Compensation Regime - Romania (As of 13 December 2016)
Author(s): European Shoah Legacy Institute (ESLI)
Date: 2017
Topics: Holocaust Survivors, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Restitution and Reparations, Holocaust
Abstract: The Holocaust (Shoah) Immovable Property Restitution Study is the first-ever comprehensive
compilation of all significant legislation passed since 1945 by the 47 states that participated in
the 2009 Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference and endorsed the 2009 Terezin Declaration
that came out of the Prague conference.

The Terezin Declaration (and its companion document, the 2010 Guidelines and Best Practices,
endorsed by 43 countries) focuses in substantial part on the treatment of immovable (real)
property restitution: private, communal, and heirless property. The Study examined private,
communal, and heirless property as discrete components of each country’s restitution efforts
from 1944 to 2016.

As part of the European Shoah Legacy Institute’s Immovable Property Restitution Study,
a Questionnaire covering past and present restitution regimes for private, communal and
heirless property was sent to all 47 Terezin Declaration governments in 2015. As of 13
December 2016, no response from Romania has been received.
Holocaust (Shoah) Immovable Property Restitution Study
Author(s): European Shoah Legacy Institute (ESLI)
Date: 2017
Topics: Holocaust Survivors, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Restitution and Reparations
Abstract: The Holocaust (Shoah) Immovable Property Restitution Study is the first-ever comprehensive
compilation of all significant legislation passed since 1945 by the 47 states that participated in
the 2009 Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference and endorsed the 2009 Terezin Declaration
that came out of the Prague conference.

The Terezin Declaration (and its companion document, the 2010 Guidelines and Best Practices,
endorsed by 43 countries) focuses in substantial part on the treatment of immovable (real)
property restitution: private, communal, and heirless property. The Study examined private,
communal, and heirless property as discrete components of each country’s restitution efforts
from 1944 to 2016.
Report on issues related to property restitution and compensation in former Communist countries
Author(s): Naamat, Talia; Ilan, Ronna
Date: 2012
Topics: Law, European Union, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial
AntiSemitism in Romania Raport 2002
Author(s): Katz, Marco Maximillian; Enache, Av Mariana
Date: 2003
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism monitoring, Antisemitic discourse, Hate crime, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: MCA Romania a fost infintata in Mai 2002 si inregistrata ca
persoana juridica romana, non-profit si non-guvernamentala.
Necesitatea unei astfel de organizatii a fost indentificata dupa
observarea directiei in care societatea romana s-a orientat dupa
1989, anul in care era comunista a luat sfarsit. Se pare ca
oficialitatile romane, care adoptand premiza conform careia in
Romania nu exista anti-Semitism, inca sunt indecise in considera
existenta unei organizatii precum MCA Romania ca fiind necesara.
Aceasta premisa scoate in relief lipsa de dorinta de a aborda
problemele create de manifestari antiSemite intr-o maniera realista
si corecta din punct de vedere social.
Anti-Semitism in Romania 2003 Report
Author(s): Katz, Marco Maximillian
Date: 2004
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism monitoring, Antisemitic discourse, Hate crime, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: MCA Romania – The Center for Monitoring and Combating AntiSemitism
in Romania was established in 2002 as a non-governmental
and non-profit organization.
The 2003 MCA Romania Report is the second annual report
presenting the trends in anti-Semitism and Jewish-related issues in
Romania.
In 2003, anti-Semitism continued to be a problem in Romania. As in
past years, there was a general refusal to deal with the Holocaust in
Romania, as well as to seriously implement hate crimes bills. The
extremist Romania Mare Party remained in the news - but this time
with leader Vadim Tudor's attempts clean up his anti-Semitic and
extremist image.
One bright spot was the Wiesel Commission, initiated by President
Iliescu, which is documenting the final solution in Romania. It is
hoped that in the year ahead there will be more effort made to
combat anti-Semitism through Holocaust education, and effective
legislation.
AntiSemitism in Romania: Raport 2004
Author(s): Katz, Marco Maximillian; Florian, Alexandru
Date: 2005
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism monitoring, Antisemitic discourse, Hate crime, Main Topic: Antisemitism
AntiSemitism in Romania: Raport 2005
Author(s): Katz, Marco Maximillian; Florian, Alexandru
Date: 2006
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism monitoring, Antisemitic discourse, Hate crime, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Raport de Monitorizare 2006-2009
Translated Title: Monitoring report 2006-2009
Author(s): MCA Romania: Centrul de Monitorizare si Combatere a Antisemitismului în România
Date: 2010
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism monitoring, Antisemitic discourse, Hate crime, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Raport de Monitorizare 2009-14
Translated Title: Monitoring report 2009-14
Author(s): MCA Romania: Centrul de Monitorizare si Combatere a Antisemitismului în România
Date: 2015
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism monitoring, Antisemitic discourse, Hate crime, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Guidelines for Acknowledging and Monitoring Antisemitism On- and Offline
Author(s): CEJI
Date: 2015
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitic discourse, Antisemitism monitoring, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: In these guidelines, we look at the origins of the word 'antisemitism' and examine other terms and working definitions. We also give concrete examples of antisemitism, and compare criticism of Israel with antisemitic criticism of Israel and look at where the line should be drawn. The publication also contains useful annexes on current manifestations of antisemitism in Europe (2013-2015) and antisemitic incidents in European countries during 2014.
Antisemitism: Overview of data available in the European Union 2004–2014
Author(s): European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
Date: 2015
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Monitoring, Hate crime, Law, Government, European Union, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: Antisemitism can be expressed in the form of verbal and physical attacks, threats, harassment, property damage, graffiti or other forms of text, including on the internet. This report relates to manifestations of antisemitism as they are recorded by official and unofficial sources in the 28 European Union (EU) Member States.

