The Prague Jewish Community in the Late 17th and Early 18th Centuries

Author(s): Alexandr Putík / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2000

The story of the immigration of a large group of Ashkenazic Jews to Eretz Yisrael in 1700 and their experience there until 1720 is undoubtedly a major episode in the history of Jewish resettlement in Palestine. The mere fact that until modern times it was the largest group of immigrants since the destruction of the First Temple is of interest. This venture, inspired by Messianic expectations, meant a lot for the Ashkenazic Diaspora too. A more detailed study and assessment of these events in Central and Eastern Europe, however, is difficult to undertake due to one objective and one subjective factor - the former is a loss of most sources of Jewish origin predominantly in the first half of the 18th century and the latter is a lack of attention paid to ”non-Jewish” sources deposited in the archives of secular and church institutions.

Războiul civil din Grecia (1946-1949) și emigranții politici greci in Romania (1948-1982)

Author(s): Apostolos Patelakis / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

Le costume populaire roumain – vecteur de construction identitaire. Le cas d’Ana Davila

Author(s): Graţiela Buzic / Language(s): French Issue: 6/2017

The work hereby starts with the explanation for provenance of a folk dress seen in the painting Romanian Lady by F. A. Bridgman, identified as the region of Muscel. It also presents the interest shown by queen Elisabeth of Romania for the folk dress, particularly the Muscel one, which she used to wear in many occasions and her way of using the folk dress in several campaigns, especially to promote the country abroad. The research shows that this interest is due to Ana Davila, Romanian with noble descent, and the tradition Ana followed in this matter, serving the ideals of equality, fraternity, liberty and national union. We show the influence of the activities done by Ana Davila and her relatives to the artistic creation between 1850-1860, to the beginnings of ethnographic research in Romania and to the development of national identity and conscience whose most important promoter at the time was queen Elisabeth of Romania.

Okręg kwidzyński w przededniu plebiscytu w świetle niemieckiej broszury dla komisji alianckiej - tłumaczenie tekstu źródłowego z komentarzem

Author(s): Emilia Figura-Osełkowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2020

This article contains a faithful translation of a German propaganda booklet issued before the plebiscite in Kwidzyn in July 1920. The entire booklet written by the German Committee for Western Prussia is addressed at the Inter-Allied Commission and consists of six chapters informing on the area’s geography, historical conditions, economic structure, current social structure and rivers: Vistula, Nogat and Osa. The passage selected for translation regards the social aspects and describes the inhabitants of Powiśle, area included in the Western Prussian Plebiscite District headquartered in Kwidzyn, in terms of nationality. The publication was created to serve the needs of the German plebiscite agitation and should be approached critically for this specific reason. Nevertheless, this littleknown German document holds great historical value, particularly useful to scholars and persons passionate about the history of the interwar period.

LEARNING, TALENT AND JOURNALISM. CONCERNING THE ROMANIAN JOURNALISTS FROM THE PAST

Author(s): Fănel Teodorașcu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 35/2023

The journalist „endowed with the talent of writing” has always succeeded in creating out of nothing an article worthy of being published in a newspaper or in a magazine. However, in order to be a first class journalist, one needs more than „talent”. In this paper, we will aim at investigating, most of all, what was written – in the Romanian press from the past – precisely regarding the idea that a journalist needs nothing else than „the gift of writing”, so that he can successfully meet his readers’ necessities. In order to accomplish this, we read many articles published between the years 1892 and 1946. Of all the publications researched by us, we will enumerate here only the following: “Banatul”, “Neamul românesc”, “Viața românească“, “Însemnări ieșene” etc.

INSTITUTIONS MONITORING TRANSYLVANIAN EDUCATION SINCE THE 18TH CENTURY

Author(s): Sipos István / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 35/2023

Since the Middle Ages education has been entirely under the control of the Church. The 18th century saw the secularisation of education, which led to the obligation of the state to treat education as a public matter. Elementary education in Transylvania remained predominantly denominational until the outbreak of the First World War. In interwar Romania, primary and secondary education was organized administratively in 15 regions, where schools were controlled by regional school inspectors. Harghita County School Inspectorate was established in 1968 with the mission of ensuring not only compliance with county legislation, but also that students have the appropriate level of knowledge, reducing school dropout, organizing national exams in the county, appointing necessary teachers to positions / departments, and resolving some schools’ challenges.

