Asociatia Tikvah was founded in 2010 by second/third generation family members of Roza Chereches (nee Mozes), a Holocaust survivor. The work of Tikvah was to honour her and the memory of all victims of the Holocaust.
The family lived in Oradea for many years and were active participants in the local Jewish Community. They wanted to use their knowledge and passion about the history of Jewish Oradea for the benefit of the wider community.
Asociatia Tikvah was a not for profit organisation.
Management
Asociatia Tikvah was governed by a Board of Management led by Mariana-Emilia Teszler, an economist with banking and management experience in Israel and Romania. She was also fluent in Romanian, Hungarian, Hebrew and English.
Asociatia Tikvah encouraged close participation by Honorary Members, which brought experience of historical research, fund-raising, writing and financial management. They were also fortunate to have a local information expert in Stern Peter.
Honorary Members
Asociatia Tikvah was honoured to have the agreement of the following individuals to be Honorary Members:
Terez Mozes
Terez Mozes, a Holocaust survivor, was a leading authority on the history of the Jewish community of Oradea, having published reference books on the subject, which have been translated into several languages.
Born in 1919 in Simleu-Silvaniei, she soon moved with the family to Oradea from where she was deported to Auschwitz in 1944.
As a survivor, she came back to Oradea and restarted her studies, which had been interrupted by the anti-Jewish Hungarian laws and the deportation. She graduated in History of Arts and Ethnography at the University of Cluj and later she obtained a doctorate at the Institute of History, in Bucharest.
She was one of the specialists who contributed significantly to the establishment of the Museum of Oradea and Bihor county (Muzeul Tarii Crisurilor), creating and developing the section of Ethnography, one of the prides of the Museum to this day.
As a curator and ethnographer she published many research studies and books.
After her retirement she wrote the two reference books :
-Varadi zsidok ( Jews in Oradea) , about the history of the Jewish community of Oradea
-Beverzett kotablak (published in English as "Staying human through the Holocaust") about the fate of the Jews of Oradea during the Holocaust in Hungary.
Terez’s husband was the late Carol Mozes, the eminent physician, educator, author, and intellectual. Dr. Mozes was awarded Honorary Citizenship of Oradea and a memorial plaque can be found on the wall of the house in which they lived in Oradea.
A tribute to him can be also found on the Oradea Jewish Community website.
In 2009 Mrs Terez Mozes was awarded a diploma for excellence by the local council of Oradea. She was living in Israel, still writing and corresponding with all those who studied the Jewish past of Oradea, until her sad passing in January 2023 at the age of 103.
Susan Geroe
Susan Geroe is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She was born and raised in Oradea and emigrated to the United States following her high school graduation.
She continued her studies in the United States and graduated with degrees in Translation and Interpretation (French and Italian), French Language and Literature, and a Masters in Curriculum Development and Education.
As a child, she witnessed almost daily, the ramifications that the loss of her older sister (two-years-old) during the Holocaust caused for her parents. Their silence about it, so as to protect her, caused only more confusion.
As an educator, she wanted to teach, in addition to specific vocabulary, grammar, composition, history and culture of a foreign country, the vital importance of critical thinking. It is her strong conviction that learning how to analyze our actions or that of others, teaches us not only about consequences, but also about making intelligent choices, or personal decisions. From teaching, she learned that students are always as enthusiastic about learning as their teachers are about teaching, and they love a good challenge.
After retiring from teaching in the 1990s she became fully involved with genealogy research and also started translating and writing. She translated the poetry volume of her aunt, Magdalena Klein, and published it as Pearls and Lace. Her work, which includes a novel, a volume of short stories, Treasures and Pleasures, and a volume of poetry, Poems, can all be found on Amazon.
Susan Geroe lives in Southern California.
Dr. Zvi Feine
Born in New York, USA, in 1942, Zvi Feine made Aliyah to Israel in 1960. He has five children and nine grandchildren in Israel. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and received his Doctorate from the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania.
He was Deputy-Director of JDC-Israel for 30 years. Following that, until his retirement in 2010, he served JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) as Director for Africa & Asia. In addition, for 18 years he held the position of Chairman of the Board of ESHEL - the Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel - JDC’s major partnership with the Government of Israel in carrying out its programs for the aged in Israel. He is also a former Director of the Hebrew University’s Schwartz Program – a post-graduate program for directors and senior personnel of community centers in Israel.
In previous years, Zvi Feine was the JDC Consultant on Social Services for many countries including Morocco, France, Romania and the trans-migrant programs in Vienna and Rome. He was also Chief Program Officer for AJJDC-New York, which included the role of Area Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. He gave almost 19 years of service as the JDC Country Director for Romania, providing professional support for the Jewish community’s youth programs, as well as its health and social services, with an emphasis on aiding elderly, indigent Jews. He also served for over five years, as Country Director for Poland.
Since his retirement in 2010, he has continued to serve JDC, voluntarily, as a Senior Consultant, and has provided high-level consultation to Melitz (Jewish and Zionist pluralistic education) and Shekel (rehabilitation of developmentally disabled young adults). He also lectures at the Schwartz Program for Non-profit Management, at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
John Andrews OBE
John Andrews has a long and eminent career in the United Kingdom as a business adviser. For the last twenty years he has been a full-time volunteer in the charity sector and founded two successful charitable ventures in the UK which now involve hundreds of volunteers.
In 2003 he was awarded the status of Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen for his charitable work.
Following a number of visits to Oradea he became interested in the history of the city and the part that Jews have played in that development. He is committed to promoting the city as a place of culture and beauty.
In 2012 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his career in business and his charitable work.