Religions in Giurtelecu Şimleului
For the settlement, see Giurtelecu Şimleului.
Traditionally, Giurtelecu Şimleului has been a multi-religious community, as the inhabitants range from Greek Catholics, Christian Orthodox, Jews, Catholics and Protestants to Neo-Protestants and so on.
History
Ecclesiastical developments were highly important for Giurtelecu Şimleului (, ).
The interest of Giurtelecu Şimleului inhabitants for religious is mentioned in a document for the first time in 1470. In that year, in the context of a conflict between Bánffy family members, some slavonic religious manusripts stolen from priest Ilie were found in Giurtelecu Şimleului.
The first written documents of a priest at Giurtelecu Şimleului date back to 1594.
At the beginning of the 17th century, priest Îndreiu from Giurtelecu Şimleului was one of the oldest hand bookbinders of Transylvania. For example, in June 1624, he finished a religious book called "Tetraevanghel".
As liturgical book, the priests from Giurtelecu Şimleului used, for hundreds of years, Cazania lui Varlaam [Varlaam’s Homily], a book printed in Iaşi in 1643 and encompassing 72 Varlaam's commentaries on the Bible. It was one of the first books printed in the Romanian language with Cyrillic alphabet.
Priest Gheorghe from Giurtelecu Şimleului finished a "Penticostar" in 1771.
Religious Edifices
In the medieval times, Giurtelecu Şimleului had a wooden church. The church was made of thick logs, was quite small and dark inside, and painted with Biblical scenes. The most characteristic features were the tall tower above the entrance and the massive roof that seems to dwarf the main body of the church. Similar churches and houses are conserved at the Village Museum.
The stone Greek Catholic church was built in 1819.
For many years, the Jews from Giurtelecu Şimleului used the synagogue of Şimleu Silvaniei, built in 1876, now the centerpiece of the Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Erected in 1974, the Orthodox Church is the largest religious building in Giurtelecu Şimleului and the tallest building in town. It is not accessible by wheelchair.
The parochial house of Greek Catholic church was built in 1854.
Religious books
Giurtelecu Şimleului church bought many books hundreds of years ago; among them:
- Metropolitan Varlaam, Carte românească de învăţătură [Romanian Book of Teaching] (known also as Varlaam's Cazania) (Iaşi, 1643)
- Apostolier (Râmnic, 1747)
- Antologhion (Râmnic, 1766)
- Penticostar (Blaj, 1768)
- Bible, translated in Romanian by Samuil Micu-Klein (Blaj, 1795) - http://bitflow.dyndns.org/romanian/Biblia/Romanian-Biblia_Blaj_1795.pdf
- Samuil Micu-Klein, Teologhie dogmatică şi moralicească (Blaj, 1802)
- Apostolier (Blaj, 1802)
- Liturghier (Blaj, 1807)
- Molitvelnic (Blaj, 1815)
- Evanghelie (Blaj, 1817)
Jews
Today, the Jewish cemetery in the northeastern part of Győrtelek is in ruin.
At the beginning of May, 1944, Giurtelecu Şimleului's Jewish population was expelled from their homes. The Jews were rounded up rapidly, given only a few minutes to pack, and driven into the ghettos on foot. The Jews of Giurtelecu Şimleului and Sălaj County were concentrated in the Klein Brickyard, Cehei, in a marshy and muddy area about three miles (6 km) from Giurtelecu Şimleului. At its peak, the ghetto held about 8,500 Jews. Since the capacity of the brick-drying sheds was limited, many of the ghetto inhabitants were compelled to live in the open. The ghetto was guarded by a special unit of gendarmes from Budapest, commanded by László Krasznai, one of the cruellest ghetto commanders in Hungary.
Giurtelecu Şimleului's Jewish population was loaded into overcrowded cattle cars and transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, via Košice. The deportation of Jews from Cehei to Auschwitz-Birkenau was done in three transports on May 31, June 3, and June 6. As a result of the poor living conditions in the Cehei ghetto, the Jews of Sălaj County arrived at Auschwitz in very poor condition, so that an unusually high proportion were selected for immediate gassing upon arrival.
