Madeline "Mima" Kohn ('26), an Urban Studies major, travelled to Romania to research her own family history, specifically the experiences of her grandmother during World War II. Madeline was mentored by Dr. Taije Silverman (Department of English) and this research was supported by the Paul and Kathleen Barthmaier Award.
This project lies within the academic realm of ethnography, specifically at the intersection of place and memory. While there are extensive studies and access points for Holocaust history, my focus was how the memory of Jewish life is actively preserved and regarded in the specific places where Jewish communities once lived. How does remembrance occur among individuals whose current homes are geographically implicated in a history that they may not be fully aware of or invested in? How do visitors engage with and influence a space that holds emotional significance but where they no longer reside?
My primary finding was that the maintenance and infrastructure of Jewish cemeteries represented the most robust commitment to the preservation of Jewish memory. Grave sites serve as an indelible imprint of a people upon the land they once inhabited, and their continued visitation reinforces and legitimizes their preservation in an ongoing cycle.
While I had personal knowledge that my family once lived in Sacel, Romania, the demarcation of the cemetery on Google Maps served as the first tangible confirmation that sites of local Jewish history still existed and were accessible. This discovery was reinforced by photographs of my grandmother at the local cemetery. I connected with the current cemetery care-taker, Tatiana, whose family has owned the land for generations. Her parents and grandparents maintained the cemetery, even after the Holocaust, out of personal loyalty to the Jewish families they had known. Tatiana pointed me to local areas of Jewish significance, dressed me in traditional clothes, and became my primary connection to the modern village of Sacel, which my family has not lived in for decades. As third-generation rememberers, the caretaker’s daughter and I share a personal connection that echoes—but is distinct from—the history we seek to honor.
While Jews once constituted half of the town’s population, they are now nearly mythic figures who appear sporadically and with great fanfare. When only traces remain—graves, old buildings, a few elderly individuals, and periodic visitors—a community that was once deeply integrated into the local culture becomes both forgotten and mythologized. A thoroughly modern story coalesces from the interaction between locals who steward a history that is largely removed from them and individuals deeply affected by that history but largely detached from the place.
As an aspiring Urban Planner, this project lends itself to the theoretical study of placemaking and sites of memory. It highlights how physical spaces—especially cemeteries—serve as anchors for historical consciousness, shaping both personal and collective relationships to the past. The evolving role of these sites, influenced by visitors, caretakers, and religious communities, underscores the dynamic interplay between memory, space, and identity. Understanding these processes can inform urban planning approaches that prioritize cultural heritage, foster meaningful connections between communities and historical sites, and navigate the complexities of preservation in places with layered and contested histories.
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