In 2020, The Beit Project decided to write a new chapter of its beautiful journey, this time in Iasi, Romania. The project was received with a lot of enthusiasm not only by the team but, also by the pupils who participated.
All these wonderful children came from Richard Wurmbrand College, Technical College Ghe. Asachi and National College Emil Racovita, and they showed us that the next generation of young people is full of energy, they have a lot of ideas and creativity and they also have the will to put into practice great and bold plans. The pupils loved the project, loved to discover our city and its history.
Together, we have explored the Vasile Alecsandri Street, a place full of history with a lot of symbols of the events that happened there. We have learned more about the Junimea Society thanks to a memorial plaque which is the first symbol you can meet on this street. We talked about the great poets and people of culture who funded this club.
Then, we passed by the House of marriages, and we find out that it was the house of a famous politician family in Iasi, the Cantacuzino-Pașcanu. After this, we stopped at the former police station of the city, where the Pogrom started. The Pogrom in Iasi was from June 27 to 29, 1941 and it was one of the most violent pogroms in the history of Jews in Romania. According to the data presented by the Romanian authorities, 13,266 Jews were killed.
Moving up the street, you can see the memorial plaque of the “Viata Romaneasca” magazine, mutual aid society “Unirea” and the headquarters of the Union of Typography Workers, all this representing a page of history of our city. Of course there are also other important monuments as the Museum of Theatre, the former Pakistani Consulate, the Unity flame and monument and the gate of hope.
One of the moments that pupils enjoyed the most was when they had to build the Beits themselves. What a joyful moment! The concentration and the excitement were in a real competition there. The children loved the Beits and where fascinated by their stories. All these stories and information were carefully and professionally brought in front of the children by an awesome team of facilitators who lived every day with the same enthusiasm as the young public did.
We have succeeded to do all this thanks to such supportive partners: University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Community Foundation, Joods Humanitair Fonds, Fondation Jacques et Irène Darmon, European Jewish Fund and FEDROM Romania. We could not have done such a great job without you, thank you all for of your support.
Mariana Pricope
Local coordinator
Iasi / Romania
