itted in
varying volume by the Romanian authorities.

The German population is divided into two groups--the Saxons and the
Swabians. Although more or less equal in size, the groups differ in
origin and, partly, in culture. The origin of the group usually
identified as Saxons is not quite clear, but it was settled by the
Hungarian rulers in the Transylvanian borderlands in the twelfth century
for the same purpose as the Szeklers. The Saxons live mainly in the
cities, such as Sibiu, Brasov, and Sighisoara, which they themselves
founded and which have distinctly German characteristics. Some live in
rural areas surrounding these cities.

Forming the majority population in a small area, the Saxons have lived
in relative isolation until modern times. Their dialect and culture have
retained medieval characteristics long abandoned by Germans elsewhere.
All Saxons have been Lutheran since that denomination was introduced
into Transylvania in the sixteenth century.

The Swabians are Roman Catholics and live in the Banat region. As with
the Saxons, their designation as Swabians does not truly reflect their
origin. They were settled in the Banat during the eighteenth century to
work the land recently vacated by the Turks. Before their arrival there,
the language and culture of the Swabians had undergone various
modifications to which the Saxons had not been exposed. Most Swabians
are peasants farming the rich plain around Timisoara.

Like the Hungarians, the German minority in Romania has resisted
assimilation and maintains its cultural identity through German-language
schools, books and newspapers, radio and television programs, and
theatrical performances and through the perpetuation of their
characteristic dress, dances, and folk art.

Jews

In those censuses in which they are identified (but not including that
of 1966), Jews are listed as an ethnic group or nationality rather than
as members of a religious denomination. In the 1956 census they
represented the third largest minority in the country with a membership
of 146,000. In early 1972 Western observers roughly estimated the number
of Jews still residing in Romania at slightly under 100,000.

The influx of Jews into Romania took place during the first half of the
nineteenth century when large numbers left the unsettled conditions of
Poland and Russia to seek new opportunities in prospering Moldavia and,
later, Walachia. A small number of Jews from various parts of