Family of Antoni Asher Anchel Porges

 

  Antoni Asher Anchel Porges (b. 1871, d. 1940)

          The family originates in Hungary but lived in "Cheo Silvana" (may be now Simleu Silvaniei ?).
          Antoni had 7 children. Some of whom were killed during the war, in Auschwitz or in labor camps,
          while others settled in Israel.

Poul Pinchas Porges
         Lived in Oradea (Transylvania) and was a wealthy and locally famous wood trader.
         He perished with all his family in Auschwitz in 1944.
Shmuel Porges lived in Turda, Transylvania.
         He moved to Jerusalem and has one daughter who lives in Los angeles (USA)
Meir Porges, died in a labor camp in Turda, during WWII
Matilda Porges, died during the wars
Lea Porges, died during the war
Hiku Porges, died during the war
Menachem Porges (b. 1894, d. 1972).
         Escaped the Germans, stayed in Turda, was forced to hard labor.

Avraham Porges (b. 1924). Went to Israel alone in 1946 , as a Zionist, was captured
        and transfered to Cyprus for 6 months. He eventually arrived in Israel in 1947,
        fought the War of Independance and, with a group of people, established kibbutz Shoresh
        close to Jerusalem, where he lives today (2012). It is a beautiful moshav.

Ahuva Porges
Batya Porges (who provided the present family information)
 Asher Porges
 Michal Porges

Leon Porges, returned to Oradia after the war, then moved to Israel in 1965.
         One son : Meir Porges, lawyer in Tel Aviv.

Esther Itzko Porges, was murdered in Aschwitz (1944)

Source : Batya Porges (2012)

Kibbutz Shoresh

Shoresh (Hebrew: שורש, שֹׁרֶשׁ‎‎, lit. Root) is a moshav shitufi in the Jerusalem Corridor, Israel, under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. Located five kilometres from Sha'ar HaGai, it covers an area of 7,500 dunams (2.9 mi or 7.5 km). In 2006, it had a population of 577.
On April 15, 1948, the Harel Brigade captured the Arab village of Saris overlooking the highway to Jerusalem.
The strategic hilltop position had been used to fire on Jewish vehicles traveling on the road below
That year, a group of immigrants from Eastern Europe founded a kibbutz on the site, adapting the name of the abandoned village. Four years later, it became a moshav. Today Shoresh operates a hotel, conference center and banquet hall.
In July 1995, a fire virtually destroyed the moshav's poultry and orchard industries, damaged the hotel, and left over half the moshav members homeless.

Simleu Silvaniei

Şimleu Silvaniei (Romanian pronunciation: [ʃimˌle.u silˈvani.ej]; Hungarian: Szilágysomlyó, German: Schomlenmarkt) is a town in Sălaj County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 16,066 people (2002 census). Is located near an ancient Dacian fortress Dacidava.

The Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum is located in Şimleu Silvaniei, Romania and was opened September 11, 2005. The museum is operated and maintained by the Jewish Architectural Heritage Foundation of New York and Asociata Memoralia Hebraica Nuşfalău - a Romanian NGO, with the support of the Claims Conference, Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania, among other philanthropic and pedagogical partners.
Memorial Museum of Holocaust in Northern Transylvania http://www.mmhtn.org/

History
The old synagogue of Şimleu Silvaniei was erected in 1876. During the height of its use, the synagogue was used for worship and religious ceremonies by Jewish families from the City of Şimleu Silvaniei as well as surrounding villages such as Giurtelecu Şimleului and Nuşfalău. In May/June 1944, the area's Jewish population was forced out of their homes into the brutal Cehei ghetto and from there packed into cattle cars and transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Over 160,000 Jews from the region perished.[1] Of those few remaining Jews who survived the Holocaust and remained in Romania, the last Jewish family emigrated from the region during the mid-1960s, while the country was still under Communist rule. The loss of its congregation left the Synagogue to fate, decaying silently over time.
Through the inspiration of Mihaela Gross; then a local student, Adam Aaron Wapniak, a Brooklyn native and Architect, became interested in the abandoned synagogue's restoration on a 2003 visit, sparking the interest of Dr. Alex Hecht; a New York dentist and son of Holocaust survivors Zoltan and Stefania Hecht, who was born in the nearby village of Nuşfalău. Together, they launched a vigorous campaign driving the restoration project. Their efforts contributed to raising funds to complete construction, establishing educational criterion, and supported pedagogical training for the regional school systems. The Museum now functions as an educational hub and essential resource for Holocaust Education in the region. Guided tours tailored to students are offered daily, The museum centerpiece is the synagogue originally built in 1876.
Holocaust Education
Under communism, official history in Romania taught that Germans were the sole perpetrators of the Holocaust, thereby ignoring the role of the Romanian government in the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Jews and tens of thousands of Roma (Gypsies) from Romania during World War II. After the fall of communism in 1989, wartime leader General Ion Antonescu was semi-rehabilitated and hailed as a hero by some Romanians, with monuments being erected across the country to honor the former dictator.[3][4]
Following 15 years of setbacks, in November 2004, after the presentation of the Wiesel International Commission’s report to the Romanian President, Romania finally acknowledged in an official position the full dimensions of the Romanian Holocaust. Romanian authorities have begun efforts to educate the public about the Holocaust, it also banned pro-Nazi propaganda and the cult of war criminals. In March 2005, the newly elected government under President Traian Basescu and PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu made a firm commitment to implement the Wiesel Holocaust Commission’s recommendations on educating Romanians about the Holocaust and fighting racism in society.[5]
Thus, the Romanian authorities have taken decisive steps towards the implementation of a unitary national curriculum concerning Holocaust education. (Although Holocaust education was introduced as a mandatory topic in pre-university curricula as of 1998, for a long time history textbooks have included little (if any), divergent, and often inaccurate information on the subject). Holocaust education has been mandatory in Romanian schools, covering 2–4 hours of material in the context of World War II. In 2004, Holocaust history also became an optional course.[6] According to an ITF study, the three main obstacles for Holocaust education facing the Ministry of Education and Research (MEC), in Romania are: lack of information on the topic, lack of diversity of information, and too few teachers trained to teach the topic.[7]
This shift in policy paved the way for the Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum to exercise its commitment to its educational program. In cooperation with the ministry of Education, the first ever Holocaust Education Olympiad was hosted at the Museum.[8] In the Spring of 2008, the Museum inaugurated the Şimleu Silvaniei Multicultural Holocaust Education and Research Center; used to host lectures and seminars on the subject, with programs geared to students, teachers and academics. The teacher program encourages and helps teachers to sensitively incorporate the subject of the Holocaust into their curriculum. a discipline sorely lacking in Romania's school system.

