Hadassa Kav-el

My name is Hadassa Kav-el,born Buller, on 1940 in Vashkautz,a shtetl on the Cheremush between Vijnitz and Czernowitz.  My mother Lucia(Lea) was the daughter of Ester and Srul Gottesman, who had a "kreitchme" in Wolchenetz. My father, Berko, was the youngest of the six children of Huge and Moishe Buller who had a business of tanning and leather in Vashkautz.

When the Russians invaded bukowina, on 1940, two of the Bullers were already in Palestina. The rest of the family except us , was sent to Sybiria as "capitalists and Zionists". My father and my pregnant mother were driven out of their home and were allowed to stay at Dr. Gruders (the jewish doctor of Vashkautz) where I was born.

On the autemn of 1941 most of the bukowinian jews were driven thru Mogilev, over the Dneister to transnistria and we were among them. Together with my mother`s parents we landed in Djurin, where we spent the war years. Somehow we survived and came back to Czernowitz in 1944. My father then went back to Vashkautz and soon was murdered by Banderovzes (ukrainan nazies) who threw his body into the frozen river. In 1945 we passed into Romania ,where my grandfather died. My grandmother got then a certificate to Palestina, my mother managed to smuggle me onto the ship . My gramma and me arrived in Haifa on may 1946. it took my mother another year and a half to join us.

I grew up and live in Israel. I studied and was a math teacher until my retirement. I married a wonderfull guy ,Gerard, originally from Algiria and we have four children and three grandchildren.

Three years ago I went to visit Bukowina accompanied by my husband and one of my daughters. We visited all the places and cemeteries concerning our family. We found some of the graves, said "kadish" and took many pictures.

In Wolchenetz we even found two neighbors who remembered my grandparents. And that was it!

Frankly I don't think I will ever go back there, as I can not find in myself even one good sentiment towards neither Ukraine nor Romania nor their habitants.

I am very glad to have found the czernowitzer group of jewish people and will happily meet the group in Israel.

Hadassa