Centropa

Support Centropa

You might get more results by selecting All languages

Book Recommendations

84869 results

Centropa in Bulgaria

Approximately 47,000 Jews lived in Bulgaria before the Second World War and virtually none of the country’s Jews were deported to Nazi death camps.  In Bulgarian-occupied Thrace and Macedonia, however, nearly 12,000 Jews were deported; almost none returned.

Approximately 45,000 Bulgarian Jews emigrated to Israel in the late 1940s-1950s.  There was no real organized Jewish life until after 1989.  The community today, although small, is well organized and quite proud of rebuilding its communal institutions.

Centropa’s Bulgarian interviews were carried out by a team coordinated by Nelly Rousseva of The Bulgarian Photographers’ Association and edited by Mihaylina Pavlov of Shalom, the Jewish Community of Bulgaria.

What you will notice in the pictures we’ve collected in Bulgaria is a high percentage of people dressed in traditional Sephardic costume. 

The other great Balkan Sephardic communities of Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, and Bosnia were almost wholly wiped out during the Holocaust, so those family stories, and the images that go with them, are now lost to us. 

That makes this particular collection all the more historically important.

Centropa in Bulgaria

Approximately 47,000 Jews lived in Bulgaria before the Second World War and virtually none of the country’s Jews were deported to Nazi death camps.  In Bulgarian-occupied Thrace and Macedonia, however, nearly 12,000 Jews were deported; almost none returned.

Approximately 45,000 Bulgarian Jews emigrated to Israel in the late 1940s-1950s.  There was no real organized Jewish life until after 1989.  The community today, although small, is well organized and quite proud of rebuilding its communal institutions.

Centropa’s Bulgarian interviews were carried out by a team coordinated by Nelly Rousseva of The Bulgarian Photographers’ Association and edited by Mihaylina Pavlov of Shalom, the Jewish Community of Bulgaria.

What you will notice in the pictures we’ve collected in Bulgaria is a high percentage of people dressed in traditional Sephardic costume. 

The other great Balkan Sephardic communities of Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, and Bosnia were almost wholly wiped out during the Holocaust, so those family stories, and the images that go with them, are now lost to us. 

That makes this particular collection all the more historically important.

Centropa in Bulgaria

Approximately 47,000 Jews lived in Bulgaria before the Second World War and virtually none of the country’s Jews were deported to Nazi death camps.  In Bulgarian-occupied Thrace and Macedonia, however, nearly 12,000 Jews were deported; almost none returned.

Approximately 45,000 Bulgarian Jews emigrated to Israel in the late 1940s-1950s.  There was no real organized Jewish life until after 1989.  The community today, although small, is well organized and quite proud of rebuilding its communal institutions.

Centropa’s Bulgarian interviews were carried out by a team coordinated by Nelly Rousseva of The Bulgarian Photographers’ Association and edited by Mihaylina Pavlov of Shalom, the Jewish Community of Bulgaria.

What you will notice in the pictures we’ve collected in Bulgaria is a high percentage of people dressed in traditional Sephardic costume. 

The other great Balkan Sephardic communities of Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, and Bosnia were almost wholly wiped out during the Holocaust, so those family stories, and the images that go with them, are now lost to us. 

That makes this particular collection all the more historically important.

Centropa in Hungary

Although less than 40,000 Jews are officially registered, experts estimate there are between 80,000 to 100,000 Jews in Budapest today, making it the largest and liveliest community in Central Europe. Three day schools, more than a dozen functioning synagogues, and a half dozen youth clubs are all well attended.

All our Hungarian interviews were conducted in Budapest. That's because the overwhelming majority of Jews in the provinces were deported to their deaths in 1944. Most of those who returned to Hungary chose to settle in Budapest, so there was little reason for us to work in Szeged, Debrecen and other cities.

We also conducted Hungarian-language interviews in Novi Sad and Subotica in Serbia, in southern Slovakia and in Transylvania in Romania. Elderly Jews in these communities still speak Hungarian as their mother tongue.

