Memoirs and diaries

Pp. 9-68 contain an introductory article by Ancel, describing the personality of Wilhelm Filderman (1882-1963), a renowned political leader of Romanian Jewry. Filderman erroneously believed that antisemitism had no roots in Romania and was imported from abroad, and that no genuine Romanian intellectual succumbed to antisemitism. Pp. 71-513 contain the first volume of Filderman's memoirs, covering the period from his childhood to the dismemberment of Romania in 1940. The memoirs are interspersed with historical digressions dealing with the problem of the emancipation and naturalization of Jews in Romania in the 19th-20th centuries and with current events in Romania concerning the Jews. Notes that, despite the great contribution of Jews to the Romanian culture, economy, etc., their lot has always been lack of rights, persecutions, and pogroms. Describes government measures against Jews, anti-Jewish laws and decrees, antisemitic propaganda, anti-Jewish riots in universities, and pogroms. Throughout the period, Romanian authorities were reluctant to grant civil rights to the Jews and to naturalize the Jews of the territories annexed to Romania after World War I. Describes Filderman's efforts to achieve the naturalization of Jews in the new territories, including Bessarabia, and the emancipation of Romanian Jewish citizens. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) ; This volume consists of documents from 1941-44; just one letter is from 1952. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)