Abstract
The origins of the Jews of Transylvania,1 currently a province of Romania, are mired in historical controversy. Some historians and archeologists, without providing any acceptable evidence, trace their earliest settlements to the first and second centuries A.D., when the territory was part of Roman Dacia. The earliest recorded Jewish settlements were established during the 1571–1687 period, when the province and some of its bordering territories constituted an independent principality ruled almost continuously by Hungarian-Transylvanian princes. The earliest Jews, following the trade routes to the north of the province, reportedly arrived from the Balkan territories, which were then part of the Ottoman Empire. The first organized Jewish community, composed primarily of Turkish Sephardi Jews, was established in Gyulafehérvár, the seat of the prince. The Jews’ legal residence was restricted to this town only. However, they managed in the course of time to settle in the neighboring communities as well, and their ranks were soon swelled by Ashkenazi Jews who came from the adjacent territories north and west of the province.
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Braham, R.L. (1983). Introductory Essay. In: Genocide and Retribution. Holocaust Studies Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6687-1_1
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