Ms. Ionela Ana Dascultu

Professional Background

Ionela Ana Dascultu is currently a PhD. Candidate in history at the University of Haifa (Israel).  She received her MA in Jewish Culture and Civilization from the University of Bucharest and her BA in history from the “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu (Romania). As the Yetta and Jacob Gelman Fellow on the Holocaust in Romania, Ms. Dascultu will be conducting research for her project entitled “Jewish Children in Orphanages in Transnistria (1942-1944). History and Memory”.

A native Romanian speaker, Ms. Dascultu has speaking and reading abilities in English, Yiddish, Hebrew, and German.

Ms. Dascultu has attended several conferences including the 2014 Annual Conference in Memory of Dr. Reuben Hecht on Holocaust Denial and Its Repercussions where she presented a paper on Holocaust denial in post-communist Romania. She has also been a participant in the Holocaust Museum Research Project at the University of Haifa. Her numerous academic scholarships include a Research Fellowship from the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, and a Research Scholarship from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fellowship Research

While in residence at the  Mandel Center, Ms. Dascultu researched the children that were sheltered in orphanages in Transnistria from 1942 to 1944. She used the Museum`s various collections, including records from the Romanian Information Service, files from the Centrala Evreilor collection and the case files of Romanian Orphans in the American Jewish Joint Distribution collection. Ms. Dascultu`s research dealt with issues such as the number of Jewish orphanages and the conditions in which they were established in Transnistria, as well as the attitudes of the Romanian officials and the local Jewish Committees towards the orphanages. She also examined life in the orphanages from the perspectives of both children and adults. Furthermore, Ms. Dascultu explored the memory of children survivors of Transnistria who were sheltered in these orphanages.

Ms. Dascultu was in residence at the Mandel Center until May 31, 2017.