Volunteers at the Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery in 2008

On behalf of Joanna Liss: “This is a photo of the original group that worked in the cemetery in 2008, organized by Mimi Taylor and Christian Hermann. I’m the one in the black and white Escher t-shirt. The reason I am posting it now is because a few days ago I met up with Clare Fester, the redheaded woman next to me, in Boston. We hadn’t seen each other since the project. Clare is Australian. She became interested in learning Yiddish after we had the wonderful opportunity to attend a part of the Yiddish conference in Czernowitz while we were there. It was on the 100th anniversary of the original Czernowitz Yiddish conference in 1908.

Since then, Clare has become proficient in Yiddish, created her own major in Yiddish studies, has studied in Belarus and Lithuania, and also at the Yiddish Book Center in Massachusetts. She works for a Jewish organization that organizes Yiddish culture trips. She was in Boston attending a Jewish culture conference (and then meeting her mom and sister in New York, where they plan to visit Ellis Island, see Fiddler on the Roof, etc.).

What makes this all the more remarkable is that Clare isn’t Jewish, nor were any of the other participants in the group, other than me. One of the other group members, Katharina from Germany, wound up doing her thesis on Czernowitz. Another, Sophie from France, has worked for the UN. I am proud to have been a part of this remarkable and diverse group, and so glad that the cemetery project continues on.”

Maximilian Hauster, born on 26.11.1909 in Czernowitz, Deported to and Perished in Auschwitz in 1943

This is my uncle Maximilian Hauster, born in Czernowitz on 26.11.1909, deported to and perished in Auschwitz in 1943. Does anybody out there recognize the (students) beret Maximilian wore on that photo, which he presented to the authorities at the time of immigration to Belgium in 1929?

More details on Maximilian’s fate are available at

http://hauster.blogspot.de/2013/10/auschwitz-seventy-kilometers-east-of.html

as well as for in total 104 Bukovinians, who were deported – as my uncle – via Mecheln in Belgium to Auschwitz:

http://czernowitz.blogspot.de/2013/12/mecheln-auschwitz-1942-1944-destruction.html

Only two women and two men out of 104 deportees survived after 8 May 1945: Sara Adler and Theresia Breitner from Czernowitz, Wilhelm Berler from Nepolokoutz and Juda Meier Fleischer from Siret. 96,2% of the people originated from Bukovina deported on in total 28 transports were wiped out.

From “Brotman” to “Brutmann” and from the 20th Century back to the 18th!

Under the headline “Discovering my 99% family” the Jewish Independent, Friday 04th, December 2015 edition, is publishing an outstanding article by Shula Klinger, author, illustrator and journalist living in North Vancouver. Shula is describing her success story researching her family history by becoming connected with Cyril Leonoff. Both Shula and Cyril are related to Betty Brotman, or more precisely Betti Brutmann, as per Shula’s grandmother’s birth certificate from Czernowitz in 1902. Shula writes: “… my older son asked me again. ‘Is he a relation? Is he ours?’ I told him, ‘Very possibly.’ And, again, he wanted to know the percentage probability. ‘Ninety-nine percent, then,’ Benjamin decided.” Since “Brotman” was initially “Brutmann”, as has been proven by the metrical records, why not going back to Bukovina as early as at the end of the 19th century, looking for the first Brutmanns, who setteled there? The register for “Jewish Taxpayers in Bukovina the the End of 18th Century” provides evidence:

Around 1798 there were just two Jewish families in Onut [Pereunegru/Paraul-Negru], 25 mi north of Czernowitz, namely the Liedermads and the Brutmanns. The farmer Juda Brutmann and his wife Demuth [“Devotion”, sic!], née Salomon, had two daughters, Esther and Susanna. While Esther, born April 25th, 1795, deceased at the age of 2½, Susanna, born October 1oth, 1798, survived.

Click to enlarge!