Time line
- 1470 - some slavonic religious manusripts stolen from priest Ilie were found in Giurtelecu Şimleului
- 1594 - the first mention of a priest in Giurtelecu Şimleului
- 1624, June - priest Îndreiu from Giurtelecu Şimleului, one of oldest hand bookbinders of Transylvania, finished a religious book called "Tetraevanghel"
- 1771 - priest Gheorghe from Giurtelecu Şimleului finished a "Penticostar" in 1771
- 1810 - the Greek-Catholic Vicarage was set up in Şimleu Silvaniei, which becomes a major centre of the Romanian intellectuals; also, after 1817 it hosts a Romanian Gymnasium
- 1819 - the stone Greek Catholic church "St. Arhangheli" was built in Giurtelecu Şimleului
- 1830 – a new school was built in Giurtelecu Şimleului
- 1848, March 19 - the priest of Giurtelecu Şimleului Ioan Lobonţiu, who chaired at Giurtelecu Şimleului the first meeting of the Revolution of 1848 in Transylvania, announced the emancipation of serfs. Ioan Lobonţiu advocates spreading wealth to poorer people in Giurtelecu Şimleului, where agriculture hasn't changed since medieval times.
- 1854 - the parochial house of Greek Catholic church was built
- 1867 - Giurtelecu Şimleului returned to the Kingdom of Hungary within the newly established Austria-Hungary
- 1869 – the inhabitants of Giurtelecu Şimleului express the disagreement with the conversion of the confessional school in a public school, according to Law XXXVIII/1868 of Education Minister József Eötvös
- 1876 - Giurtelecu Şimleului became part of the newly established Szilágy County, Szilágysomlyó District
- 1876 - Şimleu Silvaniei synagogue was built; was the main cultural centre for Giurtelecu Şimleului Jews and in 2005 it became the centerpiece of the first fully functional Holocaust memorial museum in Romania, Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum
- 1918, November - Ioan Taloş, priest in Giurtelecul Şimleului, is elected as deputy of the Electoral circle of the Şimleu in the National Assembly of all Romanians in Transylvania, Banat and the Hungarian Country (1,228 elected deputies). On December 1, the assembly decreed, by unanimous vote, the union of Transylvania with Romania
- 1934 - "Reuniunea Sf. Maria" Association from Giurtelecul Şimleului had 45 members
- 1940 to 1944 - Giurtelecul Şimleului was again part of Hungary during World War II
- 1944, May - the Giurtelecul Şimleului's Jewish population was forced out of their homes into the Cehei ghetto
- 1944, May-June - the deportations of the Jews from Cehei ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau were carried out in three transports between May 31 and June 6
- 1946, November - As a volunteer of the National Peasants' Party, the priest in Giurtelecul Şimleului, Alexander Ratiu, worked at an electoral section at the Romanian general election, 1946
- 1947, May - Alexander Ratiu, priest in Giurtelecul Şimleului, was arrested for his political activity against the Romanian Communist Party
- 1974 - start building of the Orthodox Church from Giurtelecul Şimleului
- 1998-1999 - systematic archaeological excavations at Giurtelecul Şimleului
Natives and Personalities of Giurtelecu Şimleului
- Alexander Raţiu, author and priest in Giurtelecu Şimleului
- Ioan Lobonţiu was a priest and dean (protopop) in Giurtelecu Şimleului in the 19th century and 1848 revolutionary. On March 19, 1848 the dean Lobonţiu presided in Giurtelecu Şimleului the first meeting of the Revolution of 1848 in Transylvania and announced the emancipation of serfs.
- Îndreiu, priest in Giurtelecu Şimleului in the first half of 17th century, one of oldest hand bookbinders of Transylvania
- Ioan Taloş, deputy of the Electoral circle of the Şimleu in the National Assembly and priest in Giurtelecu Şimleului in the first half of the 20th century
References
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