Dorohoi

Most of these are small houses, and most have an adjacent well, so that it seems that piped water is a relative innovation in Dorohoi. The garden around most houses is used for kitchen gardens, mostly for cabbages and maize (you can see this in some of the pictures). Many people raise chickens, ducks, and geese, and when I visited, these were wandering about untended; there must be coops for them in cold weather, but I saw none. Some streets are paved, some are not.

Dorohoi is very green and leafy. It has a newly renovated public library that I wish I could have photographed; I didn't see it until I was on the way to the railway station to leave.

Unemployment in Dorohoi stands at about 50%. The sole employer of any importance is a (clothing) confection factory, now in private hands (of an absentee Arab owner, as I was told). The railroad mainline Bucharest - Iasi - Kiev passes through Dorohoi; I travelled here from Iasi on a local train that took four hours to make the trip.

Before the Shoah, the population of Dorohoi was largely Jewish, and was reasonably prosperous. The building which housed the main synagogue is now an orphanage for girls, which was characterized to me by a Romanian clinical psychologist who works with such institutions in Iasi, and who recently visited the Dorohoi house, as "the worst I have ever seen", from the point of view of the facilities and the level of care given to the children. There are two Jewish cemeteries in the village, called the Old cemetery (burials until 1902) and the New cemetery. I visited the latter, seeking the grave of my great-grandfather, Shlomo Abramovici, who died in 1902, the cutoff year, but failed to find it. It is possible that he is in the Old cemetery, but that was inaccessible to me. I did find several other Abramovici headstones and photographed them (see below); Abramovici is a sufficiently common surname that there is no assurance of any connection of these people with our family. It should be noted that the cemeteries here and in Iasi are reasonably well attended, not overgrown and neglected as is the case in every Jewish cemetery I saw in Poland. There is, I have been told, a small Jewish community in Dorohoi, although I saw no evidence of it.

I should apologize for the quality of the photographs. It rained nearly all the time I was in Dorohoi; I am thankful that I was able to photograph at all.

The three houses below are different. There are in the village several houses of two storeys, as at the left. The house in the middle is under construction, and is definitely the most well-appointed, even luxurious, that I saw in Dorohoi; it belongs to the chief of police, which, in a better-ordered society, would raise some questions about the source of financing. The house at the right is adjacent to the railway station, and is in secondary use as a buffet/restaurant.

Here are some street scenes. At left is a general view taken from a vantage point in the village; you can see some of the newer apartment dwellings in the distance. In the center is a group of people husking maize. At the right are some kids, off to school.

Two lanes. In the center picture you can see a well; in the picture to its right is a householder drawing water from it, so that it would seem that, in this neighborhood at least, there is no piped water.

At left, the Central Bus Station, which is in deplorable condition. The approach road is pocked with potholes so deep that only busses can negotiate them. At the right is the adjacent row of shops, mostly bars.

At left, the hotel in Dorohoi, newly renovated, modern, comfortable, and very well appointed, situated at the edge of a large and well-tended park; it leaves nothing to be desired. Center, the hotel's barbecue pit; note the chickens and turkeys conveniently located. At right, another group of the hotel's fowl inventory; for what it's worth, the plant behind the birds is Ricinis Comunis (makes castor oil).

Left, the home of the family that holds the keys to the New Jewish Cemetery, located directly opposite the cemetery gate. Right, the cemetery office and funeral parlor.

At left, the monument at the Cemetery office, bearing plaques; from left to right: In memory of 5000 Jews of Dorohoi and other villages of the vicinity who were transported on 11 November 1941to Transnistria, there to die by being shot, by starvation, and by illness. Next: In memory of our unknown Jewish brothers and sisters who were made into soap labelled "R.I.F." (Reines Judishes Fetten = Pure Jewish Fat), and others buried here. At right: In memory of seventy Jews who were murdered on 1 July 1940 by Fascist cadres during the interment of Emil Aroneanu of Bacau, on the 28th anniversary of the event, and in memory of our esteemed martyrs, of eternal blessing. May Heaven avenge their blood. May their souls be bound up with the living.

Three headstones bearing the surname Abramovici, from left to right: Shmuel ben Chaim Abramovici, died 3 October 1943; Gusta (Golda) bat Zvi-Eliezer Abramovici, died 23 January 1948; Yona ben Elimelekh Abramovici, died 9 May 1945.

These seven pictures were taken during a side trip from Dorohoi to towns in the vicinity. In the first four, which are from Suceava, from the left: What appears to be an auditorium, with a sign saying "Dom Polski" (Poland House); a church; a synagogue of Moorish architecture, which looks to be in good condition, so that there seems to be a Jewish community here; the entrance of the synagogue: "How Filled With Awe Is This Place".

At the Left, a medieval castle. Center, a view from the castle to the countryside. Right, along the road.