HADIK ANDRÁS ETHNO-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION FROM BUCOVINA- HABET HADIK ANDRÁS BUKOVINAI ETNOKULTURÁLIS TÁRSULAT- HABET

Free sample, financed by the Government of Department for Interethnic Relations Project beneficiary:HADIK ANDRAS ETHNO-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION FROM BUCOVINA- HABET HADIK ANDRÁS BUKOVINAI ETNOKULTURÁLIS TÁRSULAT-HABET Adress: Str. Petru Rares nr 7, Phone: 0230/523667 Financing: Romanian Goverment Department for Interethnic Relations Project coordinator: Ştefan Csukat Guide execution: Manager Brânduşa Dăscălescu SC Delficom SRL Layout: Dia Roşu Photos : Ştefan Csukat Translation: Bogdan Popescu

The initiator and producer of the project, thanks to Professor Dr. Daniel Hrenciuc for collaboration, drafting the text and foreword

Sources - Organizations of the National Minorities from -Prof. Mihai Mihăescu – headmaster of the “Mihai Teliman”Cultural Centre - Prof. Dr. Daniel Hrenciuc - Ştefan Csukat – documentation gathering The publication of a Guide to National Minorities represents a necessary, intricate and welcomed step that naturally urges us to mutual acquaintance, understanding and respect. The preoccupation for acquaintance and the promotion of the Other's identity and culture must be perceived as a form of respect for ethnic and confessional diversity and consensus. From this point of view, we mention the presence of a rich spiritual, architectural and cultural patrimony on Suceava's territory, mostly representing Historical Bukovina's heritage. The presence of this patrimony must be connected to the past: deliberately, as a part of a well organized process, Bukovina was colonized with various nationalities from almost all regions of the Habsburg Empire: , Russian , Armenians, , Magyars, , Slovakians, , and Ruthenians. All these peoples had very different origins, religions, and languages. A very important aspect is that these nations proved a mutual respect, understanding, and help, exchanging language, traditions and culture. Finally, on the background of a massive colonization well-handled by the Habsburg authorities, Bukovina became a space of inter-ethnic harmony where tolerance represented a key element that insured conciliation and equilibrium between the ethnic communities, extremely diversified through origin and religion (, Ukrainians, Germans, Jews, Poles, Russian Lipovans, Magyars, Slovakians, Czechs, Armenians, Greeks, Italians and Roma).

Bukovina was integrated in the Central-European, German being the cultural binder – lingua franca – that insured the substance of the process of integrating the province in the Habsburg Crown. This space came to be more and more a province belonging to Central Europe, a place of formation and affirmation for numerous impressive intellectuals, renowned thinkers and artists (Vasile Posteucă, Mircea Străinul, Iulian Vesper, Traian Chelariu, Olga Kobylyanska, Osyp Makovey, Eliesser Steinbarf, Moses Rosenkrantz, Gregor von Rezzori, Paul Celan, Alfred Gong, Immanuel Weissglas, Georg Drozdowski, and others). Bukovina has sanctioned and promoted the living coexistence of ethnic communities of different origins and confessions, without registering significant conflicts or inter-ethnic disputes. More than that, the province remained until our days an axiomatic guide mark of the europenist measures of integration, perceived as a model of collaboration and mutual understanding. Due to these motives, Bukovina was named “Switzerland of the East”, “Tirol of the Eastern Europe” (an expression used by Emperor Franz Jozef). A newer name is “Europe in miniature”. In the interwar period, the concept of national minorities was internationally established and defined those ethnic and confessional communities, different in comparison with the majority in terms of mother tongue, ethnic origins, religion, traditions and customs. Lately, after the fall of the communist totalitarian regime, the idea of national minority was used again in texts and official regulations, once with the revival of the organizations belonging to the minorities from the Romanian space. The multicultural and pluriconfessional inheritance of the Historical Bukovina is worthy of being reclaimed and promoted in a new Europe, interested in respecting and cultivating common values.

