Jewish Democratic Committee - Trei Scaune branch

Collection

Holding institution:: National Archives of Romania, Covasna county directorate

Holding institution (official language):: Serviciul judeţean Covasna al Arhivelor Naţionale Române

Scope and content:: The fonds comprises the files of the Trei Scaune county branch of the Jewish Democratic Committee from 1945 to 1950. It includes semester activity plans for propaganda actions directed towards the Jewish population of the county, monthly reports on the state of mind of the Jewish population, its participation in political actions, the relationships and cooperation with other organisations directed by the Communist Party. It also contains details of adding new members to the organisation. File No. 3 includes a statistical survey from 1947 of members of the Trei Scaune branch of the organisation including their name, gender, residence, age and profession, to which are annexed detailed handwritten or typed autobiographies of members with details especially about their destiny during the Holocaust years - date and place of deportation, date of return from the concentration camp, fate of family members and the motivation for joining the organisation.

Archival history:: The fonds was transferred to the Covasna county directorate of the Romanian National Archives where it was inventoried in 2006, being made available to researchers.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Jewish Democratic Committee was founded on 25 1945, initiated by the Communist Party, with the main task of mobilising the Jewish population to support the policy of this party and to counteract Zionist propaganda. It was led by a presidium, an executive bureau, a Central Committee and a general secretariat. The organisation was organised into regions, counties, cities and towns. It had its own newspaper called Unirea (Unity). It supported the Dr. Petru Groza government installed under the pressure of the Soviet occupation and played a large role in the propaganda which led to the the victory in the parliamentary elections of the coalition led by the Communist Party in 1946. After the creation of the State of Israel it focused on convincing the Jewish population to remain in Romania and to renounce Aliyah. It was abolished in 1953 by the decision of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers Party from Romania as part of the antisemitic trend imposed by Stalin in his last years of rule.

System of arrangement:: The fonds is organised in files arranged in chronological order.

Finding aids:: Inventory no. 636, held by the Covasna county directorate of the Romanian National Archives.

Yerusha Network member:: Romanian Institute for the Research of National Minorities

Author of the description:: Tóth Levente, archivist - Protestant Theological Institute - 2018; Ladislau Gyémánt, emeritus professor - 2018