The international architecture and design competition for the Jewish Memorial Open-air Museum in Târgu Frumos, Iași county

About the Jewish Memorial Open-Air Museum Project 

JEMOM aims to create a digital museum for the preservation and promotion of the cultural and historical heritage of the Jews from Târgu Frumos, offering a space for remembrance and learning about the history of the Jewish community in this area. By developing original historical content, debates and meetings, organizing creative workshops and mobile exhibitions, developing an interactive website, and creating a museum model, the project aims to involve the local community and young people in the process of preserving and promoting this important part of local history. 

The project's priorities include the use of new media for heritage promotion, transdisciplinary collaborations, and cultural and community activation in alternative spaces. As an organization, we are committed to completing an ambitious project by 2028: to restore and protect the Jewish Cemetery, transforming it into an open-air Jewish Memorial Museum. This museum will commemorate the Jewish community and the victims of the Pogrom, while also providing learning opportunities about local history for young people from rural and small urban areas in Iași County. 

The Jewish Cemetery represents a central point in the identity of our town. It is a place of historical and cultural significance, a place of learning and remembrance of the past. In the context of an evolving digital environment, we must find new and innovative ways to preserve and share the history of the place. Our project, "Jewish Memorial Open-Air Museum in Târgu Frumos - JEMOM 1.0," addresses this urgent need. 

We propose the creation of an online museum that will offer a virtual space for remembrance and learning accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. JEMOM 1.0 aims to: 

1. Organize at least 10 consultative meetings with organizations, institutions, associations, and specialists in the field of Jewish history and cultural heritage to collect relevant information and obtain feedback for the development of the content of the Jewish Memorial Open-Air Museum in Târgu Frumos (JEMOM). 

2. Develop and launch an interactive and well-documented website by October 30, 2024, that will present original historical and multimedia content about the Jews of Târgu Frumos and the events related to the death trains. 

3. Organize 5 creative workshops featuring interactive mobile exhibitions by October 1, 2024, for at least 100 young people aged 13 to 30 from Târgu Frumos and neighboring communities, with the goal of collecting ideas and motivating them to actively participate in promoting and continuing the project.

4. Create a final model of the Jewish Memorial Open-Air Museum in Târgu Frumos by October 30, 2024, reflecting the ideas of all those consulted and involved through an architecture and design competition. 

5. Organize a dissemination conference of the results by November 5, 2024, to present the action plan and attract support and interest from the local community and the general public to secure the necessary resources for the arrangement of the Jewish Memorial Open-Air Museum in Târgu Frumos. 

About the Competition 

The international architecture and design competition aims to select the best design and architecture proposal for the Jewish Memorial Open-Air Museum. The proposal will integrate diverse ideas and perspectives to create a space that honors the memory of the Jewish community and promotes education among younger generations. The competition is open to architects and designers worldwide. Proposals must be submitted by October 11, 2024, in digital format to office@supertineri.org. The winner will be announced at the end of October 2024 and will receive a prize of 10,000 lei, with the obligation to submit a physical model of the project to the organization. The winning model will be 3D scanned and presented on the project's interactive website, with the goal of implementing the project by September 2028 by the Super Tineri ASIRYS Association, together with artists and volunteers from around the world. 

Context 

According to the census conducted in 2021, the population of Târgu Frumos stands at 9,597 residents, a decrease compared to the previous census in 2011, when 10,475 residents were recorded. No Jews currently live in the town. Târgu Frumos is mentioned in old documents as "a small Jewish market town." Currently, the last remaining legacy of this connection is an abandoned cemetery. The Jewish cemetery covers an area of four hectares and contains over 5,000 tombstones erected in memory of those who lived in Târgu Frumos before the war. At the opposite end of the cemetery stands a monument commemorating the 640 victims killed in one of the two Death Trains that left Iași after the pogrom of June 29, 1941, buried in mass graves.

