The building located on Vasile Alecsandri Street at number 6 was built in 1896 and initially belonged to Jewish owners (Joseph Leff, Leon Leff, Sofia Wechsman, N.E. Eisen). Later, in 1914, it was purchased by the “Romanian Life” Society, led by Garabet Ibrăileanu and Mihail Sadoveanu. Between 1922-1923 and 1930, the building, known as the Palace of Romanian Life, hosted the editorial meetings of the homonymous magazine.
For a long time, the only printing house in Iași operated here, until it built its own headquarters on Sfântul Lazar Street (Tipografia Dosoftei). After the printing house left the building, the Palace hosted various exhibitions between 1932-1934. In 1934, it was purchased by the Ministry of the Interior and transformed into the headquarters of the County Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie and the Police Headquarters, becoming a tragic site during the Iași Pogrom of June 1941, where thousands of Jews were massacred.
After the establishment of the communist regime, the building was administered by various state-owned companies (a printing company, a small industrial unit with lathes and vises, as well as other offices). After 1989, various commercial companies operated in this place.
Currently, the building has regained its cultural vocation from the period 1914-1934, being known under the new name of the House of Museums. Four new museums operate here: the Iași Pogrom Museum, the Museum of Jewish Theater in Romania, the Museum of Poetry and the Museum of Childhood under Communism. Also, the Museum of Romanian Literature was moved from the Pogor House to the Museums House and was reorganized.
The Museums House also houses the administrative headquarters of the National Museum of Romanian Literature Iași, exhibition halls, workshops, spaces for museum education, a multifunctional conference hall, as well as a heritage repository and the museum library.
Sursa: www.muzeulliteraturiiiasi.ro
