On August 1, 2025, with the signing of its Founding Collaboration Agreement, a quiet but meaningful initiative began its life: MaIZsiK – short for Magyar Irodalmi Zsidó Könyvtár, or in English, The Hungarian Jewish Literary Library of Oradea.
It sounds just as beautiful in Romanian: Biblioteca Evreiască de Literatură Maghiară din Oradea, abbreviated BELMO.
The MaIZsiK is a public, researchable literary collection, curated by the Holnap Cultural Association (HKE) and housed in the Léda House cultural space in Oradea.
The books and documents are not private property, but part of a growing, shared heritage collection. The ultimate goal is to make them accessible to local visitors, students, and researchers alike. (Information about visiting hours and access will be published soon.)
At present, the collection includes exactly ten – or depending on the criteria, twelve – core items. But we already have extensive lists of books and authors linked to Oradea and the larger Bihor region. Many of these works are currently only accessible in digital archives around the world, though we hope to acquire some in their original, physical form.
Why this library?
MaIZsiK focuses on literary works, documents, and stories that are in some way connected to the Jewish community of Oradea (or more broadly, Bihor County). This connection can take many forms:
– The author may have been Jewish (ethnically, religiously, partially, or by self-identification);
– The topic may address Jewish life, religion, persecution, memory, or communal experience;
– The document itself may be part of the local Jewish cultural heritage – a memoir, a family archive, a press clipping, a religious or educational text.
MaIZsiK does not seek exclusivity, but connections and traces. It asks: What did it mean to live, write, and remember in Hungarian (and sometimes other languages), as a Jewish person, in this region?
Importantly: This library is not only for Jewish visitors. Quite the contrary. We welcome anyone interested in this unique cultural and literary heritage – whether as a researcher, student, reader, history enthusiast, or simply a curious visitor.
Identity is layered. This collection hopes to reflect those nuances, not erase them.
And no – this is not a “Jewish-only” initiative. In fact, under current Romanian law, such exclusion would be illegal – and even if it weren’t, we wouldn’t dream of it. This library aims to build bridges, not walls – around a shared and diverse history.
And that shared story, in our language, is called Nagyvárad – or Oradea, Grosswardein, and, in Hebrew, אוראדיה.
Sall, László –
Professional Curator of the Program