TOPONYMY OF THE BISTRICIOARA RIVER VALLEY

Author(s): Carmen-Maria Citirigă (Țepeș) / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 35/2023

This study focuses on toponymy in a mountainous region with limited natural resources, with an emphasis on the Bistricioara Valley. It begins by mentioning the origin of the term "toponymy" and the various names used interchangeably for the same field of study. The geographical features of the area are highlighted, showing that in ancient times, the places were less populated, with archaeological evidence of nomadic communities. The study refers to the first toponyms of the region, such as "Ceahlău," and presents historical sources that attest to these names. Various current and historical toponyms reflecting the characteristics of the terrain, relief, and waters in the area are mentioned. The classifications and structures of toponyms are explored, indicating their diversity, such as simple or compound, primary or secondary. Various etymological influences are highlighted, including Latin, Slavic, and Hungarian. The research includes examples of compound toponyms, from those indicating landforms and water to those incorporating prepositions or prepositional phrases.

The Connections Between the Lvov-Warsaw School and the University in Poznań

Author(s): Roman Murawski / Language(s): English Issue: 22/2023

The Lvov-Warsaw School in Philosophy – as the very name suggests – was connected mainly with two academic centers: universities in Lvov and Warsaw. However, it had a broader impact. The members of this school were active also at other universities, in particular in Cracow, Vilnius and Poznań. The aim of the paper is to present and analyze the connections of Lvov-Warsaw School with the university in Poznań.

Mikhail Ziegler, the First Professor of Metallurgy at Warsaw Polytechnic, and His Contribution for Developing our Knowledge about Steels

Author(s): Dmytro Zhurylo,Volodymyr Levchenko / Language(s): English Issue: 22/2023

The article presents results of research on the origin and development of scientific schools in the field of metallurgy in Eastern Europe at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, associated with the scientific and pedagogical activities of the famous scientist Professor Mikhail Karlovich Ziegler in the higher technical educational institutions of Warsaw (Warsaw Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Nicholas II), Kharkiv (Kharkov Technological Institute of Emperor Alexander III), St. Petersburg (Petrograd Polytechnic Institute) and Moscow (Moscow Mining Academy).The main facts of the biography of this scientist and educator are given. The stages of formation of M.K. Ziegler as a personality and a scientist against the backdrop of occurring historical processes are shown. The Soviet period of his activity was considered separately.The scientific achievements of Professor Ziegler in the field of steel metallurgy, in particular, in determining the strength of steels depending on the conditions of their crystallization, studying the diffusion of impurities in steels, which became the foundation for the development of continuous casting technology, i.e.one of the most important world inventions of the 20th century, are systematized and analyzed.His organizational and educating contribution for the training of scientific and engineering personnel for the metallurgical industry is also estimated.The article includes interesting forgotten and little-known facts from the history of metallurgical science and the training of the higher engineering and technical personnel in educational institutions located on the territory of modern Ukraine and Poland.

Ideologiczne, polityczne i filozoficzne podstawy polityki naukowej i przemysłowej niemieckiej partii Zielonych w latach 80. i 90. XX w.: przypadek „miękkiej chemii” (sanfte Chemie)

Author(s): Marcin Krasnodębski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 22/2023

