Povestea copiilor spărgători. Fotografii din dosarele Securităţii: cazul Templului Coral (20 septembrie 1963)
The Story of the Burglar Kids. Photos from the State Security’s Files: The Case of the Coral Temple (September 20, 1963)

Summary/Abstract: The fact that the devastation from 1963 of the Choral Temple – the most important Jewish temple in Bucharest – took place before the celebration in the temple of Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year 5723, an event which all the community must participate in, makes us think that this was a message of intimidation intended not only for Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen, who became too vocal in his last visits in America and Israel, but also for Romanian Jewish community whose members were thinking to emigrate into the Free World. Images of the investigation from 1963 are very close to the images of the devastation during the Legionary pogrom on January 21-23, 1941 (including the desecration of the Holly Scrolls, prayer books and destruction of the religious symbols), an event still very present in the memory of the parishioners, as the surveillance documents states. For many it was a strong signal to emigrate from a place where religious Jews were no longer desirable. The phenomenon of children robbers, a generalized official explanation about the cases of vandalism of synagogues, indicates the lack of consequences and of interest to investigate them.

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