Eastern European Genealogy?

[Casey]

My wife is from Romania and we would like to build her family tree. Does anyone know of any websites or orgs that cater to the Eastern European genealogy community? She can only trace her family back on paper a few generations due to destruction of records. Her last name is Pitaru.

[jan51601]

www.jewishgen.org--you didn't say if your wife was Jewish, but this website has 1200 listings for the search "Pitaru" in Romania:
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry - Bessarabia -- List 1 record
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry - Bucovina -- List 7 records
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry - Maramures -- List 9 records
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry - Moldavia List 26 records
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry - Transylvania -- List 14 records
Vsia Rossiia 1895 Business Directory -- List 1 record
Tabele Barbatilor - Census of Jewish Men in Romania, 1942 -- List 46 records
Kishinev Moldova Marriage and Divorce Records -- List 28 records
Bessarabia Duma Voters List -- List 130 records
Kishinev Moldova Death Records -- List 45 records
Kishinev Moldova Birth Records -- List 73 records
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry - USA - New York -- List 4 records
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry - Canada - Quebec List 3 records
Tirgu Mures deportation list 1944 -- List 25 records
Tirgu Mures Ghetto List -- List 24 records
Transnistria: Lists of Jews Receiving and Sending Support -- List 3 records
The Jews of Oradea -- List 4 records
List of The Jews of Des (Dej) used in the Ghettoization of May 3-10, 1944 -- List 51 records
Jews From Iasi (Jassy) Who Survived the Transports -- List 2 records
The JewishGen Yizkor Book Necrology Database - Bessarabia -- List 9 records
The JewishGen Yizkor Book Necrology Database - Bucovina -- List 4 records
The JewishGen Yizkor Book Necrology Database - Crisana -- List 8 records
The JewishGen Yizkor Book Necrology Database - Maramures -- List 6 records
Jewish Families Deported from Dorohoi to Transnistria -- List 89 records
Bucharest Jewish Gazette List of Jewish Males That Must Report for Labor - October 1942 -- List 3 records
Podu Iloaiei Census 1898 -- List 1 record
Cluj Children Survivors -- List 2 records
Rautel Camp Listings -- List 3 records
Claims Conference, Romania -- List 541 records
Who Perished On The Struma -- List 4 records
1200 matches found for that search.

www.familysearch.org--1 listing
Monique PITARU - U.S. Social Security Death Index
Birth: 26 Jun 1935 State Where Number was Issued: New York Death: 10 Sep 2000

www.ellisisland.org had these 2 listings:
First Name: Bluma
Last Name: Pitaru
Ethnicity: Rumanian, Hebrew
Last Place of Residence: Radametz, Rumania
Date of Arrival: Jul 30, 1907
Age at Arrival: 28y Gender: F Marital Status: M
Ship of Travel: Furnessia
Port of Departure: Glasgow
Manifest Line Number: 0030


First Name: Zeida
Last Name: Pitaru
Ethnicity: Rumanian, Hebrew
Last Place of Residence: Bultzetze, Rumania
Date of Arrival: Jul 30, 1907
Age at Arrival: 33y Gender: M Marital Status: M
Ship of Travel: Furnessia
Port of Departure: Glasgow
Manifest Line Number: 0029


Hope this gives you something to work with.

[GenevievesMom]

We don't really know what records survived on a town-by-town basis. The Communists didn't usually "destroy" records as much as they moved them around and adulterated them for the greater good.

I would personally suggest you contact a Romanian Orthodox church (there are several near Detroit if you have trouble finding one). That gives you a pipeline of educated Romanians with direct ties into the whole country and access to sacramental records that predate Communism. They'll know where things were hidden and how to tap into them. You also get ready made translators who can write the letters for you.