Daniel Hrenciuc, PhD The first attested mention of the Armenians on Romanian territory was on a 10th century tombstone from Cetatea Albă, nowadays in Ukraine. The Armenian people arrived from Armenia and Poland and settled down first in and later in the entire country. Their main occupations, characteristic of a mostly urban people were craftsmanship, trade and merchandise. The Armenians were the first people in the world that adopted Christianity as an official religion. The Armenian minority personalities influenced the local population through their own ways of expression. In 1401, voivode Alexander the Good legalized through a muniment the first Armenian Diocese from Moldavia, which functioned on the ground where now lays the Zamca Monastery. Situated in the western extremity of the Areni plateu, the monastery has its own legends. One of them says that the initial name of the monastery was Saint Oxent (Auxentius), the founders being three brothers who bought the land: Auxent, Iacob and Grigore. The first one raised the church that had Saint Auxentius as patron saint. The second brother built the western chapel, while the latter built the steeple of the church with Saint Gregory the Illuminator as its patron saint. A sign of the Armenians' presence is also the street that bears their name and extends from the Holy Cross Church to Saint Simion Church. The area is known to have the largest number of houses of this community. Saint Simion Church is part of a complex of Armenian monuments from Suceava and is known as the Red Tower (Romanian: Turnul Roşu), due to the red color of the belfry. The Hagicadar Monastery was built in the 16th century by two brothers, Armenian merchants. The faith of the pilgrims visiting the monastery was unmoved by the passing of the time. People say that the route must be followed in silence and the hill is climbed by the pilgrims on their knees. The pilgrims also walk round the church on their knees. The Jews are one of the oldest ethnic minorities in Bukovina. Their first attested mention was in a letter from 1473 sent by a local to a person from Bistriţa. Before 1940, thousands of Jews from the county contributed to the development of the cities. They owned factories, schools, workshops, deposits and shops. It seems that an undisputable historical proof is Şmil, a Jew that was one of 's doctors. Still, references to the word 'Jew' could be found in documents from 1630 when a high official called Abraham was exempt of taxes, by lordly order. Cities where a great number of Jews could be found where Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Dorneşti, Burdujeni, Frătăuţii Noi, , Siret, Iţcani, Rădăuţi, Solca, Vatra Dornei and Suceava. An important Jewish community was set up in the 19th century in Iţcani. The community legalized in this structure in 1928, four years after the Jews from Bukovina gained their right to become Romanian citizens. Iţcani had Jewish mayors; their most representative was Josef Goldstein. The last mayor of Iţcani was Adolf Kolbert, elected in 1934. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, many Jews were part of the medical elite and the lawyers' bar.

At the half of the 20th century, most of the Jews from Bukovina went off to Israel. At the day, the county capital embodies 70 members, most of them very old. The Jewish youth try to preserve the traditions of their people. The (German: Bukowinadeutsche or Buchenlanddeutsche) were a German ethnic group that lived mainly in Bukovina between 1780 and 1940. The German immigrants didn't spread uniformly in the entire land, but created their own cities or neighborhoods in the existent cities. Such towns were Gura Putnei (German: Karlsberg), Voievodeasa (German: Fürstenthal) and Poiana Micului (German: Buchenhain). In other villages they settled near the Romanian inhabitants, taking over the Romanian name of the place. An example would be Bădeuţi (German: Deutsch-Badeutz). A significant part of German immigrants settled in cities such as Cernăuţi (German: Tschernowitz), Rădăuţi (German: Radautz), Suceava (German: Suczawa), Vatra Dornei (German: Dorna-Watra), and Gura Humorului (German Gurahumora or Gura Humora). In 1930, most of the citizens from Gura Humorului were Germans. Most of the Bukovina Germans were farmers. According to the 1910 census, as a national minority, the Germans represented roughly 21% of the entire population, until their forced movement to the Third Reich. According to the last census from 2002, there were 1801 Germans left in Suceava. Nowadays, the Germans are constituted in the “Bucovina” Regional Forum Suceava (Regionalforum “Buchenland” Suczawa) and try to develop and transmit their own culture and customs. German is taught in schools, in some of them even as first language. The Italian immigrants arrived in Romania in high number and in compact groups starting with the 18th century and especially in the 19th century. They emigrated in Transylvania, Banat and Bessarabia. The reason was mainly an economical one. They settled down and created communities in different areas of the country, finding work according to their grounding and professions. Still, many Italians can be found in cities. In his novel, Baltagul (eng. The Hatchet), the writer Mihail Sadoveanu preserves the presence of the Italians in the area. Nechifor Lipan, a character from the novel, is honored at The Cross of the Italians (Romanian: Crucea Talienilor), situated on the top of the Borca peak from the Stânişoara mountain mass, between Obcinele Bucovinei and the Rarău Mountains. Raised in the memory of the Italian workers who built a road over the mountain in the 19th century, the Cross of the Italians is built at the end of The Road of the Italians (Romanian: Drumul Talienilor). In 1993, the Association of (RO.AS.IT) was constituted in Suceava, on the initiative of a group of immigrant descendants established in Bukovina. It is a private ethnic association with a public utility status. The main goal of RO.AS.IT is to maintain and preserve the cultural heritage of the community. The president of RO.AS.IT is Mr. Mircea Grosaru, deputy in the Romanian Parliament. Italian has a special relationship with Romanian: both languages are separated from a common core, their vocabulary and grammar being highly similar. The Magyars' settlement in Bukovina materialized the intention of the Habsburg authorities to colonize a geographical area located on the river of Suceava. There the population was pretty rare. Most of the Hungarian groups of emigrants settled in the lowlands of Bukovina where Transylvanian Székelys. During 1762 and 1763, nine hundred Székely families left Caunele Ciuc to seek shelter in Bukovina.

