ÉVI JELENTÉS. 1947 V 1 – 1948 IV 30
Satu Mare [Szatmar/Satmar, Romania]: No Publisher [The Committee; printed by Tipografia Weisz], 1948. Item #43242
No Date [1948]1st edition. Original printed paper wrappers, Small 8vo, 32 pages.
WITH LAID IN: Form asking the recipient to pay 30 Lei for the Annual report.
Early post-war 18-month progress report by the Romanian Jewish left-wing organization the Comitetul Democrat Evreiesc (“Jewish Democratic Committee”) covering the period from May 1 1947 to April 30, 1948. The Jewish community in the Satmar region was primarily Hungarian-speaking.
The opening few pages open:
“Greetings, Brother! …
We want to give our fighting skills, with which we are armed to fight for the rights of the Jewish people and for the fulfillment of democracy. We want to give our self-awareness, with which we represent our Jewishness. We want to give you the direction in which Romanian Jewry must move.
We want to give you a weapon in your hands, with which you do not destroy, but build: the future of yourself and your family. We want to give you a short, condensed summary of our fight, of our work, which must also be your fight, your work. In short, we want to give you of ourselves, of our community, of your community.
The bloody cataclysm had barely passed, everything was still in ruins and ruins, when our People's Committee was formed and spoke out with a backbone and head held high in the name of the humiliated, decimated Jewry. We, the People's Committee, were those who were still rocking their beds, still prisoners with yellow ribbons, shadow-men with yellow stars, suffering in slavery, we already appeared before the public and shouted to friend and foe: We are, we exist and we want to be.
And since then we have been there always and everywhere, whenever and wherever public affairs are being conducted. Possessing equal rights and equal duties, we are free citizens of a democratic state. Our people's committee has recovered from its initial childhood illnesses, and we have become a strengthened, national, government-recognized organization, which alone has the right to represent Judaism and speak in its name.
Politicize so that they don't politicize against you and your children!....
Look around the world and you will see how the struggle is between democracy fighting for peace and imperialism inciting war. On one side, with the Soviet Union at the forefront, our young Romanian People's Republic is fighting for a better future alongside other democratic states, while on the other side the Anglo-Saxon powers are demanding war.
On the one hand, the true government of the people is passing a constitution that makes anti-Semitism and insulting nationalities the most serious crimes, on the other hand, lynching Negroes, Anti-Semitic demonstrations and numerus clausus mark the sad path towards neo-fascism….
There are no individual solutions. Neither an individual nor a community can be isolated. The path of the community is straight and follows the direction of historical development. This is the path of popular democracy….
Let us strengthen the Romanian People's Republic with our work!
Moving along this path, led by the Romanian Workers' Party, jointly building our future with the democratic masses of the surrounding peoples, jointly fighting for the destruction of the common enemy: the fascist elements, this is the place and the path of the Democratic Jewish People's Committee….”
The call to join up ends with a stirring paragraph:
“So, receive us with love and understanding when we knock on your door. Join our ranks, fight with us - if you are not among us yet - strengthen our People's Committee, because your existence also depends on its existence. We count on you in work and in battle, and you - we know - understand the word of the times and will come.
Satu Mare, April 1948. [Signed] Endre Glück.”
The remainder of the booklet includes:
- A detailed Organizing Report with details on organizing efforts throughout the country, naming individuals and towns and cities and the results of their organization building work.
- An Economics Restructuring Report, which details work in different cooperatives and industries and work to get members work in those fields and locations.
- A Finance Report, detailing types of income and strategies for continued financial health of the organization
-A Cultural Activities Report, detailing lectures, films, music, library organization, and other activities
-A legal Department Report, including work to make sure that Jews can get (or re-gain) official Romanian citizenship following the Holocaust; that Jews who were disabled in forced labor can be considered war-injured and that widows and orphans of those murdered can also be legally considered war-widows and war-orphans; tax-exemption for inheritance from family murdered in the Holocaust, etc.
- A Youth Department Report, including work to establish a Democratic Jewish Youth FRont, work with Hechalucz, etc.
- A report on the “Mozes Dezso” volunteer work brigade and their projects.
- Details of work to rebuild the Jewish hospital in Satu Mare.
A list of all the leadership of the Jewish Democratic Committee in Satu Mare is then provided, with over 120 men and women named with their corresponding responsibilities in the organization.
“The Jewish Democratic Committee or Democratic Jewish Committee (Romanian: Comitetul Democrat Evreiesc, CDE, also Comitetul Democrat Evreesc, Comitetul Democratic Evreiesc…) was a left-wing political party which sought to represent Jewish community interests in Romania. Opposed to the orientation of most Romanian Jews, who supported right-wing Zionism as embodied by the Jewish Party (PER), the CDE was in practice a front for the Romanian Communist Party (PCR); its chairmen M. H. Maxy, Bercu Feldman, and Barbu Lazareanu were card-carrying communists.
Initially, its anti-Zionism was limited by a recruitment drive among Labour Zionists, which allowed the party to absorb the local variant of Poale Zion. Additionally, the CED was directed against the Union of Romanian Jews (UER), a more traditional vehicle of assimilationism. It annexed an UER dissidence under Moise Zel?er-Sara?eanu, while also taking over chapters of Ihud and accepting in Jewish affiliates of the Romanian Social Democratic Party” (Wikipedia).
For an excellent focused overview of the organization, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Democratic_Committee
For a deeper dive into their history (but in Romanian) see Slomo Leibovici-Lais, Comitetul Democratic Evreiesc (C.D.E.) : formatie politica evreiasca sau jewsectia romaneasca (Suceava, 2003).
We could not locate another copy of this publication anywhere, not in OCLC, not in KVK, not in the Hungarian nor Romanian National Library, and not with a google search. Perhaps a unique surviving copy.
Old stains at spine and rear cover & final leaf. Addressee's name and address and removed postage stamp on rear cover. Paper and binding remain strong and solid, Good+ Condition. An exceedingly rare detailed look into this important Jewish organization in early post-Holocaust Romania. (B) (Holo2-163-12-'LG).
Price: $500.00