<\/p>\n
To reach the ruins of the Synagogue in Constan\u0163a, on CA Rosetti Street no. 2, you have to walk carefully, from any direction you come, broken sidewalks, collapsed buildings, of which only ugly and extremely fragile facades, noisy gangs of dogs and often groups of people undisturbed by daily problems, waiting for the lucky place in the social campus "Henri Coand\u0103". If you don't know what awaits you, the place is sinister, the courtyard in front is full of garbage and, in order to enter, you have to cross a dam of twisted rusty beasts, once a fence with a special hardware. It's not enough. Beyond the metal mound, miraculously escaped the vigilance of neighbors in the vicinity, there are household debris left over from last summer or, perhaps, from the guilty incursions into the abandoned building. Last but not least are the dogs. Many and noisy, they do their duty and vigorously defend the ruin from the front.<\/p>\n
From the Ashkenazi Rite Synagogue in Constan\u0163a, only the walls of the enclosure remain. Built in 1911, according to the plans of Adolf Linz (who also designed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, almost 50 other houses in Constanta, including a good part of what was once Ovidiu Square), in Moorish style, the building also reflected some Chaldean architectural influence. It was the initiative of Pincus \u015eapira, supplier of the Royal House of Romania and important trader of watches and jewelry and, in a century, the Ashkenazi Synagogue went through several vicissitudes. For example, between 1941 and 1944, the building was transformed into a German military warehouse, being used to preserve military effects, non-perishable food reaching the soldiers on the Eastern Front and horse food. After 1944, it was partially rebuilt and returned to the religious circuit. All this until, after 1989, the criminal indifference of the local authorities, the scandalous insensitivity of the city's cultural and civic forums and the indifference of the inhabitants, unaccustomed to ethnic and religious diversity, came to the fore.<\/p>\n
The Jews of Constan\u0163a were never very numerous or influential: although the most important port of Romania, Constan\u0163a, had, even before 1877, important communities of Greeks and Armenians who established the guidelines in trade, crafts and Pontic finances. . In the middle of the 19th century, in 1850, Ion Ionescu de la Brad numbered 119 Jewish families throughout the province, with improvised places of prayer. In four decades, in 1890, there were about 600 Jewish inhabitants in the city of Constan\u0163a, while in Tulcea their number exceeded 1700. The 1912 census recorded an increase in the community - more than 2000 souls in Tulcea County and almost 1300 in Constan\u0163a County; at the end of the years of peace between the two world wars, in 1939, the seaside town exceeded 2000 Jewish inhabitants (mostly Ashkenazi, of Western rite and a quarter of Sephardim, of Spanish rite) and the Danube town, Tulcea, had over 1,000 Jews, all of Western rite.<\/p>\n
In 1908, on the current Mircea cel B\u0103tr\u00e2n Street, at no. "Metamorphosis" and the Armenian Church. Along several streets, all bordered by the sea, the city embodies a splendid option for diversity and tolerance. And the Sephardic Temple, as well as her religious smile on CA Rosetti Street no. 2, was transformed, between 1941- 1944, into a military warehouse for food, clothing and harnesses. After the installation of communist power, the Temple was partially repaired (it had also suffered from the earthquake of November 1940) and returned to the community. In the 80's of the last century it was demolished, without any protest or regret, and the local authorities arranged on the same place a sordid parking lot, made of the cheapest asphalt, together with a gas tank (we don't even know until today today if someone gets supplies from there).<\/p>\n
Neither then nor later did the people of Constanta say anything: they like, however, that their city be considered a crucible of minorities and denominations and any stereotype regarding this city begins with this phrase.<\/p>\n
There has been only one synagogue in Constan\u0163a for over three decades. And this is a ruin today. At the entrance, the monumental wooden doors, with splendid (once) mosaic stained glass windows, are almost destroyed by the meteorological vicissitudes and the skilful hands of the people.<\/p>\n
The solid wood covering at the entrance, which covered the walls, has long been used as fuel. Once you cross the threshold, you are overwhelmed by the beauty of the remaining arabesques, of an unreal blue and red, with massive columns, well proportioned and ingeniously distributed. You can easily imagine the color effect inside the building if you consider the color of the pieces of glass on the windows and the light that enters from the sea.<\/p>\n
The ceiling no longer exists, and therefore everything you can see now will soon be destroyed. All carpentry and hardware was stolen. The objects of worship have disappeared and the floor is full of the remains of the ceiling, the walls and the dirt thrown by the temporary tenants.<\/p>\n
The interior stained glass windows are incomplete, in some parts they have been completely destroyed and the massive cracks in the entrance walls threaten an imminent collapse. It is impossible for you to reconstruct, with the eyes of your mind, a celebration with Hanukkah candles or to understand that this place was once meant to call the people of Yom Kippur. You can only think with horror that it is quite possible that the Torah, the Holy Book, was used for domestic purposes.<\/p>\n
Where could the library of the Synagogue in Constan\u0163a be? But all that constituted her patrimony, gathered for a century? It is more difficult to explain how a place of worship was destroyed in a democratic regime after surviving interwar hysterical anti-Semitism, totalitarian anti-Jewish reactions in World War II, and the atheistic intentions of the communist system. Even worse: for a quarter of a century, no Constanta publication, no Constanta minister, no mayor of Constanta, no representative of Constanta culture, no voice of Constanta civil society have spoken about the expansion of the Synagogue.<\/p>\n
A guilty silence and, ultimately, criminal in terms of heritage, a broad consensus that suits all stakeholders. The proof of hypocrisy and bad faith is that this building, devastated and deliberately mocked, appears in all public speeches regarding the multiconfessionality and tolerance of Constanta. Although, obviously, everyone knows what it's about.<\/p>\n
However, the end of 2014 brought a glimmer of hope for the Jews of Constanta. The current president of the community, Sorin Lucian Ionescu, announced the beginning of the rehabilitation of the Synagogue. After completing the geotechnical expertise, the conclusions were very gratifying.<\/p>\n
The experts found that the Synagogue in Constan\u021ba can be rehabilitated without being demolished.<\/p>\n
The architect estimated the total value of the costs of the works, with a feasibility study and project, at approximately one million euros.<\/p>\n
Present in Constan\u021ba at the beginning of 2015, the deputy Aurel Vainer, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania, said that he thanks all those who helped to know the state of the Synagogue in Constan\u021ba and promised that in two years Jews will be able to pray in the renovated place and unchanged as architecture. Maybe by the end of his term, he'll have time to see the ruins of CA Rosetti Street.<\/p>\n
Today's Jewish community in Constan\u0163a is almost extinct, less than 50 souls, it is extinct without being able to defend itself. The few worthwhile efforts to dust off the history of Dobrogea's Jews are viewed with caution. The collective memory refuses to put in value judgments that, in the Second World War, there were forced labor camps for Jews on the territory of Dobrogea. In 1941, for example, in Osmancea, the chief rabbi of Constanta, Josef Schechter, and the president of the Israelite Community of Western Rite, Avram Bercovici, were detained in the same place for being Jews. Likewise, in the Ciob\u0103ni\u0163a camp there is evidence of the killing of civilians by the Romanian military authorities. Have you ever asked the inhabitants of Cobadin or Mereni if they know of the existence of camps? Have you ever heard of apologies?<\/p>\n
As for today's ruin of the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Constan\u021ba, we hope that, in a short time, its gates will no longer be locked, but will receive both believers and tourists, under the vault of a new roof, and the Star of David to can be admired again, in a monument that completes the multicultural spirit of Constan\u021ba Veche.<\/p>\n