Sanfte Chemie, or soft chemistry, is a scientific and philosophical concept developed in the 1980s under the auspices of the German Green Party (Die Grünen). Its purpose was to thoroughly reconstruct not only the chemical industry but also chemistry as a science in the spirit of environmentalism. Soft chemistry followers wanted to forge a new scientific method and criticized what they called a Baconian-Cartesian paradigm in the philosophy of science. Even though the sanfte Chemie project ceased to be endorsed by the Green Party in the 1990s because of its radicalism, the history of epistemological foundations, on which the soft chemistry was built, gives us a privileged insight into a vision of chemical sciences as advocated by early proponents of sustainability and pioneers of environmental movements.The article analyses sources of sanfte Chemie, highlighting plurality and complexity of scientific, philosophical, political and ideological traditions that served as its basis. The study of the eco-critical narratives on empirical sciences allows us to better understand subsequent political choices concerning science, industry and the environment in Germany. In particular, the article shows that the tradition on which sanfte Chemie was built, gives it the advantage over later concepts, such as green chemistry, that lack philosophical depth.The purpose of the article is to question the relation between the philosophy of science and the practice of science and ponder whether different chemistry is possible at all.

Under the Spell of Distant Landscapes: On the Lives and Work of a Few Famous Hungarian Travellers and Explorers after 1945 – an Introduction to the Topic for English-Speaking Readers

Author(s): Zsolt András Udvarvölgyi / Language(s): English Issue: 22/2023

All travellers and explorers have always had the desire and the ambition to discover, for different reasons and motivations, remote and unknown lands. Hungarian travellers and explorers are no exception here. Eminent Hungarian Orientalists, archaeologists, geographers, as well as anthropologists, geologists, zoologists and botanists, and other brave and adventurous scientists, have become justly recognised in recent centuries, even worldwide, for their oeuvres and their scientific achievements.After 1945, travel opportunities in socialist Hungary became more limited, and Hungarian scientists and researchers could embark on their expeditions only with great difficulty, overcoming many obstacles and with scarce financial resources.In this study, I introduce five such brave and determined Hungarian travellers: Dénes Balázs: geographer and karst researcher, János Balogh: biologist, ecologist and professor, Steve Bezuk: engineer and extreme sportsman, who lived in the United States, Ödön Jakabos: Transylvanian writer and “Székely pilgrim”, and finally, Tibor Székely: travel writer, museologist and Esperantist from Vojvodina.They all – through their individual scientific achievements, discoveries, perseverance and human attitude – have become worthy heirs of the outstanding Hungarian explorers and travellers of the past centuries.

VALEA BISTRICIOAREI-HISTORY AND SOCIETY

Author(s): Carmen-Maria Citirigă (Țepeș) / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 35/2023

The proposed article provides a detailed analysis of the toponymy of a mountainous region, especially the Bistricioara valley area, highlighting aspects related to natural resources, history and ethnography. The study addresses the origin and significance of toponyms in this region, presenting various examples and providing information about the geographical and historical characteristics of each place name. The text also discusses various classifications of toponyms, highlighting how they reflect geological, hydrographic, and human aspects. Emphasis is placed on the diversity of toponym structures, including simple and compound, highlighting their importance in identifying and understanding local history and culture. Linguistic and etymological influences on toponym formation are also explored, with mentions of elements of Latin, Slavic, Hungarian and Germanic origin.

Tożsamość miejsca a marketing terytorialny na przykładzie dawnej pomorskiej krainy Kosznajderii – szanse i ograniczenia

Author(s): Tomasz Marcysiak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2023

Contemporary attention is closely focused on the changes taking place within small local communities, where members not only see the value in building their community brand but also feel the need for self-identification. This process supports the development of entrepreneurship, tourism, and various other areas of human activity. However, not all regions possess a well-established identity that is unquestionable for their residents, or it may require redefinition. In some cases, inherited material and sometimes spiritual heritage may not be considered a regional asset and, on the contrary, may be seen as a “problematic” legacy. Border regions or post-migration areas, where one group of people settled in the place of another, sometimes even forcibly, are particularly complex. This situation may be euphemistically described, but it relates to extremely dramatic circumstances associated with displacement, expulsion, or even extermination. The Author considers it essential to examine attempts to build an identity based on the centuries- old heritage of Kosznajders in the southern part of Pomerania, near Chojnice. In this article, he analyzes the opportunities and limitations of place branding through the study and observation of grassroots initiatives aimed at preserving the memory of Kosznajders and their heritage. One opportunity is the openness of residents to a dialogue about the history of the place, while a limitation lies in the unresolved collective traumas and suffering dating back to the times of occupation, and sometimes even the pre-war period, deeply ingrained in collective memory.