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The Jewish Architectural Heritage Foundation with its sister organization Asociata Memoriala Hebraica Nusfalau, is proud to announce the GRAND OPENING of the Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum In Simleu Silvaniei. The dedication ceremony took place on September 11th 2005.

A multi-cultural media research center is now available for the use of visitors as well as the local educational system. The museum is housed in a 19th century formerly dilapidated synagogue that was neglected for and vacant for the past 40 years.
A small fully functional synagogue is at the center of the museum floor, available for the use of visitors. Parts of the original synagogue form the center of this previously lost cultural treasure.
On October 10, 2005, Romania's Holocaust Remembrance Day, 940 school children as well as hundreds of adults attended memorial services at the museum. On a daily basis 50-150 people visit the museum including many from around the world. Check back often for future news and updates.

Source : The Jewish Architectural heritage Foundation

Oradea

Oradea, lies at the meeting point of the Crișana plain and the Crișul Repede's basin, 12 km from the Hungarian border, surrounded on the north-eastern part by the hills of Oradea, part of the Șes hills. It dates back to a small 10th century castle, while its bishopric was founded during the 11th century by King Ladislaus I of Hungary. The first documented mention of its name was in 1113 under the Latin name Varadinum. The city flourished during the 13th century. The Citadel of Oradea, the ruins of which remain today, was first mentioned in 1241 during the Mongol invasion. The 14th century was one of the most prosperous periods in the city's life. Statues of St. Stephen, Emeric and Ladislaus (before 1372) and the equestrian sculpture of St. Ladislaus (1390) were erected in Oradea. St. Ladislaus' fabled statue was the first proto-renaissance public square equestrian in Europe. Bishop Andreas Báthori (1329–1345) rebuilt the cathedral in Gothic style. From that epoch dates also the Hermes, now preserved at Györ, which contains the skull of King Ladislaus, and which is a masterpiece of the Hungarian goldsmith's art.
Georg von Peuerbach worked at the Observatory of Varadinum, using it as the reference or prime meridian of Earth in his Tabula Varadiensis, published posthumously in 1464.
In 1474 the city was devastated by the Turks. It was not until the 16th century that Oradea started growing as an urban area. The Peace of Várad was concluded between Ferdinand I and John Zápolya here on February 4, 1538, in which they mutually recognized each other to be king. In the 18th century, the Viennese engineer Franz Anton Hillebrandt planned the city in the Baroque style and, starting from 1752, many landmarks were constructed such as the Roman Catholic Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace, presently the Muzeul Țării Crișurilor ("The Museum of the Criș-es land").
After the Ottoman invasion of Hungary in the 16th century, the city was administered at various times by the Principality of Transylvania, the Ottoman Empire, and the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1598, the fortress was besieged and, on August 27, 1660, Oradea fell to the Turks and became the capital of Varat Province. This eyalet had Varat (Oradea), Salanta, Debreçin (formerly part of Budin and Eğri Eyalets), Halmaș, Sengevi and Yapıșmaz sanjaks. The siege is described in detail by Szalárdy János in his contemporary chronicle. The city was seized by the Habsburg-led German-Hungarian-Croatian forces in September 1692. The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 played an important role in the city's history. It was the home of largest Hungarian arms factory while Debrecen was the temporary seat of the Hungarian government.
In the second half of the 19th century literary nicknames for the town included "Hungarian Compostela", "Felix civitas", "Paris on the River Pece", "the City of Tomorrow", "Athens on the Körös", and "the City of Yesterday". These nicknames are not widely used today, although "Paris on the River Pece" is still utilized sometimes.
As a consequence of Hungary's role in World War I, the Treaty of Trianon awarded Oradea to the Kingdom of Romania. Under the Second Vienna Award brokered by Hitler and Mussolini in 1940, Hungary reoccupied North Transylvania, including Oradea, but, being on the losing side again, had to relinquish claims to it under the Treaty of Paris concluded on February 10, 1947.
In 1925 the status of municipality was given to Oradea dissolving its former civic autonomy. Under the same ordinance its name was changed from Oradea Mare ("Great" Oradea) to simply Oradea.
Ethnic tensions sometimes ran high in the area in the past but the different ethnic groups now generally live together in harmony, thriving on each other's contributions to modern culture. There are many mixed Romanian-Hungarian families in Oradea, with children assimilating into both of their parents' cultures and learning to speak both languages.