Brief documentary about the historical events of 1941: https://youtu.be/r_yBc9QwEXc?si=sdJFzDX1aqiA2Tab

The state of the cemetery is deplorable, having been neglected by the authorities due to the lack of interest and knowledge of the locals about the history of the Jews. Located near a poor neighborhood, the cemetery has largely been ignored, and no resources have been allocated for its preservation and restoration. Local authorities underestimate the importance of this site as a valuable cultural and historical resource for our community and region. The need for intervention is urgent as time and weather conditions have worsened the degradation of the cemetery, putting this important part of cultural and historical heritage at risk. The cemetery extends over an area of 500 m x 800 m, covering 4 hectares. Within this perimeter, there are up to 5,000 tombstones, some of which have been moved from the valley cemetery. The Jewish cemetery was initially located in the southern part of the town (now situated between the course of the Bahluieț River and 22 December Street), but after the construction of the Iași-Pașcani railway (opened on June 1, 1870), part of the land was expropriated, and the cemetery was moved to the western part, where it remains today. The oldest known tombstone dates from 1818, and the last recorded burial was in 1993, with the cemetery no longer being functional. The tombstones are made of various materials such as marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone. Some have detailed finishes, graphic elements, portraits, and/or metal fences around them. The inscriptions are in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Romanian. Approximately 20 local personalities are buried in the Jewish cemetery in Târgu Frumos, including the rabbis Tvi ben Iehuda (who died in 1847) and Shalom Taubes (who died in 1888). The cemetery contains a large mass grave (25 m long, 2.5 m wide, and 2.5 m deep), dug for the burial of the bodies unloaded at Târgu Frumos from the "first death train." This mass grave is marked by a commemorative monument with an inscription in Romanian and Hebrew: 

"In memory of the 640 Jews buried here, victims of fascist barbarity, killed in the 'death train' on June 29-30 and July 1, 1941. Let us not forget the crimes of fascism!" 

 *Photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SO1ItY--QYeB8x7eK6FOTfGLnHToU19r?usp=sharing 

*Virtual tour link of the Jewish Cemetery Târgu Frumos: https://3d-tur.ely-bass.ro/view/jemom-supertineri/cimitirul-evreiesc-targu-frumos

*3D drone model link of the Jewish Cemetery Târgu Frumos: https://ely-bass.nira.app/a/Ls8RIHRKTEW6NglwLv4-PQ/1

*Site - draft: https://jemom.supertineri.org/

*Catalogs of artistic and cultural activities related to this museum, facilitated by international volunteers:

*Arts Lab 4.0: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LpWU1ZAsIhrxjz_JMg567sa06W53lP8M/view

*Arts Lab 5.0:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CSa-_5ycTuq5RUCOZF8MjuSUw9vbNUo6/view

Vision for JEMOM

Transforming an abandoned Jewish cemetery into an open-air memorial museum, with limited resources available, is a challenge. To transform the Jewish Cemetery in Târgu Frumos into a memorial museum, the design should clearly reflect several established criteria. Innovative approaches are encouraged. The discreetly paved paths will respect the natural topography of the cemetery and the placement of the tombstones, creating a continuity between the past and the present. Informational panels will be placed along these paths to provide details about the history of the Jews in Târgu Frumos and the tragic events of 1941, complemented by interactive elements to attract young visitors. The paths will be designed to allow easy access for people with disabilities, ensuring that every visitor can explore the entire memorial museum without difficulties. The materials used for paving the paths, constructing benches, and informational panels will be durable and weather-resistant, emphasizing the permanence of memory. A space (gazebo/amphitheater) will be designed to host various events, from commemorative ceremonies to educational workshops, ensuring that the memorial museum remains an active and relevant place for the community. In addition, the museum will integrate modern technologies, providing visitors with access to additional information through applications or QR codes that will reveal audio stories or virtual tours of the cemetery. A central element of the design will be the 640 trees planted in memory of the victims buried in the mass graves, each tree symbolizing a lost life, arranged in a way that underscores the tragedy of the events and invites reflection. The local community, especially young people, will be actively involved in planting the trees and other landscaping activities, making them part of the memory conservation process. The maximum budget estimated to be collected from donations and fundraising activities for the acquisition of materials necessary for the arrangement of JEMOM: €30,000; Human resource: volunteers 

Disclaimer: JEMOM 1.0 is co-financed by AFCN. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project's results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding beneficiary.