One striking difference between the expulsion / extermination of the Jews in Austria and Germany, and Romania is that Romanian Jewry did not experience the pogroms of November, 1939, the so-called Reichs-Kristallnacht. (They had their very own pogroms.) Thus, even though there are nearly no Jews left in Romania one will find buildings of great beauty, as well as cemeteries, in many small towns and often in quite prominent locations. Of course they are out-of-use, in various degrees of disrepair and void of life. Even when they are in good shape they are a sad sight. But they stand.
In Austria they were usually burned to the ground and nothing remains of them but a photograph here or there.
Driving along through this town of 13.000, suddenly we noticed the beautiful building with Shield of David ornaments on the windows. So we stopped, got out of the car and had a look. The old synagogue is surrounded by weeds and a fence. All the entrances are locked. From the neighboring yard, Barbara has a good view and settles to draw the front side. Meanwhile I explore the surroundings hoping to find a way in. Somehow I succeed to get into the surrounding field of nettles. But the entrances to the synagogue are firmly locked.
Even the windows are too high up to peek in. But at least I can take some photographs of the inside through the glass panes. Inside is a mess. But you can also glimpse what it should look like, inside. Forgive the questionable quality of some of the following pictures.
