Former MP Ithzak Artzi welcomes the participants at the Congress.
Anchorman of the evening is Mr. Izu Moraru-Meridor.

The Congress was initiated by three dynamic townsmen of Focsani : Zvi Ben-Dov (Puiu Zilberman), Tuvia Lavi (Tobi Leibovici) and Menachem Nadir (Mendel Nadler), who invited the former Focsani townsmen to a “Merry Congress”.
They assumed that only a few shall come, but on  the Saturday, February 12, the “Kova Tembel” restaurant, situated  in the Old Tel-Aviv port was too small for the about a hundred participants. The former Focsani townsmen came from all over the country.
Many of them had not seen each other for 40 – 50 years. Their feelings were expressed in many different ways.
The author of this note was a child in 1945 when his family welcomed Ira Redler, one of the 200 Transnistria children, to their home and their hearts. He found a new home in the town of Focsani. I’ve met Ira again, after 55 years, still a strong man, but with a lot of white hair. He was a football coach and was still very actively engaged in coaching.
Marcel Abramovici and Leonica have been the best childhood friends. They have been living at the same street. Now I met them again, cheerful pensioners. Coca Weisman, a small girl whom I adored when we were both children, is now of the same age with my grandmother. We danced together a sentimental tango.
The brother of Coca Weisman Loncu calls himself Levanon in Israel and is a famous musician.
Many of our Focsani townsmen have changed their names to Hebrew names, while serving in the army and as civil servants. Silviu Leibner, a research scientist of the history of the Zionist movements in Romania, has preserved his last name which was very well-known in Focsani. The two children of the Focsani rabbi Derbandinker were also present. The "Barbu Lautaru" orchestra played, moving speeches were held, glasses were clinked. The Focsani townsmen know how to organize a “merry Congres”.

Tesu Solomovici

On the Thursday, February 14th 2002, a symposium dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the Zionist Congress in Focsani, Romania,  was held in Rishon-LeZion, attended by a public of about 300, and not only those hailing from Focsani, but also from all over the country – from Natania, Hedera, Rehovot, Ashdod, Tel-Aviv, the cities of the Gush-Dan-district – most of them of course former Focsani residents.
The initiator was the mayor Meir Nitzan, a Romanian Jew, in cooperation with Zvi Ben Dov, born in Focsani, and with Itzchak Brener, director of the Rishon-LeZion Museum. In his opening words, mayor Meir Nitzan spoke of the importance of the Focsani Conference and the contribution of the new Romanian immigrants. His speech showed his exceptional historical knowledge of the subject matter and was followed by a very-well documented conference held by Professor Rafael Vago of the Tel-Aviv University. He emphasized the participation of the youth groups, which were formed a few years earlier, in the organization of the Focsani Conference (1881).
In fact, it was the first Zionist Congress, followed after 16 years by the First Zionist Congress in Basel, 1897. The conclusions of the Conference deserve special emphasis: the solution of the Jewish problem resides in the Alyia, and the practical solution are the “Romanian settlements” in Eretz Israel. Then Zwi Ben Dov presented a series of documentary slides of those days: the photography of Pineles, the letter of Rintzler, the secretary of the Conference, addressed to Herzl in Hebrew, the rubber stamp of the Conference etc. Zwi Ben Dov also mentioned that the Zionist Conference was the first of this kind in the life of our people, and has played a significant role in the establishment of the State of the Jews in Eretz Israel.
The epilogue of the festive evening was the exposition of the musicologist Dr. Nathan Sahar on the “Songs of Tzion in the perspective of time”, with slides and musical accompaniment at the piano, entailing the participation of the public. And let’s not forget the lovely program of the SHAFIM Chorus, the film on the beginnings of the town of Rishon-Le-Tzion, and so we have the full picture of the festive evening held at Yad LeBanim – Rishon LeTzion, led by the journalist Itzhak Meridor, under the slogan:

“This evening we all are from Focsani”.