CERV-SURVIVE event in Brașov
On Friday, November 21, 2025, the event Commemoration Day: the Sufferings of Jews of Transylvania during World War II took place in Brașov, an activity within the CERV SURVIVE project - Stories of Women and Children's Resilience in World War II, in which Transylvania University of Brașov is a partner.
In the first part of the day, representatives of the partner organizations in the project, YouNet (Italy), SPARK (Poland), and World-Our Home (Latvia), together with students and faculty from the Faculty of Sociology and Communication and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, met at the Beith Israel synagogue with Prof. Dr. Asher Shafrir, who was born in Brașov and returned to Romania after a long academic career in Israel and other countries. Professor Shafrir spoke to the participants at the commemorative event about the Jews of southeastern Transylvania and the importance of being on one side or the other of the border drawn by the Vienna Dictate in 1940.
In the second part of the day, a series of presentations on the theme of "Jews in Transylvania during World War II" took place at the "Casa Mureșenilor" Museum, organized by the university in collaboration with the museum. The presentations were given by Associate Professor Ana-Maria Bolborici and Professor Daniela Sorea from Transylvania University in Brașov, Professor Carmen Manațe, author, together with Sami Fiul and Viorica Oprea, of the book The Jewish Community in Brașov in the 19th and 20th Centuries (2007), and six second-year sociology students: Cristina Bălan, Ștefania Boricean, Irina Coca, Sara Rușinaru, Ovidiu Stânea, and Raisa-Maria Șoneriu. The images captured during the conference are available, courtesy of Mr. Ovidiu Stânea, at here.
In line with the objectives of the CERV SURVIVE project, the commemorative event highlighted the fragility of democracy and the dangerous consequences of disrupting the European value system.
