[Cz-L] Letter from Czernowitz

Turkish Fountain.
   Where the Morario Street meets the Turkish Street in the heart
of the Judenstadt , the City of Czernowitz is building a new square :
   The Turkish Fountain Square .
       The center of the square is going to be a big circular fountain
  not far from the old Turkenbrunnen .
Let us hope that the building will agree with its surroundings and
  not be another concrete , tasteless abomination , so abundant
  in the new constructions of the city.
     This project is part of the face-lifting of the city for the forthcomin=
g
   600 years jubelee celebrations.
    All this to commemorate the Turkish occupation of Czernowitz
during the Ottoman rule in Europe.
    A 200 years period of ruthless rule was found worthy for
  commemoration,perhaps due to the exotic fragrance of the subject name.
     Coming to think of it , what will the visitor find
to remind him of Jewish Czernowitz ?
     Close to nothing : Not a street name , not a commerative shield
  of the Judenstadt ,of the Ghetto of the people who were the majority
of the population and in command of all City operations .
      There are some plaques but somehow I miss
the jewish connection in the text:
The plaques say that:
    Joseph Schmidt was a Bukovinean singer.
     Selma Meerbaum was a German-writing poetess.
      So was Rosa Auslaender .
        Paul Celan was a famous German- language poet.
         Sidi Thal was an Emmerit Soviet Artist
   Hey, hey , wait a minute - all these were Jews who lived and died
  as Jews - many of them for being Jewish Š.
      Locals will hush you down telling you that this happened long
ago and nobody remembers and it is not so important to point out
   the ethnic background of every luminary..
      Not so important ? To me it is very important .
     Now they build a Turkish fountain.
      Next they build a statue to Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.
        The thieves are already standing by.


       Hardy
     
    
Received on 2007-07-30 14:50:13