‘Official data’ is understood here as that collected by law enforcement agencies, criminal justice systems and relevant state ministries at the national level. ‘Unofficial data’ refers to data collected by civil society organisations.

This report compiles available data on antisemitic incidents collected by international, governmental and non-governmental sources, covering the period 1 January 2004– 31 December 2014, where data are available. No official data on reported antisemitic incidents were available for seven Member States at the time this report was compiled: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta and Portugal.
Third Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers, 2015
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2016
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: Launched by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s International Centre for Community Development (JDC-ICCD), and conducted by a research team at Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut, USA) between June and August 2015, the Third Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers presents the results of an online survey administered to 314 respondents in 29 countries. The survey was conducted online in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Hungarian. The Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers is conducted every three or four years using the same format, in order to identify trends and their evolution. Findings of the 2015 edition were assessed and evaluated based on the results of previous surveys (2008 and 2011). The survey posed Jewish leaders and opinion formers a range of questions about major challenges and issues that
concern European Jewish communities in 2015, and about their expectations of how communities will evolve over the next 5-10 years. The 45 questions (see Appendix) dealt
with topics that relate to internal community structures and their functions, as well as the external environment affecting communities. The questionnaire also included six open-ended questions in a choice of five languages. These answers form the basis of the qualitative analysis of the report. The questions were organized under the following headings:• Vision & Change (6 questions)
• Decision-Making & Control (1 question)
• Lay Leadership (1 question)
• Professional Leadership (2 questions)
• Status Issues & Intermarriage (5 questions)
• Organizational Frameworks (2 questions)
• Community Causes (2 questions)
• Jewish Education (1 question)
• Funding (3 questions)
• Communal Tensions (3 questions)
• Anti-Semitism/Security (5 questions)
• Europe (1 question)
• Israel (1 question)
• Future (2 questions)
• Personal Profile (9 questions)
Jüdische Gemeinden in Europa: Zwischen Aufbruch und Kontinuität
Translated Title: Jewish communities in Europe: Between Emergence and continuity
Editor(s): Ungar-Klein, Brigitte
Date: 2000
Topics: Jewish Revival, Assimilation, Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: Porträts von 17 jüdischen Gemeinden in Europa.

