[Cz-L] The Czernowitzer Toynbee-Halle - My Personal Reminiscences

During our 2006 Reunion in Cz. I led a couple of walking tours and served as
some kind of tour guide of two small groups of fellow participants. One of
those tours started at Hauptstrasse corner Schulgasse and included also the
Toynbee-Halle. I decided to go there, mainly because of my personal interest
(after 63 years ! ) but also because several Czernowitzers had posted
e-mails on our website asking for some detailed information about it. I felt
it was a golden opportunity to find out what happened there since 1943, the
last time I was there.



My first personal connection dates back to 1933-1936, when I attended the
adjacent Hebrew language elementary school "Safah Ivriah". The school was
considered as part of the Toynbee-Halle complex. This Jewish establishment
served as a cultural and educational community center. It also included two
small training colleges, one for Hebrew teachers (elementary and high
school) and one for Hebrew kindergarten teachers. This community center, of
Zionist orientation, was particularly fostered and supported by the Chief
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Mark.



During WWII, in 1942-1943, during what we call the "Ghetto Period", the
leaders of the small Cz. Jewish community managed to obtain a special
permission from the authorities to use the Toynbee-Halle building for
establishing an improvised high school. It was intended to provide secondary
school education for teenagers from Jewish families that in 1941 got an
"Autorizatie" and were left to stay in Cz. It was very important to have
such school at that time because Jewish families could not afford it to pay
for private tuition. How those leaders managed to get such permission is a
mystery for me. In hindsight, while the Ghetto system was still in place,
the idea to organize such a school was something implausible. Nevertheless,
we got excellent and very competent Jewish teachers.



Some 5-6 years ago I was briefed by my friends and my brother who went to
Cz. about the miserable physical conditions of most public and private
buildings. I was expecting to see the same appearance at the Toynbee-Halle.
It was therefore quite surprising when, together with my group (my son Dudu
came with me), we approached the Toynbee-Halle building, coming from the
Türken Gasse, and saw a very clean and quite impressing public building,
apparently recently renovated; It was, in my view, nicer than in the 30s
and obviously nicer than in 1942-1943. It was Saturday around noon when we
arrived. At the entrance there were two young men, apparently security
guards, very well dressed and friendly. After asking them whether we are
allowed to visit they very politely invited us to enter. It turned out that
the building was purchased by the local community of the 7th Day Adventists
Church (Subotniki) and served not just as a community center but also as a
place of worship. Upon entering, we were met by one of the community
activists who was very friendly and volunteered to guide us around. He also
spoke some Romanian ("Moldoveneste"). I immediately recognized the interior
of the building and explained to him the reason of our visit. I asked him
whether we could see the auditorium and the former classrooms, library,
teachers' room, etc. He asked us to wait until the Sabbath religious
service in the auditorium is over, but opened slowly one of doors just to
enable us a quick glance. It was filled to capacity; we saw there almost
one thousand community members praying, families, young and old, men and
women, including small children. When the service was over we were met by
an elderly man, apparently the president of the community, who invited us to
see what they have done there, explained us the history of the building
since the end of WWII and, after independence in 1989, how they managed to
convince the authorities to sell it to the community. He briefly described
the religious, cultural and educational activities of their community and
meanwhile prepared for us, as a gift, a huge quantity of books, in Ukrainian
obviously, about their church and ideology. It was really interesting, both
my son and Mimi Taylor were very excited.



In addition to visiting the various classrooms, library, etc., I told our
guide that as far as I remember, outside the main building there was a very
narrow passageway leading to a small backyard and a rather humble building,
which served as an elementary school. It was my "Safah Ivriah" Hebrew
school, where I spent four years of my childhood. He agreed to take us there
and show us the place. He apologized that it was not clean enough and
attractive because it was under renovation, almost at the stage of finishing
and furnishing; it will serve as a Sunday School for the community's
children. I became very excited, last time I was there was mid-1936. When
we eventually got there, and my son asked me whether I was sure that this
was really the place, I could not restrain myself and started to cry.



After this very exciting visit, we came back to the main building and the
president of the community invited us to come upstairs opening for us a
small reception room. He apparently knew by now that we were Jews, some of
us Israelis. At the end of a brief conversation, again telling us about
their community, he did not let us go until we attend a brief prayer that he
would like to organize for us, as "brothers" of their faith, for our safety
and well being. All of a sudden, 8-10 men appeared and the president
officiated a sincere and exciting prayer, wishing the visiting children of
God to safely get back to their homes and enjoy peace and good health
wherever they are. The prayer was in Russian and I understood almost every
word.



They escorted us to the exit; it was an exciting farewell and indeed an
unforgettable experience.



When we left, Mimi briefly told us a story about her experience during the
war when a "Subotniki" peasant woman used to bring butter and cheese to the
house where their family was living, even though it was against the law and
dangerous for her to do so. This "Subotniki" woman, once broke down and
cried and said to her mother: What do they want of you poor Jews ?
Received on 2007-06-25 15:04:07