RIRNM Publishing House has published an extensive book collection on topics covering the history, culture and identity of national minorities in Romania (http://ispmn.gov.ro/nodes/term/slug:carti ). One of the most important titles on the topic of Jewish history is the monograph signed by Attila Gidó, on the Jewish life in interwar Cluj (Transylvania): Două decenii. Evreii din Cluj în perioada interbelică [Two Decades. The Jews in Cluj in Interwar Period] (ISPMN, Cluj-Napoca, 2014). The history of the Transylvanian Jews went through a metamorphosis after WW I. Their social stratification, cultural life, institutional system, political attitude, and economic role have changed. Thus, the process of integration and assimilation to the Hungarian community had slowed down or in some cases even stopped, due to the geopolitical changes and internal political and social events. The volume analyzes these evolutions from the perspective of ethnic identity and social integration.
The most recent work published at RIRNM on the history of Jews is a collective volume titled Trecutul prezent. Evreii din România: istorie, memorie, reprezentare [The Present Past. The Jews in Romania: History, Memory, Representation], Anca Filipovici, Attila Gidó (eds.). Foreword by Lucian Nastasă- Kovács. (ISPMN, Cluj-Napoca, 2018). This volume brings forward the historical path of the Jewish minority in Romania using reading keys that connect wider phenomena – emancipation, nationalism, anti-Semitism. Signed by dedicated specialists (Ladislau Gyémánt, Carol Iancu, Camelia Crăciun, Tibori Szabó Zoltán, Lya Benjamin, Anca Tudorancea, Natalia Lazăr, Liviu Rotman, Michael Shafir, Alexandru Florian, Diana Dumitru), the studies track the shifting that took place around important milestones such as WW I and the 1918 Union, the Holocaust and the WW II, the communist regime and the recent history. The papers that approach the history of the Jews until the establishment of the communist regime follow the territorial distribution of the historical provinces highlighting – to the extent possible – the particularities of the Jewish communities in Transylvania, the Old Kingdom, Bukovina or Bessarabia. In fact, the affiliation to a certain province has conferred a distinct image and
destiny of the communities, which has reinforced the heterogeneous character of the minority in Greater Romania. From this perspective, the path of the Jewish minority in Romania is a complex of histories with common trajectories and ruptures, also emphasizing the alert dynamics of the 19th – 20th centuries. Designed by the editors as a historical guide, the volume proposes a broadened perspective towards a modern synthesis of the history of the Jews in Romania. An English version is currently under preparation.
Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities
Gavril Muzicescu no. 5 Romania, Cluj-Napoca, 400697 Phone: 0364 103 154, 0364 116 261 Fax: 0364 103 177
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