Boys German Elementary School of Suceava

Collection description

Holding institution (official language):: Arhivele Naționale ale României, Direcţia Judeţeană Suceava

Postal address:: Arhivele Naționale ale României, Direcţia Judeţeană Suceava, Strada Ştefan cel Mare nr. 33, cod 720003, jud. Suceava Romania

Scope and content:: The earliest archival records for the school date from 1883 when, on the occasion of the school's 100th anniversary, a “school chronicle” book was started, which gave the history of the school and records of events affecting it (see the record of this entry at http://jbat.lbi.org/ and the link under ‘contains’ for more information). The next items in the collection are individual class registers from 1894. Beginning in 1900 there are class registers for every year, though there are some gaps in the grades. By the turn of the 20th century the school had a significant Jewish student body and in general was attended primarily by German and Jewish boys. For example, in 1915 one first-grade class had 61 students, of whom 26 were Jewish, 23 Roman Catholic, seven Greek Catholic (Eastern Catholic), four Protestant and one Romanian Orthodox. Of these, 53 claimed German as their mother tongue (all the Jewish and Protestant and most of the Catholic students plus, unusually, the one Romanian Orthodox pupil), five Ruthenian (Ukrainian) and three Polish. The other first grade class also had 61 students, of whom 27 were Catholic, 26 Jewish, five Eastern Catholic and three Protestant. Of these, 56 claimed German as their mother tongue, one Ruthenian and four Polish.

Archival history:: The records were maintained by the school and collected by the Suceava branch of the National Archives after World War II and the restructuring of the school system by the communist regime.

Administrative/biographical history:: The German school of Suceava was founded in 1784. It was closed in the 1920s as a result of the Romanianisation measures introduced by the government.