It is sad, children, in this wide giant world.It is bitter! Let’s at least enjoy a fable!
Moshe Altmann Memorial Plate on 23, Kobylanska Street (Herrengasse)
History Museum of the Romanian Jews, Bucharest
Links: Eliezer Steinbarg, Arthur Kolnik, Barbu Lazareanu, Jacob Sternberg, Moshe Altmann, Dr. Shlomo Bickel, Leib Malach
Photos: Courtesy of Edgar Hauster, Irene Fishler, Lydia Schmerler, Sergij Osatschuk, Iosif Vaisman
Irma and her son Andre undertake an intimate journey across Europe, searching memories of events occurred long ago, as well as History, Irma remaining, to this day, the last witness.
Links: Yonathan Levy, ÉCU Film Festival
A film by Boris Sandler and Chana Pollack
(http://yiddish.forward.com/node/2819)
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvel_Zbarjer
Pictures: Courtesy of Irene Fishler
This richly illustrated book documents the search for the former Jewish presence in Satu Mare in the Northwest of today’s Romania. In 1944, Satu Mare’s Jewry was almost completely annihilated in the Holocaust. What is left are vanishing traces, mostly ruined Jewish cemeteries and shabby synagogues. These forgotten sites bear witness to the formerly proud Jewish presence in the region. On his journeys Simon Geissbühler is not only interested in the Jewish heritage and the Jewish microcosm of Satu Mare. He also discusses the history of the Romanian Jews in the 20th century, the Holocaust in Romania, the still almost inexistent culture of memory and remembrance in Romania, a country which was home to one of the most important Jewish communities in pre-World War II Europe. The author builds new inroads into what once was a thriving Jewish community and makes a world long gone rise again.
West was a good direction – it led to Prag, Vienna, Berlin andcivilization. Therefore the street leading in this direction was called Lembergerstrasse. And it led , naturally, to the North. This was the main street of Czernowitz until the railway.
After that it became Bahnhofstrasse for the Central Station and now it is Gagarina leading into outer space. A T34 tank stands there asa reminder. East was a bad direction – it led to Ukraina and Russia and Asia. All the things bad came from there: The Russians, the Slavs the Huns andTurks. Also the harsh winters. The street in this direction was the Russischegasse which went South-East, following the Prut river leading into Valachia.
To come to Russia you had to cross the Prut at some point fording the river . Later there were bridges at Novoselitza , Lipcani and more. Crossing these you would come to Russia safely if they didn’t mug you on your way.
The Rumanians changed it Strada Romana – Roman or Rumanian street. On the West were the mountains and no major route led through this Hutzul country. The Carpathians climbing to 1000 m. had no easy passes , rivers came down the mountain and at night the wolves and vampirs.
To the South there were two main routes: the Siebenburgerstrasse and theKutschumarerstasse. At the fork stood the Kriegersdenkmal, a memorial for the braveAustrian warriors. Kutschumarerstrasse took the name from an insignificant shtetl not fardown the road. Later it joined the Siebenburgerstrasse, a german name of Transylvania.
Nothing left for Rumania where these roads ultimately led. No Moldova road, no Suceava road, no Siret road. To reach the destination contained in its name, you had to turn West at Suceava crossing the Carpathians at the Borgo pass – to Bistritz. Then you reached Siebenburgen, land of the seven castles (or towns) . Well, this was Habsburg land and therefore the name. The Rumanians changed Kutschumarerstrasse to Bulevardul Regele Carol 2 but Siebenburgerstrasse stayed Bul. Transylvania which is Siebenburgen.
Hardy
This is the documentary, released in 2009 by JCC Bucuresti, TVR and the “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania. The 140-min. movie, in Romanian/Russian language with English subtitles, covering the roots of the Romanian antisemitism, the death trains to Calarasi and Pudu Iloaiei, the Holocaust in Transnistria and the 1941 Iasi massacre, is impressive but harrowing at the same time.
I’ve edited a 5’23” clip, related to the fate of the Jewish population of Czernowitz and the role of Traian Popovici, in order to enable you to form an opinion. Click on the symbol for the movie clip!
For all of you, who would like to get a free copy of this documentary, please leave a comment and/or send me a mail, including your postal address, to my following mail address:
bconcept@hotmail.com
Edgar Hauster (http://hauster.blogspot.com/)
(Bojan, 10.10.09) Bojan is a village in the close vicinity of Czernowitz. Tracing the Rudel family, part of my own family, I’ve received from Ludwig Rudel from the USA the following report:
The oral history of the Rudels goes back to 1825, with the birth of Eliezer. He was born in Galicia (in the Russian part of Poland).
In 1833 there was an upheaval in that region. Two things occurred. One was the Polish rebellion against Russia (began in 1830-1831) and led to a brutal repression by the Russians in 1833. The second was the cholera epidemic of the same time.
It was said that the schtetl in which Eliezer lived had a Cabalist Rabbi and he decided that God was angry with their village and that, to appease God, they should send four children of the village out of the village; one child North, one to the South, one to the East and one to the West. (A more charitable interpretation might be that the Rabbi wanted to get the children away from there because everyone was dying.)
Eliezer was one of the children sent away. A wagon driver passed through the Schtetl and Eliezer was given to him to take with him to his destination and care for him. Eliezer’s family name was not disclosed to the wagon driver. The wagon driver’s name was Rudel. (You might recall that last names were assigned to Jews in Austria in 1786 in preparation for the census.) He raised Eliezer, married him off to one of his daughters (Rebecca Rachel) and they settled in Bojan.
No doubt about that, based on this fascinating story, I visited to Bojan, looking for traces of Jewish death.
(GPS N 048° 16′ 17,6″ E 026° 08′ 03,0″)
I’m not sure but I’m afraid that might be the last opportunity to see the Cemetery, as there are suspect clearing activities in progress there.
In Bojan I was talking to an eyewitness, who observed in 1941 the execution of Jews on the village square.
Mr. Florea, aged eight at that time, reports on the cruel details, he has seen. Asked by me, who has been responsable for the executions, he initially evaded the issue, mentioning the execution has been conducted by soldiers.
I was insisting and I’ve asked wether there were German or Romanian soldiers. Somehow embarressed he confirmed: “They were Romanians, unfortunately Romanians.“
Edgar Hauster http://hauster.blogspot.com/P.S.: Would somebody, who reads Hebrew be so kind to translate the cemetery plate?
Memorial
From Hardy