There are some recollections from Petrosani about the war period and the Jewish community in Petrosani. The pages are typewritten by my son, Vladimir Roseanu, in 2005. The last page of the text is signed by me, Oscar Roseanu, son of Frida and Martin Rosenfeld from Petrosani, former teacher at the ?Spiru Haret? High School in Bucharest.
My name is Oscar Roseanu [changed in 1947 from Oszkar Rosenfeld]. I was born in Petrosani, on 2nd May 1923. Petrosani is the town of my childhood. I feel tied to this town by my most beautiful memories. I read somewhere that the town had 18,000 inhabitants [in the interwar period]. Romanians, Hungarians, Jews, Germans, and Frenchmen lived together in harmony. Petrosani had a strong Jewish community and many notabilities were Jews: the town's notary, Bercovici, my father, Martin Rosenfeld, the head of the supply department of the Lonea coal mines, and many others. Once a year I try to go back there and visit my parents' tombs. A trip through the cemetery means remembering the whole past of this town by reading the names on the tombstones. Almost everyone who was buried here was my friend or my acquaintance.
After the World War II, the Jewish community tried to regain its daily routine. And it felt as if the Jewish youth had got more united ? we all joined the Ihud [the Zionist Social-Democratic Party]. We organized a club and we even had a band? I played the accordion, another fellow played the violin, and this was our little band. On every Sunday night of the month of January, there was a ball. This tradition went on until 1948, when the ?ethnic problem? was ?duly addressed? and things fell apart. The nationalizations and the mass emigration of the Jews in our town began. For instance, the fabric store of the Schweber brothers was given to a worker; it took him only one week to destroy everything. Business in Petrosani had a lot to lose.
At a certain point, the entire central part of Petrosani was demolished. The town is still there, but it's a whole different town from the one I used to know! The central area and the company mining town were demolished. The houses were replaced by 10-story high apartment houses. Few of the Jews who had remained in the towns in the Jiu Valley ? Petrila, Lupeni, Lonea ? attended the service in the synagogue in Petrosani.
I think there are less than 10 Jews living in Petrosani today ? not even enough for a minyan. There is a sort of chairman of the community ? his name is Rosenfeld, but he is in no way related to our family. Interestingly enough, the town's mayor is a Jew; his name is [Carol] Schreter. He ran as an independent and got elected twice. He was my pupil in 6th grade. He became a mining engineer and was the manager of the Aninoasa mines for many years. Then he moved to Petrosani and became a mayor. He still is.