The Jewish Community
The chevra kadisha ("holy society") was founded in 1735, the first synagogue in 1803, and the first communal school in 1839. Not until the beginning of the 19th century were Jews permitted to do business in any other part of the city, and even then they were required to return at nightfall to their own quarter. In 1835 permission was granted to live in any part of the city.
The Jewish community of Oradea became divided into Orthodox and Reform congregations. While the members of the Reform congregation still retained their membership in the chevra kadisha, they started to use a cemetery of their own in 1899. In the early 20th century, the Jews of Oradea had won prominence in the public life of the city. There were Jewish manufacturers, merchants, lawyers, physicians and farmers; the chief of police (1902) was a Jew; and in the municipal council, the Jewish element was proportionately represented. The community possessed, in addition to the hospital and chevra kadisha, a Jewish women's association, a grammar school, a trade school for boys and girls, a yeshiva, a soup kitchen etc.
According to the Center for Jewish Art:
The Oradea Jewish community was once the most active both commercially and culturally in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1944, twenty-five thousand Oradean Jews were deported to concentration camps by the Nazis, thus decimating this vital community. Only three hundred Jews reside in Oradea today. In the center of the city, on the river bank and towering over other buildings in the area, is the large Neolog Temple Synagogue built in 1878. The unusual cube-shaped synagogue with its large cupola is one of the largest in Romania. Inside there is a large organ and stucco decorations. In 1891, the Orthodox community also built a complex of buildings including two synagogues and a community center.[3]
Descendants of the pre-Holocaust hasidic rabbinate in Oradea established a synagogue in the Willowbrook area of Staten Island, New York. The synagogue maintains both a traditional hasidic Nusach Sefard and a Nusach Ashkenaz service, the latter of which operates under the name Bais Medrash Igud Avreichim of Groisverdain (the Yiddish pronunciation of Grosswardein).

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradea

Turda

Turda; German: Thorenburg; Hungarian: Torda; historical name: Potaissa) is a city and Municipality in Cluj County, Romania, situated on the Arieş River.
The city was founded by Dacians under the name Patavissa or Potaissa (most frequently confirmed). It was conquered by the Romans, between AD 101 and 106, during the rule of Trajan, together with parts of Decebal's Dacia.
The name Potaissa is first recorded on a Roman milliarium discovered in 1758 in the nearby Aiton commune.
Milliarium of Aiton is an ancient Roman milestone dating from 108 AD, shortly after the Roman conquest of Dacia, and showing the construction of the road from Potaissa to Napoca, by demand of the Emperor Trajan. It indicates the distance of ten thousand feet (P.M.X.) to Potaissa. This is the first epigraphical attestation of the settlements of Potaissa and Napoca in Roman Dacia.
The castrum established was named Potaissa too and became a municipium, then a colonia. Potaissa was the basecamp of the Legio V Macedonica from 166 to 274.
The Potaissa salt mines were worked in the area since prehistoric times.

Middle Ages
 After the Hungarian conquest, the Turda salt mines were first mentioned in 1075. They were closed in 1932 but have recently been reopened for tourism.
Saxons settled in the area in the 11th century. The town was destroyed during the Tartar invasion in 1241-1242. Andrew III of Hungary gave royal privileges to the settlement. These privileges were later confirmed by the Angevins of Hungary.
The Hungarian Diet was held here in 1467, by Matthias Corvinus. Later, in the 16th century, Turda was often the residence of the Transylvanian Diet, too. The 1558 Diet of Turda declared free practice of both the Catholic and Lutheran religions. In 1563 the Diet also accepted the Calvinist religion, and in 1568 it extended freedom to all religions, declaring that "It is not allowed to anybody to intimidate anybody with captivity or expelling for his religion" – a freedom unusual in medieval Europe. This Edict of Turda is the first attempt at legislating general religious freedom in Christian Europe (though its legal effectiveness was limited).
In 1609 Gabriel Báthori granted new privileges to Turda. These were confirmed later by Gabriel Bethlen. In the battle of Turda, Ahmed Pasha defeated George II Rákóczi in 1659.

Modern times
 In 1944, the Battle of Turda took place here, between German and Hungarian forces on one side and Soviet and Romanian forces on the other. It was the largest battle fought in Transylvania during World War II.

 
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