Jewish Tour of Bucharest

07/10/2020

01/03/2019

From now on, you will find our Jewish Tour on the Good Living page (please follow), along with other top-quality historical tours of Bucharest, but also with our cozy, boutique accommodation near the city center.
As we are expanding to provide travelers with engaging guided experiences and the perfect stay in Bucharest, this page will soon be discontinued, and everything will be consolidated under Good Living instead. You can also find updates on our new website: www.goodlivingbucharest.com

29/01/2019

Some food for thought (in Romanian): https://www.vice.com/ro/article/qvy84v/ura-impotriva-evreilor-a-revenit-in-discursul-public-din-romania?fbclid=IwAR2wFQqTidkTJGZU1KtcCQNGjgqJLvNkHnRKfk2Y5q73xgBc1KRRBcQHyvs

Am vorbit cu Adrian Cioflâncă, directorul Centrului pentru Studiul Istoriei Evreilor, cu ocazia Zilei Internaționale de Comemorare a Victimelor Holocaustului.

25/01/2019

If you're in Romania, and are interested in the Jewish heritage, be sure to include Oradea in your itinerary. Besides 3 beautifully-restored synagogues and a Jewish museum, the city of Oradea will also fascinate you with its collection of Art-Nouveau and Secession buildings, its nearby spas with thermal water, and an impressive medieval fortress. And yes, they have an international airport! ;)

19/12/2018

Promising news from neighboring Republic of Moldova:

At the initiative of the Moldovan government, the vast, long-ruined Jewish cemetery in the capital, Chisinau, will be cleaned up and restored to anchor a Jewish history, heritage, and cultural center. Work on the project — approved by a government ... continue reading →

18/12/2018

Germany has paid more than $80bn for losses resulting from N**i persecution

11/12/2018

The Jewish tour is just one of the guided walking tours we offer, and it explores an almost forgotten (but still very picturesque) neighborhood:

(article is in Romanian, but try using Google Translate to see some of the things you can do in Bucharest)

http://designedtotravel.ro/experiencebucharest-bucuresteni/

Am fost extrem de bucuroși să participăm în noiembrie la , un proiect fantastic de promovare a Bucureștiului.

10/10/2018

So heart-breaking, so real, so long kept hidden by Romanian authorities and regular Romanians alike. And one of the many reasons we run the Jewish walking tour of Bucharest...

https://nyti.ms/2OzRicZ

Iancu Zuckerman is 95 and the host of a classical music show in Bucharest. But in 1941 he was marched through the streets of Iasi, a center of anti-Semitism. The specters are still there.

09/10/2018

Astăzi este Ziua Națională de Comemorare a Victimelor Holocaustului din România. Acum 77 de ani, evreii din Bucovina și Moldova de Nord erau deportați în Transnistria. În imagine, un copil din Vatra Dornei ai cărui părinți nu s-au mai întors niciodată acasă (foto: Arhiva CSIER).

27/09/2018

We're actually the exact opposite of this, but we'll let you judge. And we thought this was funny, anyway! :)

Convince yourself: www.jewishtrail.com

06/09/2018

If you are in Romania, make sure to also visit Oradea. Home to a once-thriving Jewish community, the city has recently restored two synagogues, has plenty of amazing Art Nouveau/Secession architecture, and is very close to a relaxing thermal spa. https://www.romania-insider.com/orthodox-synagogue-oradea-inaugurated-2018/

The Orthodox Synagogue in the western Romania city of Oradea has reopened officially after a lengthy restoration process.

29/06/2018

"Did you face political pressure not to explore this subject as your director character does? How did you handle that?

There was some, but less than we expected and it would take too long to describe it. What was more unexpected was that a lot of people from the crew or cast proved to be Holocaust deniers in various degrees (mostly soft), but they didn’t tell me directly, I just heard it via word of mouth."

The full interview here:

https://variety.com/2018/film/global/barbarians-director-radu-jude-holocaust-denial-romania-1202861479/

Radu Jude’s “I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians,” which has its world premiere Monday in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s main competition, has ruffled as many feathers in his native …

25/04/2018

Celebrating Israel's 70th birthday in Bucharest.

Ziua Israelului - Yom HaAtzmaut - 70 de ani de Independență a Statului Israel - 19 aprilie 2018, organizat de Centrul Comunitar Evreiesc (JCC) la Templul Coral București

Au evoluat: Bodo Yaakov și Monica Vardimon (Israel) ■ Corurile Hazamir și al Copiilor ■ Trupa de dansuri israeliene Hora ■ Bucharest Klezmer Band ■ Dan Bittman acompaniat de Marius Bațu

În curte: ■ shuk cu suveniruri israeliene, skedei marak etc. ■ activități pentru copii ■ grătar, răcoritoare, prăjituri, bere

Mulțumiri partenerilor și sponsorilor ce au făcut posibil acest eveniment: Tarom (Daniela Dragne, Tarom Israel) ■ Tuborg ■ Stretto Cafe ■ Alka ■ Rina Sinaia Hotel ■ Borsec (mulțumiri Janina Ilie) ■ Edu Class ■ Koplax - Ferma Vaci de Lapte ■ Gymboland

Mulțumiri Complexului Alimentar Martin Băluș și Elena Ilona Mudava, Serviciului Administrativ al FCER (dlui. Jean Bercu), Serviciul Pază și Protecție (Ivan Truțer) și echipei JCC București.