Am Ende eines für Europa geschichtsträchtigen und vor allem für Juden tragischen Jahrhunderts entwerfen 18 Autoren individuell gestaltete, einander ergänzende Porträts jüdischer Gemeinden, die Auskunft geben über das Leben und Wirken der Gemeinschaften, über deren Gegenwart und Vergangenheit, ihre Strukturen und Voraussetzungen. Diese Bestandsaufnahmen des jüdischen Lebens führen quer durch Europa: nach Österreich, England, Frankreich und Deutschland. Es folgen Beiträge über die Türkei, einen jahrhundertealten Zufluchtsort für Juden, den jüdischen Nachwuchs in Osteuropa, über Thessaloniki, die Juden im Gebiet der ehemaligen Sowjetunion, deren Gemeinschaft durch anhaltende Emigration bedroht ist, und über die wirtschaftliche und soziale Not der ukrainischen Juden. Der Leser erfährt von der Entwicklung der kleinen aber dynamischen jüdischen Gemeinde von Litauen, von jener in Estland und von der unerwarteten Wiedergeburt des Judentums in Polen, dem einzigen Land in Europa mit einer wachsenden jüdischen Bevölkerung. Nach einem Beitrag über die neuerwachten Gemeinden Prag und Bratislava gibt der Band einen Überblick über die Geschichte des Judentums im Rumänien des 20. Jahrhunderts, erzählt von der »ungarischen Renaissance« und porträtiert die kroatische jüdische Gemeinde, die nun, nach beinahe 50 Jahren wieder einen Rabbiner hat. In einem abschließenden Essay fordert die französische Historikerin Diana Pinto das Wiederentstehen einer europäischen jüdischen Identität und gemahnt die Gemeinden an ihre Pflicht der Erinnerung.
Survey Results: General Assembly Budapest 2004
Date: 2004
Topics: Jewish Organisations, Jewish Community, Jewish Identity, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Antisemitism, Affiliation and Belonging, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: This survey was given to participants in the 3rd General Assembly of European Jewry, which was held in Budapest in May 2004. Participants were asked how many Jews participate in community programs in their respective cities; the programs and activities their Jewish community offers; and how they believe their community could be more effective in attracting more members.
Second Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers, 2011
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2012
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: unquoted attribute value: &quot;margin-left: 4
Being Jewish in Romania after the Second World War
Author(s): Iancu, Carol
Editor(s): Ben-Rafael , Eliezer; Gergely, Thomas; Gorny, Yosef
Date: 2006
Topics: post-war Jewish history, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Les Juifs en Roumanie depuis la shoah jusqu’au post-communisme
Translated Title: The Jews of Romania from the Shoah until post-communism
Author(s): Iancu, Carol
Editor(s): Bocşan, Nicolae; Breckner, Wolfgang W.; Szamosközi, István; Gyémánt, Ladislau
Date: 2006
Topics: Post-1989, post-war Jewish history, Main Topic: Other
Jewry between tradition and secularism: Europe and Israel compared
Editor(s): Ben-Rafael , Eliezer; Gergely, Thomas; Gorny, Yosef
Date: 2006
Topics: Jewish Peoplehood, Comparative Studies, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: Are Jews today still the carriers of a single and identical collective identity and do they still constitute a single people? This two-fold question arises when one compares a Hassidi Habad from Brooklyn, a Jewish professor at a secular university in Brussels, a traditional Yemeni Jew still living in Sana’a, a Galilee kibbutznik, or a Russian Jew in Novossibirsk. Is there still today a significant relationship between these individuals who all subscribe to Judaism? The analysis shows that the Jewish identity is multiple and can be explained by considering all variants as “surface structures” of the three universal “deep structures” central to the notion of collective identity, namely, collective commitment, perceptions of the collective’s singularity, and positioning vis-à-vis “others.”