Excavation in the Museum’s Deposits. Early Modern Objects Discovered by Béla Pósta in 1904 in the Calvinist Church of Tirimia (Mureș County)

Author(s): Andrea Demjén / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 60/2023

This article tries to present the story of the archaeological excavation carried out by Béla Pósta in the Calvinist church of Tirimia (Hung. Nagyteremi, Germ. Gross‑Wachsdorf, Mureș County) in 1904 and to analyze the objects discovered on that occasion, preserved today in the patrimony of the National Museum of Transylvanian History in Cluj‑Napoca. Reconstructing an excavation carried out almost 120 years ago, when the archaeology of medieval and early modern churches was in its infancy, based exclusively on objects kept in museum repositories and on letters/diaries of the period, is a difficult task. From the correspondence between Béla Pósta and the people directly or indirectly involved (the Calvinist priest of the village of Tirimia, Márton Kakasy; the local landowner Baron László Solymosy, etc.) and from the personal diaries of Lajos Kelemen we can partially reconstruct the archaeological excavations, the scandal that followed, and later the fate of the objects discovered during the research.

Kék bokályos rostás vizeskorsó… A Haban Ewer in an Urban Household from Cluj

Author(s): Oana Toda / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 60/2023

The Haban ewer presented here is an exceptional archaeological find that became part of the heritage of the National Museum of Transylvanian History following the rescue excavations on Gaál Gábor Street in 2021. The piece, inscribed with the production year 1700, was recovered from the decommissioned well of the old Calvinist parsonage in Cluj (the Herepei House). Archival documents from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, together with artifacts preserved in public or private collections, prove the widespread popularity of Haban pottery due to its technical and aesthetic qualities during the heyday of the craft of Anabaptist potter communities in Moravia, the Hungarian Kingdom, and the Transylvanian Principality. The formal and stylistic analogies, together with the dating of the piece, point to its most likely production in the pottery workshop from Vințu de Jos (Alvinc/ Unterwinz, Alba County). This specimen is of the blue‑glazed ceramic type, which became popular on the Transylvanian market during the second half of the seventeenth century and at the beginning of the subsequent one.

Struțul cu potcoavă în cioc în sigiliile medievale ale orașului Bistrița: originile unui simbol heraldic

Author(s): Alexandru Ștefan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 37/2023

The medieval heraldry of the town of Bistrița incorporates – in a very peculiar way when compared to other urban communities in Transylvania – symbols directly related to the Angevine royal dynasty of Hungary. Starting from the examination of the historical sources that record and use these specific attributes, both documentary (textual) and sigillographic (iconographic), the present paper pursues two main objectives: (1) to determine a more accurate chronology of the use of Bistrița’s urban seals, until around 1540, in relation to the relevant historiography of the subject; (2) to argue new hypotheses regarding the way Bistrița assumed the iconography of its first urban seal, particularly the way in which the crowned ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak came to be considered the main symbol of collective identity of this medieval Transylvanian town.

Observații privind relațiile dintre curtea episcopului de la Alba Iulia și districtul Bistrița în jurul anului 1500

Author(s): Mihai Kovács / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 37/2023

The present paper focuses on the complex ties between the episcopal court of Alba Iulia and the elite of the Bistrița district in the half of century around 1500, based on several unpublished sources, rarely used by previous scholarship. These records highlight a collaboration between the episcopate and the local elite in various aspects, such as the ordination of priests, consecration of liturgical spaces, confirmation of parish priests, collection of church taxes, reinforcement of wills, resolution of disputes under canon law, defense of the kingdom boundaries, and management of relations with other political actors. On the other hand, attempts by the bishops to disregard the right of patronage owned by local communities or to increase the taxation were met with firm resistance, often supported by other members of the Saxon “spiritual university”. However, these conflicts, which were rather often in medieval Transylvania, did not worsen during the analyzed period and did not seem to indicate the imminent triumph of the Reformation in the Bistrița district.

