April 20 - synagog and lunch

Before lunch, Gizella contacted the caretaker of the synagog to see if we could visit. He was expecting a tour, so we walked down going on Bartok Bela Street, passing my favorite composer and famous Unitarian. The synagog had five thousand members before WWII, now around 100, including the caretaker, 90 years old and a Romanian army conscript, who therefor avoided being among the 7,000 Jews from Marosvasarhely sent to Auschwitz. Instead he spent five years in a gulag in Stalin's Siberia. Only 2,000 from this town survived Auschwitz and most did not return. Gizella translates his story for Gail. Although a moving statue of holocaust victims is in a nearby square, the synagog itself, with lists of names and nameplates of those long gone still claiming their place in the pews, was even more moving. Gizella and Laszlo's son is a theater major in the local college and sings fund-raising concerts frequently at the synagog. He sat next to his dad at lunch with us. As we walked back to the bus stop, we only mildly regretted that we didn't have enough time for the Palace of Culture, and finally caught a shot of another element of the cultural landscape in the side lighting of the lowering sun, (if Gail comes back with hennaed hair, don't be surprised).
After a quick trip to the grocery store, Jim whipped up a home-cooked meal in the church kitchen. We awoke the next day to say goodbye to the Revs. Csaba Kecshes and Janos Pol, and Matilda Kiss. Csaba drove us to the bus and off again to Sighnisoara.