Contents:

Preface
Judaism and the culture of memory /Thomas Gergely
Introduction
European Jewry and Klal Yisrael /Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Thomas Gergely, and Yosef Gorny
Is the French model in decline? /Pierre Birnbaum
Case of Belgium /Jean-Philippe Schreiber
Identity of Dutch Jews /Ludo Abicht
Russian-Jewish immigration to Germany /Julius H. Schoeps, Willi Jasper, and Olaf Glöckner
Religiosity, praxis, and tradition in contemporary Hungarian Jewry /András Kovács
Being Jewish in Romania after the second world war /Carol Iangu
Jewish identity, memory, and anti-Semitism /Maurice Konopnicki
Siamese twins: religion and secularism in Jewish national thought /Yosef Gorny
Israeli identity and mission in Buber's thought /Shalom Ratzabi
Sovereignty, voluntarism, and Jewish identity: Nathan Rotenstreich /Avi Bareli
On religious-secular tensions /Avi Sagi
Religious-secular cleavage in contemprary Israel /Yochanan Peres
On European Jewish Orthodoxy, Sephardic tradition, and the Shas movement /Zvi Zohar
Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, and secular women in college /Lior Ben-Chaim Rafael
Challenge of secularism to Jewish survival in Abba Hillel Silver's thinking /Ofer Shiff
Identities of Jewish American women /Suzanne Vromen
Jews and secularization: a challenge or a prospect? /Guy Haarscher
Submission and subversion before the law /Rivon Krygier
Tradition of diaspora and political reality of the state of Israel /David Meyer
Diaspora museum and Israeli-Jewish identity /Dina Porat
Jewish transnational community and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem /Uri Cohen
Contemporary dilemmas of identity: Israel and the diaspora /Eliezer Ben-Rafael
Was the Shoah the "sanctification of God"? /Thomas Gergely.
The Camping Experience: The Impact of JDC Jewish Summer Camps on Eastern European Jews
Author(s): Cohen, Erik H.
Date: 2013
Topics: Jewish Schools, Jewish Education, Main Topic: Education, Evaluation
Abstract: A comprehensive survey conducted (2008-2009) by the JDC International Centre for Community Development (ICCD) among Jews in five Eastern European countries provided data on Jewish background and current attitudes of young adults. Based on this data, a comparison is made of young adults who are alumni of Jewish summer camps and those who did not attend summer camp as youth. Campers express stronger Jewish identity as young adults, as documented through a number of indicators related to religious practice, Jewish Peoplehood and attachment to Israel. The impact of Jewish summer camps is particularly clear among campers from weak Jewish backgrounds.
Identity à la Carte: Research on Jewish identities, participation and affiliation in five Eastern European countries
Author(s): Kovács, András; Ildiko, Barna; DellaPergola, Sergio; Kosmin, Barry
Date: 2011
Topics: Affiliation, Antisemitism, Intermarriage, Israel Attachment, Jewish Literacy, Surveys, Jewish Identity, Religious Observance, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract:

This report describes the process and results of a research study on Jewish identity and community participation in Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, it identifies trends among Jewish adults in Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania. This two-year and wide-reaching study, examined views on religious observance, Jewish identity, anti-Semitism, Israel, Jewish knowledge, and organizational affiliation among 1,270 Jews, ages 18-60.
European Jewish Digest: August 2015
Author(s): Goldstein, Richard
Date: 2015
Topics: Main Topic: Other
Abstract: JPR’s monthly European Jewish digest provides a concise look at some of the major events impacting on Jewish life around Europe.
European Jewish Digest: July 2015
Author(s): Goldstein, Richard
Date: 2015
Topics: Main Topic: Other
Abstract: JPR’s monthly European Jewish digest provides a concise look at some of the major events impacting on Jewish life around Europe.
Compass 09/10: Directions in European Jewish Life
Date: 2009
Topics: Fundraising and Philanthropy, Social Entrepeneurs, Jewish Organisations, Jewish Community, Jewish Heritage, Main Topic: Other
Abstract: An initiative of the Westbury Group, a network of more than 20 international foundations with a shared interest in enhancing Jewish life in Europe, Compass reflects the breadth and depth of Jewish activity across the cultural, historical and religious spectrums of European Jewish life in 15 countries.