The establishment of the Magyars in Bukowina was caused by military reasons: the reorganization of the defense system at the Habsurg Empire's frontier restricted the Székelys' rights and privileges from Scaunele Ciuc and Trei Scaune. The Magyars established five colonies in historical Bukovina, creating mostly Romano-catholic and Calvinist homogenous ethnical concentrations. They mainly developed agricultural activities. Through their work the Magyars contributed at the prosperity of the province: Andrasfalva/Măneuţi, Hadikfalva/Dorneşti, Istensegits/Ţibeni, Jozseffalva/Vornicenii Mari and Fogadjisten/Iacobeşti. Starting with 1942, most of the Magyars from Bukovina emigrated in Hungary, where they founded the Bukovina Székely Organization with the headquarters in Bonyhad. At present, about 500 Magyars who still live in Bukovina constituted themselves in the Territorial Organization of the Democratic Alliance of (DAHR) through which they try to preserve their forerunners' language, culture, religion and customs. The first Poles that arrived in Bukovina settled in mining areas. Most of them came during 1970 and 1791, in the area of salt mine and named the town so. The highlanders from the Czadea region were the second wave of Poles that arrived in Bukovina. They left their native places at about 1803 and settled in North Bukovina. Afterwards, they went south and grounded Soloneţu Nou and Poiana Micului, during 1836-1842. The third wave arrived at the end of the 19th century and grounded the cities of Bulăi (today Moara) and Ruda (today Vicşani). The Poles felt the need to organize themselves and thus created the Polish Association of Fraternal Help and Reciting on the 21st of May 1903, in Suceava, as a branch of the Cernăuţi organization. The Polish Renaissance is being felt after the events from 1989, and so was created the Union of (UPR). In April 1991, at the 2nd congress of UPR, the headquarters were moved in Suceava because 80% of the Poles from Romania live in Bukovina. At present, the Union has 18 branches of which the most numerous and active are those from Bukovina: Suceava, Soloneţu Nou, Poiana Micului, Pleşa, Păltinoasa, Gura Humorului and Cacica. UPR seeks to keep its national identity, manifested through culture, traditions, education, religion and language. The folk bands of the are active in Soloneţu Nou, Poiana Micului, Cacica, Păltinoasa. There is also a choir of the Diaspora in the Polish House from Suceava. Every year, The Polish Diaspora folk bands participate at the “Bukovina Meetings” from Jastrow, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, as well as folk festivals from Poland, Romania and Moldavia. Each year, in September, “Dom Polski” is organizing the “Days of the Polish Culture”, encompassing scientific symposiums, art exhibitions and folk performances. Twice a year, in May and November, dozens of children and teenagers take part in national reciting contests. Nobody really knows exactly when the Roma first appeared on Romanian territory, but historians suppose that the moment was near the year 1.000. Their first attested mention dates back in the 14th century. The first mentions about gypsies are found in the 15th century. Historians and sociologists consider that many gypsies arrived on Romanian territory as slaves of the Golden Horde. They were set free in the first decade of the 19th century. The first explosion of the Roma movement and the Romani language took place after 1989. Nowadays, Romani is a standardized language, studied in schools and universities, and used in culture and mass media, as the other ethnic languages. At the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, important changes took place in the living conditions inside and outside the Roma communities, that led to the loss and abandonment of many customs and traditions which were kept intact for centuries. With the disappearance of certain professions, the Roma reoriented themselves to other activities. This led to their assimilation with other Roma groups or blending with the majority. During the communist regime, the traditional lifestyle of the gypsies continued to change. In those times, the last nomads became sedentary and were assimilated with the peasants. Therefore, they could not practice their initial professions. A new change was produced in 1990, when gypsies with initiative started very profitable businesses. The abandonment of the cart and the tent implies other changes too. Even if they are less visible, in the sense of the modernization of life, they already affected most of the Roma people. The first known settlements of Russian-Lipovans are those from Bucovina region. Many consider the village Lipoveni (or Sokolinti, as it is named by local people) from , as the first locality established by Russian-plipovans (1724). The specific activities of the Russian-Lipovans from Bukovina are related to agriculture, bee pasturage, or grist. Many Lipovans from Bukovina are known as good gardeners. The Russian-Lipovans settled in the Delta have become peerless fishermen. The Russian-Lipovan Community in Romania (created in January 14, 1990)

