Biblioteca Centrală Universitară din Iași în anii Refugiului (1944-1945)
The Central University Library of Iași during the period of Refuge (1944-1945)

Summary/Abstract: The evacuation of the Central Library of the University of Iaşi was part of a major plan elaborated in January-February 1945 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, known as Operation 1111. The University of Iaşi was sent to Alba Iulia and Zlatna and the Library at Alba Iulia, Miceşti and Cricău. As stated in Order no. 4770/15th of February 1944, the Library had to save its most valuable collections (manuscripts, rare books, old documents, archives). The person in charge with supervising this operation was professor Giorge Pascu from the Faculty of Letters and former director of the library. At that time, the director of the library was Bronislaus Irion. Receiving a licentiate in Philology from University of Iaşi and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Magdeburg, B. Irion was employed at the library in 1933 and appointed director in 1937 after the departure of K.K. Klein. Professor Irion was director of the library in the most troubled period of its existence: the devastating earthquake in 1940 and the evacuation of the most important assets in 1944. The University Senate met on the 21st of January 1944 and decided that the prime objective of Operation 1111 was to evacuate the rare collections and the bookbinding equipment firstly and the employees secondly. A letter from the director of the library addressed to the rector stated that, on the 23rd of March 1944, 110 boxes containing manuscripts, old books and archive were embarked. There were left behind about 450,000 volumes, the furniture and the bookbinding materials, most of these being of the utmost value. The librarians performed an outstanding work during the process of packing and transportation of the library materials from Iaşi to Alba Iulia. On the 22nd of Aprilie, the director of the library and some of his colleagues came back to Iaşi to save the books left behind. Until the 4th of May they packed and expedited 24 railway wagons containing 450,000 volumes (books and newspapers) and furniture. Irion’s initiative to save the library collections and his great efforts were highly appreciated in the press of those times. During the time the Library functioned at Alba Iulia, Miceşti and Cricău, the specific library activities were carried on: cataloguing/classification of library materials, borrowing activities, the stock management and control, bookbinding activities, correspondence with publishers in order to receive legal deposit copies. The administrative service took care of the relocation of the warehouses and of supplying the library with the necessary materials; the librarians were working on reports, they attended scientific conferences or they were in charge with the warehouses security. The operation of bringing back the library from Alba Iulia to Iaşi started on the 6th of April 1945. The railway convoy containing the assets of the library reached Iasi on the 13th of June. The University building being destroyed, the Library is placed in a new space – the Palace of King Ferdinand I Foundation. Very well organized, the evacuation of the Library was a success. Through discipline and hard work the library collections could be saved almost entirely, with minimal losses.

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