This directory – the first of its kind to focus on European Jewry, including the FSU – will introduce, enlighten and inform its readers about some of the exciting Jewish projects taking place in cities and towns all over Europe. The 36 organisations and programmes featured in this first edition of Compass reflect the breadth and depth of communities that are innovative, creative, effective and most importantly, sustainable.
Jewish Studies in Romania
Author(s): Waldman, Felicia; Shafir, Michael
Date: 2011
Topics: Jewish Studies, Universities / Higher Education, Main Topic: Other
Antisemitism: Overview of data available in the European Union 2005-2015
Author(s): European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
Date: 2016
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Monitoring, Hate crime, Law, Government, European Union, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: ‘Official data’ are understood here as those collected by law enforcement agencies, authorities that are part of criminal justice systems and relevant state ministries at the national level. ‘Unofficial data’ refers to data collected by civil society organisations.

This annual report compiles the available evidence on antisemitic incidents collected by international, governmental and non-governmental sources, covering the period 1 January 2005–31 December 2015, where data are available. In addition, it includes a section that presents evidence from international organisations. No official data on reported antisemitic incidents in 2015 were available for eight Member States by the time this report was compiled in September 201
Antisemitism: Summary overview of the situation in the European Union 2001-2008
Author(s): European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
Date: 2009
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Monitoring, Hate crime, Law, Government, European Union, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights presents its 5th brief
update of its 2004 report “Manifestations of anti-Semitism in the EU”. The
overview contains the latest governmental and non-governmental
statistical data covering 2001 to 2008 for those EU Member States that
have official or unofficial data and statistics on anti-Semitic incidents. The
Agency collects regularly publicly available official and unofficial data and
information on racism and xenophobia in the EU Member States through
its Racism and Xenophobia Network (RAXEN) with a special focus on
anti-Semitism.

The Agency’s data collection work shows that most Member States do not
have official or even unofficial data and statistics on anti-Semitic incidents.
Even where data exist they are not comparable, since they are collected
following different methodologies. For some countries, RAXEN National
Focal Points provide the Agency with lists of cases collected either ad hoc
by civil society organisations or through the media with varying degrees of
validity and reliability. Detailed data and incidents lists are presented in the
FRA electronic database, Info_Portal at http://infoportal.fra.europa.eu.
The Agency’s regular review of data collection systems indicates that most
Member States have a serious problem of underreporting, particularly in
reference to official systems of data collection that are based on police
records and on crime and law statistics, because not all anti-Semitic
incidents registered officially are categorised under the label “antiSemitism”
and/or because not all anti-Semitic incidents are reported to the
official body by the victims or witnesses of an incident.

A complementary problem to underreporting is misreporting and overreporting:
This could be the case in unofficial data collection carried out by
organisations that do not provide information concerning their
methodologies.
A Survey of Jewish Museums in Europe
Author(s): Sion, Brigitte
Date: 2016
Topics: Jewish Museums, Main Topic: Culture and Heritage
Abstract: The goals of the Foundation in conducting this survey were manifold:
we aimed to generate a comprehensive picture of the Jewish museum
landscape across Europe, and to identify the most pressing issues,
challenges and needs faced by these institutions. We wanted to learn about
the mission, philosophy and methodology of Jewish museums, and better
understand their role and position in the cultural and educational realm at
large. We were also interested in the level of professionalization of Jewish
museums, both in staff training, collection preservation and cataloguing,
management, and the ways in which Jewish museums communicate and
arrange partnerships with one another. With a better understanding of
these issues, we want now to assess the resources needed and the funding
priorities for the next five to ten years.

