Clara Filderman

This is my sister, Clara Filderman on the main commercial street in Focsani. The photo was taken a few days before classes started, on 9th September 1933. Clara was wearing her uniform - she was to begin the 1st year at the public high school. The shops on Main Street, the chief commercial artery of the town, are visible in the background. There were many stores which only had one floor here. In very few cases, the tradesmen would live upstairs. A detail of the pavement can be noticed - the difference between the sidewalk and the rest of the street; there was even a road reserved for cyclists. Stefan cel Mare Street was nicer than Main Street - it was the residential area, with many trees, neat courtyards and houses, many flowers. The streets were paved. At the end of Cotesti Street, which opened on to Main Street, carriages would wait for customers. Their owner was a Jew named Poitas, whose daughter, Lili Poitas, was a fellow student of my sister's in high school. Focsani was a town with many Jews. There were two Jewish quarters. They were situated pretty close to each other, but then again, the town itself was small. I lived, however, in a Christian quarter, inhabited by many officers. The Jews in Focsani were tradesmen - some of them had big businesses. There was a Chamber of Commerce and my father was a member. We had manufacturing workshops and tailor's shops, many stores, drugstores, pharmacists, craftsmen, clock smiths, hatters, tinsmiths, photographers and physicians. The town had many synagogues - there were eight Orthodox ones.