This remarkable photo, taken in Czernowitz on Ringplatz in 1941, shows two men with Jewish badges stitched onto their coats. On the left is Freddy Wachtel, the father of Daniel Wachtel from Israel. Daniel [daniel@dwo.org.il] would like to know who the other man in the photo is.
My questions about the picture – any insight / guesses are hugely appreciated!! :
Matching Robes / outfits? –
Do you recognize the matching outfits Mina and Perel are wearing?
Do they signify something? Can you guess what might have been the occasion?
What event might have cousins dressing exactly the same? … and worthy of taking a picture?
Year of picture? –
any guesses about the ages of Perel and/or Mina are welcome!
Also perhaps the hairdo’s or clothing reveal when picture was taken?
Studio name? –
do you recognize the name of the studio on the back of the picture?
Where might the studio have been located?
Does this reveal anything about the possible timing this picture was taken?
*note: the picture measures 3.5” x 2.75” and is on a very thick cardboard, in case this helps.
Does anyone know of the Feuersteins? … or maybe even Mina or Perel?
Any and all responses / guesses / comments are extremely welcome!!
Steven Gruber (shgruber@gmail.com)
I know this is a long shot but worth a try.
This list comes from World Jewish Congress London (London n° 1087) and displays – in more or less alphabetical order – about 3,500 repatriated persons from Southern Bukovina, no date, no list of nationalities, but most likely all of them Jewish. Is there anybody out there, who might tell us more on this list? Is it connected to the list of “Repatriates at the USSR/Romanian Border – March/April 1946” posted at:
http://radauti.blogspot.com/2009/12/repatriates-at-ussrromanian-border.html
Courtesy: Arolsen Archives
The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum unveiled a memorial wall in 2014 listing the names of 13,732 Jews who found a haven in the Chinese city during World War II.
Sinosphere, the Blog of The New York Times, wrote on the dedication ceremony: “In the 1930s and 40s, thousands of Jews escaping Nazi Germany arrived in Shanghai, a place they could enter without a visa. After the Évian Conference of 1938, when the major powers shut their doors to nearly all Jewish immigrants, the city remained one of the few available places of refuge. By the beginning of World War II, more European Jews had fled to Shanghai than any other city in the world. The memorial consists of a 111-foot-long copper wall etched with the names and featuring a sculpture of six allegorical figures representing faith, suffering, love, determination, light and hope, designed by the Chinese artist He Ning. Chen Jian, the museum’s director, said the names on the memorial were compiled with the help of former Jewish refugees in Shanghai, as well as Chinese and foreign scholars, according to China Daily. Many of the names were taken from a list found in the German book ‘Exil Shanghai: 1938-1947,’ co-authored by Sonja Mühlberger, 75, who was herself born in Shanghai to refugee parents in the 1930s and has been involved in the memorial project.
The list in her book was first compiled during the war by three teenage Jewish girls hired by Japanese military officers to undertake an informal census. Most of the Jewish population then was relegated by the Japanese to an overcrowded district called Hongkou, a ‘designated area for stateless refugees.’ In a museum press release, Ms. Mühlberger comments, ‘My parents’ experiences in Shanghai were certainly not the easiest, but if they had not been exiled there, I wouldn’t even be alive today, let alone have the chance to tell this history.'”
Among these refugees, immortalized on the “Wall of Names”, we discover Rosa Koppelmann from Czernowitz, the addressee of the “Cry of Desperation from Siberia via Shanghai to Czernowitz”. Seven further names, potentially all related to Rosa, were listed under the same address in Shanghai, i. e. Zang Yang Lu Rd., former Ward Rd.:
HERBERT KOPPELKOWSKI • RUTH KOPPELKOWSKI • JULIUSZ KOPPELMAN • RICHARD KOPPELMANN • MAX KOPPLOWITZ • SIMON KOPSKI • MAX KOPSTEIN
Assaf Patir from Jerusalem wrote: “I found some yearbook photos of my grandmother from Czernowitz. She was born Selma Lepkowicz (later Polisher) on 30/4/1922, and the photos are from 1928, 1929 and 1931, when she was in the 1st, 2nd and 4th grade respectively. I thought that if you could put them on ephes, maybe some members of the list could identify relatives.”
From Frederick Kron, M.D.: “I have attached a photograph of my great aunt, Ana (Kron) Biener, and my cousin, Sidi Biener, who lives in Israel. Both were from Czernowitz. I shared this picture with Sidi, who remembers that it was taken at a spa near Czernowitz. She remembers especially the doll, which her mother bought for her at the spa.”
Ana (Kron) Biener and Sidi Biener