European History Quarterly 01/2009 (Lucian N. Leustean): “The prime merit of the book lies in its systematic investigation into the tumultuous evolution of the Antonescu regime and into his personal life. In addition, the combination of historical details with societal factors brings new facets to this analysis. Thus, examination of the Iron Guard leadership and of religious confessions in Romania helps to decipher the atmosphere of those times. In addition, Deletant’s writing style makes the book a gripping read, revealing the intimate connections between the personal life of the dictator and the political evolution of his regime. These points, coupled with the fact that most probably Antonescu remained the only leader who could publicly contradict the Führer, offer an incisive image of ‘Hitler’s Forgotten Ally’.”

Martin Pesata

My mother, Blanka End, periodically asks me if I can find any information on the fate of Martin Pesata (spelled phonetically) who was a close friend of her brother Leopold End. Leopold died in Bershad. My mother had thought Martin may have been on the Struma, but I did not find his name on the passenger list. I would also be interested to know, if anyone on the list knew my uncle – Leopold End.
[Stephen Winters]

Marriage Register Entry Help

From Jean Weightman
The document is a copy of the Marriage Register Entry for my grandparents Rubin Singer and Cippe Sonnenschein.

I am trying to find any additional information about Rubin’s parents Hersch Ohling and Bruche Singer.

Column one has a few words between Hersch Ohling and Czernowitz that I do not understand but may explain Bruche’s position.

Also, there are three items in the Anmerkung column. I would be grateful if these could be translated.

I believe the note in Romanian across two columns explains that in 1927 Rubin changed his surname legally to Oling. If this note contains additional information, again I would be grateful for a translation.

I hope additional information from this and other documents will eventually help to clarify where Hersch and Bruche were born and when Hersch died.

Best wishes to all
Jean

[Click on image to enlarge]

Commemorating Emanuel A. Ziffer and the Struma Disaster

House of Commons Debate on the Struma Disaster on March 11, 1942

Festivities for the Kaiser in 1908!

By way of Cornel Fleming

The Theodor Kramer Prize 2013 Awarded to Margit Bartfeld-Feller

The Theodor Kramer Prize of the Theodor Kramer Society is awarded to authors writing in a context of resistance or exile. The Holocaust memoirs of Margit Bartfeld-Feller, born on March 31, 1923 in Czernowitz, deported in 1941 to Siberia and emigrated to Israel in 1990 became known to a broad public. Margit Bartfeld-Feller gets in line with other famous prize winners, some of them from Czernowitz, such as

2001: Stella Rotenberg
2002: Alfredo Bauer und Fritz Kalmar
2003: Fred Wander
2004: Michael Guttenbrunner
2005: Georg Stefan Troller
2006: Milo Dor (postum) und Robert Sommer
2007: Jakov Lind
2008: Tuvia Rübner
2009: Ilana Shmueli und Josef Burg
2010: Elazar Benyoëtz
2011: Ruth Klüger
2012: Eva Kollisch
2013: Manfred Wieninger

Article on the prize award ceremony, published in the Decemer 2013 edition of Zwischenwelt

„Ich möchte leben“
Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, 1924 – 1942

Laudatio für Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger
und Margit Bartfeld-Feller
und Rezension
von Christel Wollmann-Fiedler, Berlin

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She [Sonja Jaslowitz] did not survive to have her history recorded…

During a lecture on “The Concept of Postmemory”, Marianne Hirsch raised the question to an intimate audience in Doheny Memorial Library in L. A. on April 25, 2013: “She [Sonja Jaslowitz] did not survive to have her history recorded, but we have her testimony in the form of her poems, but what are we to do with them?” – Click here for the full article at Daily Trojan.

In addition, Marianne Hirsch brought to us Judith Aistleitner’s and Marianne Windsperger’s (German) article on “Die Poesie der Sonja Jaslowitz” [Sonja Jaslowitz’s Poetry], published in the December 2013 edition of Zwischenwelt (Click on the logo for the full article!).

Marianne Hirsch: “Sadly, this article came out after the death of Harry Jarvis, I wish he could have seen it! At least he did get to see the four poems Florence published in French. I am still working on publishing her Romanian poems in Romania. I have also asked Marianne Windsperger to correct the facts here — Sonia and her parents were in Cariera de Piatra before they were relocated to Tiraspol.”

Help decypher this page

Shelley Mitchell writes:
[…] I wish to see if any of our members can read the handwriting on this document next to the word uncle on the bottom. I believe this is the ship’s manifest from my paterbak grandfather’s (Michalowsky) arrival in 1906. It says he’s going to his uncle at 12 Monroe St. in Manhattan but for the life of me I can’t read his uncle’s name. All I have for him is his mother.
Click on photo below to enlarge