Детската смъртност в българия в европейски контекст (1960-2020 г.)

Author(s): Nadezhda Mihaylova-Georgieva,Klara Dokova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2021

.Indicators from the group of infant mortality (IM) allow an assessment of the extent to which social, political, economic conditions in countries and their health systems enable children to successfully pass their first year of life. The aim of the present study is to reveal trends in general and age-specific IM indicators in Bulgaria and selected European countries. Material and methods: Data on IM, neonatal and early neonatal IM in Bulgaria and 28 other European countries for the period 1960-2020 were extracted from the Eurostat database. Trends for the three indicators in each of the four decades are examined and assessed by comparing levels between the beginning and end of the period for each country and between countries. Results: For the sixty-year period (1960-2020), IM rates follow a permanent favorable trend of decreasing lev- els, both in Bulgaria and in the selected European countries, but the processes proceed at a different pace. IM in Bulgaria decreased about 9 times, while countries with a worse “start” such as Portugal, Croatia, Poland, decrease IM by 32, 17, 15 times, respectively. NIM decreased almost 6.5 times, and the value of 3‰ in 2020 ranks our country together with Croatia and Slovakia from 25th to 27th place out of 29 countries. Early neonatal IM decreased 5 times, and the value of 1.9‰ places Bulgaria in twentieth place out of 29 countries. Conclusion: An asymmetry has been revealed in the changes of IM on the one hand and neonatal and early neonatal rates on the other in our country. The asymmetry is expressed in more favorable results in the reduction of NMR and ENMR, while the IMR in Bulgaria lagged behind significantly compared to other coun- tries. This specificity of the trends in IM in Bulgaria showed that the negative processes are not only due to gaps in the health system, and their solution requires a systematic, multisectoral approach.

Communications. Notes Bibliographiques

Author(s): Jarmila Škochová,Markéta Lhotová,Vlastimila Hamáčková,Vladimir Sadek,Daniel Mayer / Language(s): English,French,German Issue: 2/1989

Review of: A Symposium on the History of the Terezín Family Camp at Auschwitz, Terezin, March 7—9, 1989 (Conference report) Jiří Kramer: Památná místa a památníky protifašistického boje v Severočeském kraji (Die Gedenkstätten und Denkmale des antifaschistischen Kampfes im nordböhmischen Gebiet). Okresní výbor Českého svazu protifašistických bojovníků. Ústí nad Labem 1987. 151 Seiten Wagner, Wolf H.: Der Hölle entronnen-Stationen eines Lebens. (Eine Biographie des Malers und Graphikers Leo Haas.) Henschelverlag, Berlin 1987, 212 Seiten Text, 60 Seiten Bilderbeilagen „Jüdische Friedhöfe in Berlin“, Henscheiverlag Kunst und Gesellschaft, Berlin 1987, 160 pp., by Alfred Etzold, Joachim Fait, Peter Kirchner, and Heinz Knobloch Tietze, Hans: Die Juden Wiens, Geschichte-Wirtschaft-Kultur, Wien 1987, Edition Atelier (Wiener Journal Zeitschriftenverlag), 301 pages The Wellspring of Living Waters. Issachar Bär Teller, Physician and Surgeon, A Medical Self-Help Book. Translated from the Hebrew and Yiddish With Introduction and Notes by Arthur Teller, M. D., Tai Or Oth Publishers, New York 1988 František Kafka: Der grosse Rabbi aus Prag — Jehuda Löw. Buchloe 1988, Verlag Hans Obermayer, 178 Seiten

Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (30. 7. 1898—6. 10. 1944)

Author(s): Arno Pařík / Language(s): English Issue: 2/1988

In the Holocaust period the painter Friedl Dicker-Brandeis acted as children’s art teacher in the Terezin concentration camp-ghetto. In the end the Nazis murdered her together with most of her Jewish pupils. The article was written on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of her birth. At the same time the State Jewish Museum also prepared a special exhibition to commemorate the anniversary.