Foto: Mircea Maieru - www.maieru.ro

Hag Sameach!

15/04/2018

A rabbi and an imam walk into a bar...

No, wait, this is not a joke! The rabbi of the Jewish community and the Imam of the Muslim community shake hands and walk into a synagogue together in , one of the safest places for both Jews and Muslims in Europe!

So why not visit us, and take our tour: www.jewishtrail.com?

13/04/2018

http://time.com/5235725/holocaust-history-survey/

And how much young people know—and don't—about Holocaust history

02/03/2018

Restoration work in progress at the beautiful Templul Coral synagogue in Bucharest. The building itself is almost done and looks spectacular, but workers are still restoring the intricate metalwork of the fence.

You can visit the interior of this synagogue on our Jewish walking tour of Bucharest: https://jewishtrail.com/

17/02/2018

"I was born in Romania, and I am Jewish. That makes me a Jew, and a Romanian. For me to go around and join conferences demanding that my identity as a Jewish Romanian be taken seriously would be as crazy as the Lime Trees on the island where I was born to form a conference demanding their rights to be Lime Trees. As for anyone who tells me that I'm not a Romanian, the answer is the same: go talk to the trees, and tell them they're not trees."

-- Mihail Sebastian (born: Iosif Hechter), Jewish-Romanian writer and a controversial character in the Jewish community.

Find out why during our walking tour of Bucharest: https://jewishtrail.com/

16/02/2018

Archaeological discovery in the former Jewish neighborhood of Bucharest: during digging done for repairs to the water system, workers uncovered the wall foundations of a medieval church, together with several artifacts that were assumed to be pottery and toiletry recipients that were disposed of in the former cesspool.

(photo credits: Press One)

27/01/2018

It's a coffee! It's a shot! Oh, wait, I think it's ristretto!...
In any case, it's very good! And you can also taste it during the break of our Jewish walking tour, at Milu Cafe, which feels like your best friend's living-room.

25/01/2018

What is the difference between the Art Deco and the Bauhaus architectural styles? This picture of Jewish Bucharest explains it perfectly: the building on the left is Art Deco, the one on the right is Bauhaus (more streamlined, less decorations, bolder, clean-cut lines). They both align with the broader Modernist movement that swept across Europe and North America in the early 20th century, and which was popularized in Bucharest mostly by Jewish-Romanian architects.

CC Art Deco and Modernism around the World

23/01/2018

Architectural gem in Jewish Bucharest: a rare example of a restored Belle Epoque house.

Find out why most of them are in an advance state of decay during our walking tour of Bucharest: www.jewishtrail.com

22/01/2018

Romania is commemorating the Jewish victims of the Pogrom of January 1941, which anticipated further persecutions against this minority during WWII.

Architect and artist Marcel Iancu, who lost part of his family during the pogrom, but managed to flee to Palestine immediately afterwards, wrote:

"Wild animals also kill, but they never humiliate their dead victims the way these innocent people were humiliated. Severed tongues, clawed eyes, severed fingers or hands, skinned bodies or dead bodies with the word painted on them hanging in the slaughter house [...] this was the aftermath left by the Iron Guard."

Below, a set of sketches he created, which were inspired by those events.

To hear the full story, join our Jewish walking tour: https://jewishtrail.com/

20/01/2018

Did you know that the largest bank in Romanian history, the Marmorosch-Blank Bank, co-founded by two Romanian Jews, also had an office on Broadway street in New York city?

Find out the story of the rise and fall of this financial institution and its co-founders during our walking tour of Jewish Bucharest: https://jewishtrail.com/

19/01/2018

Intricate metalwork on the entrance to an Art-Deco high-rise building in central Bucharest. Spotted during our Jewish walking tour of the city: https://jewishtrail.com/

18/01/2018

Simple, but bold lines on this Modernist apartment building from the former Jewish neighborhood of . Jewish-Romanian architects contributed a lot to the city's urban development in the 1920's, 1930's and early 1940's by bringing Art-Deco, Bauhaus and other Modernist influences to a city that still looked like one large village at the end of 19th century.

CC Art Deco and Modernism around the World

Find out more about their contributions during our walking tour: www.jewishtrail.com

16/01/2018

The entrance hallway of this abandoned Art-Deco office building still preserves the original marble floors from the 1930's. This is just one of many empty or squatted buildings within Bucharest's Jewish neighborhood.

Discover the rest in our walking tour: https://jewishtrail.com/

13/01/2018

Crumbling Belle Epoque mansion in the former Jewish district.

This beautiful house was designed by architect Ion Grefu (also known as "Jean" Grefu), whose portrait you can see below.

See the house during our tour of : www.jewishtrail.com

11/01/2018

View from the top of the former Jewish neighborhood of Bucharest, showing a very diverse mix of architecture: the Belle Epoque mansions of 19th century, the Bauhaus and ArtDeco blocks of the inter-war period, the utilitarian Brutalist architecture of the Communist period and the post-Modern office buildings.

Discover all of this during our upcoming walking tour: https://jewishtrail.com/