Răspunsurile preotului Sabin Olea la chestionarele din anul 1952 trimise de Muzeul Regional Alba Iulia în satul Cib (județul Alba)
Responses of Priest Sabin Olea to Questionnaires from 1952 Sent by the Regional Museum Alba Iulia in Cib Village (Alba County)

Summary/Abstract: The priest Sabin Olea was not only the shepherd of souls from Cib and a church founder but also a passionate collector. Very likely, he had been the founder of the first rural museum from Greater Romania. His collection includes very varied pieces (archaeological, numismatic, ethnographical, religious, historical, old book etc.) illustrative of an encyclopaedic spirit, receptive to any token of civilization from the Transylvanian area. The collection, comprising more than 1766 pieces, was set up in 1921 and was turned into an authentic rural museum in 1932. After the instauration of the Communist regime, the numerous hardships climaxed in 1960 with its forcible eviction from the parochial house, when numerous pieces were lost or were destroyed due to negligence by the authorities or even due to ideological reasons. Questionnaires to develop the theme of the exhibition „Combaterea neștiinței superstițiilor și misticismului” (Elimination of superstition and mysticism ignorance) were sent out to almost all communes from Alba County, but also schools from Alba Iulia, in 1952. In the five decades of Communism and attempts of total control of life, after the systematic attacks on authorities that could have competed with it within the society, Communism had left behind beside the economic disaster, physical and moral suffering, a state of intellectual confusion both in the urban environment and the rural one which may be noticed in the file „Superstiții” (Superstitions). Carrying out an analysis on the answers to the questionnaire, one can, unfortunately, notice the clerics’ critical attitude on customs, beliefs and superstitions, these being considered pagan, when in fact syncretism is encountered at all nations in the world.

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