The questionnaire was sent to 120 institutions in 34 countries and we
received 64 completed forms from 30 countries. The questions addressed
eleven broad topics: organisation, collections, permanent and temporary
exhibitions, facility, visitor services, public programmes, visitor
demographics, marketing and PR, finances, future plans and needs.

This diverse sample enabled us to get, for the first time, a quasicomprehensive
picture of the Jewish museum landscape in Europe, from
small community museums to landmarks of “starchitecture;” from
institutions boasting thousands of rare objects to others mostly text
panels- or technology-based; from museums employing scores of
professional staff and interns to synagogues-turned-exhibition halls run by
volunteers for a few hours a month. That was precisely the challenge: the
large and numerous discrepancies between institutions, depending on their
location, their financial and human resources, their political and economic
context, the type of visitors they receive, and other contextual
considerations.

The results point to four major findings:
1. Transition from museums to multi-purpose hubs;
2. Lack of collaboration and partnerships;
3. Tension between particularistic and universalistic missions;
4. Increasing need to serve a diverse audience.
European Jewish Digest September 2014
Author(s): Goldstein, Richard
Date: 2014
Topics: Main Topic: Other
Abstract: JPR’s monthly European Jewish digest provides a concise look at some of the major events impacting on Jewish life around Europe.
European Jewish Digest May 2014
Author(s): Goldstein, Richard
Date: 2014
Topics: Main Topic: Other
Abstract: JPR’s monthly European Jewish digest provides a concise look at some of the major events impacting on Jewish life around Europe.
Discrimination and hate crime against Jews in EU Member States: experiences and perceptions of antisemitism
Author(s): Institute for Jewish Policy Research; Market Opinion Research International; European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
Date: 2013
Topics: Surveys, Antisemitism, Discrimination, Hate crime, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: In 2012, JPR conducted a major study of Jewish perceptions and experiences of antisemitism in Europe, after winning a competitive tender from the European Union. The survey, run in partnership with research agency Ipsos MORI and involving several members of JPR’s international team of Associate Fellows, took place in nine EU Member States: Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Sweden and the UK.

Conducted in eleven languages, it investigated Jewish populations’ experience of harassment, discrimination, vandalism and violence; whether or not they report these incidents to the police or another authority; how safe and secure they feel; and how aware they are of their rights under the law. In addition, the survey gathered a considerable amount about Jewish identity, communal affiliation, engagement and participation, and Jewish practice.

The findings demonstrate that three-quarters of respondents believe that antisemitism has become worse over the past five years in all countries investigated. Antisemitic verbal threats and harassment are remarkably common – close to a quarter of all respondents said they had personally experienced an incident of this type in the previous twelve months, rising to close to one-third in Hungary and Belgium. Approximately one in fifteen of all respondents said they had experienced at least one antisemitic physical attack – in the form of being hit, pushed or threatened – within the past five years, most commonly in Belgium, France, Germany and Hungary. As is the case with many criminal incidents, respondents recorded widespread under-reporting of these types of incidents to the police or other appropriate organisations. Close to half of all respondents are worried about becoming a victim of a verbal attack or harassment, and approximately a third is worried about becoming a victim of a physical attack.

Significant geographical variations can be discerned, rendering any singular or uniform description of the Jewish population in Europe, or antisemitism in Europe, imprecise at least. Most notably, there are significant distinctions to be drawn between the character of Jewish populations who experienced life under communism, and those who did not. Furthermore, antisemitism manifests itself rather differently: in Eastern Europe it tends to be associated with right-wing ultra-nationalist forces; in Western Europe it is more commonly linked to leftist politics and Islamic extremism.

On the other hand, it is critical to put these findings into context. The vast majority of Jews in the sample feel a strong sense of belonging to the country in which they reside, and are highly integrated into mainstream society. And, when asked to locate the problem of antisemitism in the larger perspective of other problems in society – unemployment, crime, the economy, etc. – it rarely features at the top of the list. Only in Germany does it hold this position; in Latvia and Italy it comes seventh out of nine issues, and in the UK, eighth.