Centropa's interview methodology was created by Eszter Andor and Dora Sardi, who headed a team of nearly a dozen interviewers, editors, transcribers, transcribers and scanners. Together, they secured more than 200 interviews and digitized 5,000 pictures.

Hide map
Off

Centropa in Hungary

Although less than 40,000 Jews are officially registered, experts estimate there are between 80,000 to 100,000 Jews in Budapest today, making it the largest and liveliest community in Central Europe. Three day schools, more than a dozen functioning synagogues, and a half dozen youth clubs are all well attended.

All our Hungarian interviews were conducted in Budapest. That's because the overwhelming majority of Jews in the provinces were deported to their deaths in 1944. Most of those who returned to Hungary chose to settle in Budapest, so there was little reason for us to work in Szeged, Debrecen and other cities.

We also conducted Hungarian-language interviews in Novi Sad and Subotica in Serbia, in southern Slovakia and in Transylvania in Romania. Elderly Jews in these communities still speak Hungarian as their mother tongue.

Centropa's interview methodology was created by Eszter Andor and Dora Sardi, who headed a team of nearly a dozen interviewers, editors, transcribers, transcribers and scanners. Together, they secured more than 200 interviews and digitized 5,000 pictures.

Hide map
Off

Centropa in Austria

Although we have not yet secured grants to translate many of our Austrian interviews into English (we are still looking), our German-language website is devoted to our 98 Austrian and 2 German interviews, most of which were conducted by Tanja Eckstein in Vienna.

Through these life stories and the 1,700 privately-held digitized and annotated images, we now have a portrait of Jewish life in what was once one of the most well established and integrated Jewish communities in Europe.

Many of our Viennese interviewees were born elsewhere, and they have brought with them a colorful collection of pictures of growing up in Czernowitz, Lemberg, Budapest and in Romanian cities. A few of our interviewees hail from rural Austria, providing us with a unique view of small town Jewish life.

Nearly every one of our Viennese interviewees survived the war by fleeing to the USSR, the UK, the US or Palestine. All returned-for a variety of reasons-in the years after. Today, the number of Jews living in Austria is estimated at around 8,000-10,000, with the vast majority living in Vienna.

Hide map
Off

Centropa in Austria

Although we have not yet secured grants to translate many of our Austrian interviews into English (we are still looking), our German-language website is devoted to our 98 Austrian and 2 German interviews, most of which were conducted by Tanja Eckstein in Vienna.

Through these life stories and the 1,700 privately-held digitized and annotated images, we now have a portrait of Jewish life in what was once one of the most well established and integrated Jewish communities in Europe.

Many of our Viennese interviewees were born elsewhere, and they have brought with them a colorful collection of pictures of growing up in Czernowitz, Lemberg, Budapest and in Romanian cities. A few of our interviewees hail from rural Austria, providing us with a unique view of small town Jewish life.

Nearly every one of our Viennese interviewees survived the war by fleeing to the USSR, the UK, the US or Palestine. All returned-for a variety of reasons-in the years after. Today, the number of Jews living in Austria is estimated at around 8,000-10,000, with the vast majority living in Vienna.

Hide map
Off

Centropa in Romania

800,000 Jews lived in interwar Romania, which then included all of Moldova and a slice of northeastern Bulgaria. Around 200,000 to 250,000 were murdered during the Holocaust. Fewer than10,000 Jews live in Romania today; most of them are elderly as more than 340,000 Romanian Jews emigrated to Israel.

Between 2001 and 2007, Centropa employed two teams in Romania, a large country where elderly Jews are scattered in small communities separated by long distances and bad roads. In the northwest part of the country (where most elderly Jews still speak Hungarian) Ildiko Molnar directed our team. Ildiko, a graduate of the Jewish Studies program in Cluj, has worked for Centropa since 2001 and trained more than a dozen interviewers and editors.

In 2006 we began a cooperative partnership with the Goren Goldstein Center for Jewish Studies in Bucharest, and Anca Ciuciu is our education coordinator and Professor Felice Waldman is our historical advisor.

Hide map
Off
  • loading ...