The former Jewish Mixed School building

THE FORMER JEWISH MIXED SCHOOL BUILDING In 1830, the "Society of Earthly Israelites" was established in Buzău, in order to promote the minority’s common interests of worship and culture. Respecting the ancestral traditions, the Jewish Community of Buzău established its own institutions: the Synagogue, the Jewish School (primary school), the Kindergarten, the Ritual Bath (a steam bath, completed in 1890), the Bread and Flour Factory, the birds’ Slaughterhouse and the Jewish Cemetery, all affected over time by the earthquakes of 1940 and 1977, by the explosions caused by the world wars, by the legionnaires' vandalism, by provisional requisitions and by the expropriations of the Antonescu’s regime. In 1855, the Community of Jews from Buzău purchased a plot of land on which another synagogue and a building for the primary school were later built. In 1893 and 1897 another building for the school was built on Alexandru Marghiloman Street no. 27, former Dobrogei no. 25. This was a building for the kindergarten and a house for the school director. In 1904 the school premises were renovated, in 1910 another building was built, and two years later a gymnasium was established. In 1927, a new premises was built for the children's kindergarten. The school building was built on an area of 591 square meters, it had 4 classrooms, two offices and a servant's room. During the War of National Integration (1916-1919), the School of the Jewish community became the premises for a military hospital. Between the years 1918-1940, the Mixed Primary School had, on average, 100 students annually, because in 1940, when there were approximately 1100 Jews living in Buzău, 70 students were studying in the school, 25 of them being graduates in that year. The school was reauthorized by the Ministry of National Education, being supported by school fees and Community funds. The language of instruction was Romanian, but Hebrew and the Mosaic religion were also taught. Currently, the Buzău Social Assistance Directorate operates on the premises of the former Jewish Mixed School.