Chișinău

The building of “Liceul Dadiani” was erected in 1901 as a girls’ high school. After the second World War, it served as the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party until 1964.

The orphanage for Jewish girls opened in 1920 and was the home of Centropa interviewee Shlima Goldstein until its closure in 1940.

The former Jewish hospital was founded in 1817. As the Jewish Community grew, it was expanded and included a poor house and a synagogue until the hospital’s nationalization in 1940.

“Alexandrovskaya Street was paved with gravel like the majority of the streets in Chişinău, and there was a tram running there. There were one- storied houses, some of them were nice. There were many shops owned by Jews on Alexandrovskaya Street.“ – Zlata Tkach

The former Lemnaria Synagogue was constructed in 1835 and was one of the city’s central synagogues for over 100 years. Today, it is the home of the Jewish community, a Jewish cultural center as well as various Jewish charities and youth organizations.

The Gleizer Shil played an important role for Jewish life after 1945, since Chişinău’s Jews were only allowed to use one religious room during the times of the communist government.

„I remember well that on holidays my father put on his black suit and went to the Choral synagogue, the biggest synagogue in Chişinău, with my mother […] The synagogue was very beautiful and there were many people in it“ – Bella Chanina

This monument commemorates the violent events during the antisemitic pogroms of 1903.

“This cemetery was demolished after the war when Soviet authorities were trying to destroy the memory of the Jews who lived in this town. Now there is a park on the spot, which has almost become part of the center of Chişinău.” – Boris Dorfman