If, by any chance, Benjamin is going to ask me “Are we 100% for sure, for sure somehow related to the Brutmanns from Onut, Edgar? Or just 99%, do you think?” I’d say in reply: “Benjamin, I don’t know exactly (yet), but for sure not very much less than 99%.” Shula, Benjamin’s mother, keeps following her family roots and with respect to our group she writes: “I have also found a home at Czernowitz-L, an email group hosted by Cornell University for people whose families come from what is now the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi. Once known as ‘Jerusalem on the Prut,’ Czernowitz – as it is still called by those who recall its Habsburg past – was once home to 50,000 Jews. Less than a third of this number survived the war. Like many third-generation Czernowitzers, I write messages to Czernowitz-L in the hope that someone, somewhere, will remember hearing my family name and be able to point me in the direction of a lost relative. Very often, we hear nothing, but once in a blue moon, we strike gold.”

Alfred Kittner’s Handwritten CV in Romanian from the Year 1946

I, Alfred Kittner, was born on November 24, 1906 in Czernowitz. My father, Heinrich Kittner (dead in 1932) was an accountant, my mother, Cecilia Kittner, born Kapralik, died in 1910, when I was barely 3 years old. I attended primary school and high school in Vienna, where my father lived during the First World War, and in Czernowitz. After graduating high school in 1925 and after attending for a year the Sciences Department of the Czernowitz University, I performed my military service as an infantryman in Satu Mare (1928-1929) and then I attended German Studies and German literature courses at Breslau University, where I began my literary career. In 1932, back in Czernowitz, I worked for a year in the accounting department of the Marmorosch-Blank Bank, and in 1933 I started as an editor with the “Der Tag”; (The Day) newspaper in Czernowitz, at which paper I worked as secretary, literary editor, spell-checker, reporter, etc. until 1936, when this newspaper became Czernowitzer Tagblatt. I worked in my former capacity at this newspaper as well, until it was suspended once the Goga-Cuza Cabinet came to power in 1939. This year I also published a volume of poetry. As a publicist, I always fought for the cause of democracy, against obscurantism, and I revealed, among other things, in my articles, the terrorist means and persecution applied by the Czernowitz police against the Communist prisoners. Throughout this time, I have been an occasional collaborator of literary magazines from Viena, Prague, etc.

In 1940-1941, after Northern Bukovina was annexed to the Soviet Russia, I worked as a librarian with the Regional Czernowitz Library, and as a censor of the foreign books, and I collaborated with the Moscow International Literature Magazine. In 1941, I was deported, having been black-listed as a democratic publicist, by the secret police of Gen. Antonescu. With my familyat Bug, after three torturous years in several extermination camps {Cariera pe Bug (Bug Quarry), Cetvertinovca, Demidovca, Obadovca} being freed by the victorious advancement of the Red Army, I returned to Czernowitz, where I restarted my former job at the Library. In the meantime, my brother in law was mobilized as a military medic and a captain in the liberating Polish Army, sent [invitations] for the entire family. This is how I ended up in Poland, from where I returned to my country after my brother in law was released from the military.

In October 1945 I became a librarian with Arlus [Association for closer Ties with the Soviet Union – Asociația Română pentru strângerea Legăturilor cu Uniunea Sovietică] Library, in which capacity I work even to this day, and in January of this year, I began to work as a radio anchor.

[Translation by courtesy of Elena Iuga]

Six Czernowitz LiveCams

Herrengasse • вул. Кобилянської • vul. kobylyanskoi

Ringplatz • Центральна площа • pl. centralna

Elisabethplatz • Театральна площа • pl. teatralna

Ringplatz • Центральна площа • pl. centralna

Franz-Josefs-Park • Соборна площа • pl. soborna

Austria-Platz • Соборна площа • pl. soborna

05/23/1961: Eichmann Trial – Session 48 – Perla Mark’s Testimony

On 05/23/1961 Perla Mark, the wife of Dr. Abraham Jakob Mark, testified in Jerusalem at the Adolf Eichmann Trial. Session 48 begins with the testimony from Perla Mark who describes the burning of the main synagogue in Czernowitz and the murder of Jews including her husband, the town’s chief rabbi. The testimony from Theodor Löwenstein follows. Löwenstein describes the physical measures against the Jews in Romania including the pogroms in Jassy, Bessarabia, and Bukovina. Löwenstein gives an account of the deportations from Czernowitz to the Transnistria and Bogdanovka camps. He also gives an estimate of the number of Romanian Jews that were exterminated.