is an association with an ethnic, social, cultural and humanitarian character that reunites Romanian citizens known as , Russian-Lipovans or Lipovans.

The main cities where we can find Russian-Lipovans are Climăuţi, Fălticeni, Gura Humorului, Manolea, Lipoveni, Rădăuţi, Baineţ and Suceava. The Ruthenians are a population descending from a Slavic branch of Indo- Europeans. The most suggestive denomination is that of carpatho-rusyn or rusyn, assigned in the 19th century by the poet Aleksander Duchnovici. He mentions in one of his poems the following words: I am, will be and shall stay Ruthenian. The expression became the Ruthenian popular creed. This expression is also found in the popular hymn: Subcarpathian Ruthenians, wake up from your deep sleep.

The ancestral territory of the Ruthenians is the Transcarpathian region, and extends itself to the limitrophe parts of Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland. Because of their main profession, shepherding (which supposed the moving of the flocks), on many occasions they were called Vlachs. They would also practice domestic crafts such as wood processing or weaving at a loom. The Ruthenians confirmed their national identity in 1989, along with the National Renaissance. Nowadays, they have a remarkable cultural life in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro, Germany, United States of America, Canada, Romania, and partially in Ukraine. The Romanian Ruthenians are to be found in three great historical areas: Maramureş, Bukovina and Banat. In every place they live, the Ruthenians adapted to the geographical and social environment, collaborating not only with the national minorities, but also with the Romanians. Their habits, traditional costume and customs perpetuated along the time and were affected in certain places by their coexistence in the ethnographical area. In Suceava there is a representative collaboration with the Ruthenians from Dărmăneşti, where the Cultural Union of Ruthenians in Romania developed a series of activities, along the time. The folk band Lastivocica from Dărmăneşti participated at various folk performances that promoted the Ruthenian culture and traditions not only in the country, but also abroad. The Ukrainians are the largest ethnic community in Bukovina. The first attested mention of their cohabitation with the Romanians in this region was in the 6th century; the two nations influenced themselves in the course of time. The Orthodox religion and the preponderant agrarian character favored a rapprochement and mixed marriages.

With time, the Ukrainians became came to be a majority in many places of Bukovina. They had officials in Bukovina's Diet, as well as in the Viennese Parliament, Ukrainian being one of the four official languages in the Dukedom, next to Romanian, German and Polish. After 1990, together with the establishment of the Union of , the national Ukrainian minority was represented in the Parliament by Ştefan Tcaiciuc and Vichentie Nicolaiciuc, both born in Bukovina. Currently, the Ukrainian's representative in the Parliament is Ştefan Buciuta from Maramureş. All of these officials acted and still do so in preserving in favor of cultivating and promoting the ethnic and linguistic development of the Ukrainians in Romania, under Romanian legal regulations.

The Consulate General of Ukraine in Suceava, a reliable partner in all the activities undertaken by the Ukrainian minority in the area, has a significant role in the relationships with the Motherland. Important economical and cultural projects are carried on under the Romania-Ukraine cross-border program, developing a real collaboration on both sides of the frontier. Nowadays, the cross border area represents an active collaboration, good-neighbor form of cultural and economical exchanges that helps developing the area.