Hello,

Has anyone had success locating or using the original Romanian documents >from the Moldova National Archives described in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's Name Lists Catalog?

http://resources.ushmm.org/Holocaust-Names/List-Catalog/

At this site, I clicked on "Simple Search" at the top of the page, then typed in "Orhei" and checked the box for the variant name search. An impressive list of official documents holding information about the fate of Bessarabian Jews during the war appeared, most >from RG-54.001M, National Archives of Moldova.

Among several lists of Bessarabian Jews in camps, ghettos, or deported to Transnistria, I find this one for Orhei, for example: "List of Jewish residents >from Orhei city between the age of 1-15 years old" created by the Orhei Police Department, 2 pages of "moderately legible text" in Romanian.

Details of this record includes these notes:

"List indicates gender and age. Although the word ghetto is not mention all the Jews >from orhei were in the ghetto and later most of them deported to Transnistria."

There is also a list of those between 16 and 60, which "indicates gender, profession, age, if valid for work or not, and street name. Although the list does not indicates that they are in the ghetto, the previous page indicates the number of those valid to work >from the Orhei ghetto. (An easily legible text of 7 pages)."

And this one: "Lists of Jews in various Bessarabian towns and camps: Tighina camp [present-day Bendery] (65 names + 88 names 72 names + 76 names), Bolgrad (5 names) and Orhei (5 names + 131 names + 120 names + 310 names + 58 names + 99 names + 15 names + 19 names + 3 names + 78 names + 95 names + 117 names + 6 names)."

(I would include the link to these items here, but when I copy and paste them to test them, they take me nowhere. I am not sure why this should be. Perhaps I simply do not know how to use the USHMM archives?)

The Museum offers this note about the Moldova National Archives, Chisinau (Kishinev) records:

"USHMM Archives assigns the title to this collection: 'Moldova National Archives, Chisinau, records, [microform]' (24 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.), and a finding aid to the whole collection is located at the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives reference desk."

While the lists look as if they hold crucial information, I wonder if anyone has actually been able to use them? If so, has anyone out there translated any of these lists? Does anyone know if these materials are being translated into English?

I would be glad if anyone would share their experience or specifics of any lists they have used and translated.

Thank you,

Patricia Klindienst

Guilford, CT

Searching: SPIWAK of Orhei, Bessarabia and Mendoza, Argentina; SCHAPOSCHNIK / ZAPOSNEK of Orhei, Kishinev, Elisavetgrad, or Mendoza, and their related names, SHAPIN, SHAPIRO of Mendoza, Argentina, Chile, Canada, and the US. SCHOCHETMAN of Odessa (who became SCHACHT in the US); MILSTEIN of Orhei & Kishinev. WOLLMAN of Orhei and Kishinev; TSAREVKAN/CIRIFCAN/SARAFCONN of Orhei, Teleneshti, Uruguay, becoming COHEN in the US. KALIK of Orhei. BELINSKY of Odessa and Philadelphia.