CLICK HERE FOR PERLA MARK’S TESTIMONY!

Bila Street Memorial: http://czernowitz.ehpes.com/czernowitz6/memorial/

Prof. Petro Rychlo Received the Georg Dehio Cultural Award

Christel Wollmann-Fiedler
Berlin, 24. September 2015
Georg Dehio-Kulturpreis 2015 an Professor Dr. Petro Rychlo aus Czernowitz

Das moderne helle Atrium der Deutschen Bank in einem Altbau Unter den Linden in Berlin-Mitte ist eine schöne Umgebung für das wichtige Fest, für die Georg Dehio-Kulturpreisveleihung des Jahres 2015. Eine künstlerische Collage des Czernowitzer Jugendstilbahnhofs in Großformat steht auf dem Podium und ist von weitem zu erkennen. Der Kulturpreis geht schließlich an einen aus Czernowitz kommenden, einen in vielen Ländern bekannten und hochgeschätzten Literaturprofessor der Jurij Fedkowitsch Universität, Herrn Dr. Petro Rychlo. Den Nebenpreis erhält das tschechische Filmprojekt „Alois Nebel“, des Regisseurs Tomas Lunak , des Grafikers Jaromir 99 und des Autors Jaroslav Rudis. Martin Becker, der Journalist und Schriftsteller, hält die gekonnte ideenreiche Laudatio.

Das Deutsche Kulturforum östliches Europa in Potsdam hat zu dem Abend eingeladen und vergibt den honorigen Preis. Continue reading →

An Accidental Discovery from the Year 1787/1799

The process of assigning permanent surnames to Jewish families (most of which are still used to this day) began in Austria. On 23 July 1787, five years after the Edict of Tolerance, the Austrian emperor Joseph II issued a decree called “Das Patent über die Judennamen” which compelled the Jews to adopt German surnames. In addition, imperial decrees dated November 12, 1787 and December 13, 1787, supplemented March 11, 1799, required Jews of the Habsburg Empire, included Bukovina, to choose personal given from lists of 121 male and 37 female names. These included German forms of biblical names, a small number of German Christian names, and a few Yiddish appellations.

The Soviet Times Are Over…

…at least in Czernowitz after the fall 2015 renaming of streets, as per Marc Goldberger’s listing:

Soviet period – Ukrainian period
Return back to historical names of streets and lanes:
1. Khalturina Stepana vulitsya – Kobrinskoy Natalii vulitsya;
2. Khalturina Stepana provulok – Kobrinskoy Natalii provulok;
3. Shterna Manfreda vulitsya – Bankova vulitsya;
4. Stefyuka Eugena vulitsya – Fizkulturna vulitsya:
5. Novorossiyskaya vulitsya – Aradska vulitsya;
6. Gavrilyuka Vladimira vulitsya – Shpitalna provulok:
7. Anri Barybusa vulitsya – Synagogue vulitsya:

