Jews from Vadul-Raşcov in the memory of the locals

Abstract

The purpose of our research is to reconstruct the events in the past of the village of Vadul-Rașcov, and the impact of the residence of a large Jewish community in Vad-Rașcov, Soldanesti, where through the imperial census of 1897, ¾ of the village population were Jews. The field research carried out by the author in Vadul-Rașcov, during the years 2019–2020, allowed the collection of valuable information about the life of the Jewish community, the location of the neighborhood compactly inhabited by Jews, and their occupations. This process allowed us to elucidate, through the prism of oral history, a number of aspects related to the spiritual and material culture of the community, inter-religious relations and intercultural contacts, but also the reconstruction of the cultural environment of the village, of everyday life, associated with important events in the history of the former fair. A series of filming of the locations and several interviews with those who have preserved memories of the time when Jews still lived in the village have been carried out. The study realized by us by documenting the information gathered from the field has ethno-cultural value and practical applicability, it is relevant for a detailed knowledge of the history and Jewish heritage of the village. The locations related to the history of the Jews of Vadul-Rascov and the memories of the locals can be used to compile a tourist guide of the region.