Rename streets and lanes:
1. Babushkina Ivana vulitsya – Bessarabska vulitsya ;
2. Blagoeva Dmitra vulitsya – Mazepa Ivana vulitsya;
3. Blagoeva Dmitra provulok – Mazepa Ivana provulok;
4. Galitskogo Semena vulitsya – Galitskogo Danila vulitsya;
5. Galitskogo Semena 1 provulok – Galitskogo Danila 1 provulok;
6. Galitskogo Semena 2 provulok – Galitskogo Danila 2 provulok;
7. Galitskogo Semena 1 zavulok – Galitskogo Danila 1 zavulok;
8. Galitskogo Semena 2 zavulok – Galitskogo Danila 2 zavulok;
9. Galitskogo Semena 3 zavulok – Galitskogo Danila 3 zavulok;
10. Galitskogo Semena 4 zavulok – Galitskogo Danila 4 zavulok;
11. Jambula Dzhabayeva vulitsya – Chubinskogo Pavla vulitsya;
12. Dimitrova Georgiya vulitsya – Okunevskoy Sofii vulitsya;
13. Dundicha Aleko vulitsya – Lemkivska vulitsya;
14. Lazo Sergeiya vulitsya – Boykivska vulitsya ;
15. Libknekhta Karla vulitsya – Mikuli Karolya vulitsya;
16. Luxemburg Rozi vulitsya – Dudycha Ivana vulitsya;
17. Parkhomenka Aleksandra vulitsya – Bukshovanogo Osipa vulitsya;
18. Parkhomenka Aleksandra 1 provulok – Bukshovanoho Osipa 1 provulok;
19. Parkhomenka Aleksandra 2 provulok – Bukshovanoho Osipa 2 provulok;
20. Parkhomenka Aleksandra 3 provulok- Bukshovanoho Osipa 3 provulok;
21. Fabritsiusa Yana vulitsya – Siretska vulitsya ;
22. Fabritsiusa Yana provulok – Siretska provulok;
23. Gaidara Arkadiya vulitsya – Orlika Pilipa vulitsya;
24. Khotinskikh Komsomoltsiv vulitsya – Tomashchuka Kostyantina vulitsya;
25. Chervonoflotska vulitsya – Spaska vulitsya;
26. Artema vulitsya – Krivonosa Maksima vulitsya;
27. Voroshilovgradska vulitsya – Stusa Vasilya vulitsya;
28. Voroshilovgradskiy provulok – Stusa Vasilya provulok;
29. Ketskhoveli Lado vulitsya – Guramishvili Davida vulitsya;
30. Kirovogradska vulitsya – Vyshyvanogo Vasilya vulitsya;
31. Toreza Morisa vulitsya – Yaroslava Mudrogo vulitsya ;
32. Toreza Morisa 1 provulok – Yaroslava Mudrogo 1provulok;
33. Toreza Morisa 2 provulok – Yaroslava Mudrogo 2 provulok;
34. Toreza Morisa 3 provulok – Yaroslava Mudrogo 3 provulok;
35. Krasina Leonida vulitsya – Hetmana Doroshenka vulitsya;
36. Krasina Leonida provulok – Hetmana Doroshenka provulok;
37. Petrovskogo Grigoriya vulitsya – Mikhnovskogo Mikoly vulitsya;
38. Tsulukidze Aleksandra vulitsya – Lypkovskoy Lydii vulitsya;
39. Kovalchuka Mikoly vulitsya – Yasska vulitsya;
40. Kuznetsova Mikoly vulitsya – Kryzhanivskogo Bohdana vulitsya;
41. Kuznetsova Mikoly provulok – Kuznetsova Mikoly provulok;
42. Moskovska vulitsya – Ivana Severina vulitsya;
43. Alekseeva Petra vulitsya – Yanushevych Ganny vulitsya;
44. Polyanskogo Anatoliya vulitsya – Frantsoza Karla Emilya vulitsya;
45. Polyanskogo Anatoliya provulok – Frantsoza Karla Emilya provulok;
46. Kanyuka Sergiya vulitsya – Kanyuka Zinovy vulitsya;
47. Chervonoarmiiska vulitsya – Heroev Maydana vulitsya;
48. Lomonosov vulitsya – Petrovicha von Yakoba;
49. 26 Bakinskikh Komisariv – Mizunskoho Yuriya;

Jewish Population in Bukovina between 1774 – 1914

Visualization of the [Statistical Chart Covering the Population Growth of the Bukovinian Jews between 1774 – 1914] “Statistische Tabelle über den Bevölkerungszuwachs der Bukowinaer Juden von 1774 – 1914” as per Dr. Salomon Kassner’s book [The Jews in Bukovina] “Die Juden in der Bukowina”, R. Löwit, Vienna/Berlin, 1917, p. 43.

Ehpes Blog

Blog for the Czernowitz-L Discussion Group