Cora Schwartz

My name is Cora Schwartz and I will be joining the group in Czernowitz in May.  I would like to take this opportunity to tell everyone about myself  as I have been to Czernowitz many times with my late husband, Rudy Koenig  who was born in Czernowitz in 1930 and immigrated to American is 1959. I would therefore hope to be of help to anyone who needs it.

Please take a few minutes to read the following and let me know what you think:

I am Jewish and live in New York.  I am a Behavioral Psychologist  who is "semi" retired.  I own a retreat up in the Catskill Mountains which  is mainly for writers and artists in the city who need a place to work. I  mention the retreat because, as you will see from my website it is  dedicated to Olga Kobylianska, the famous  writer who lived in  Czernowitz.  I have been doing indepth research over the past few  years about Olga (more on this later.)

I am also a writer and photographer who has been published in various literary journals over the years.  I have recently completed a  novel based on true life; my life with Rudy who was a camp survivor in  Transnystra.  We lived together for 25 years and traveled to Eastern  Europe, mostly Czernovisti and Mogeliv almost every year.  At first, when  it was part of Russia, we brought money and things for his elderly family  to sell on the black market.  Rudy's life here in New York was  geared toward one goal, and one goal only:  GOING HOME!  No sooner had  one trip ended then he started planning for the next.  All this is  of course explained in my novel (for which I am starting to look for an  agent/publisher)

I have so much more to say but I will end by telling you that I knew  what Czernowitz meant to Rudy.  In many ways he was trying to recapture hischildhood there and I never saw him as happy as he was walking the  streets of Czernowitz. So now, as a writer and photographer I have become  very interested in people who have built new lives and lived their lives in  other countries, but still have the need to GO  HOME.... therefore I hope you can see why this reunion is so important  to me. I would like to take pictures (perhaps make a video) and  interview folks as they visit Czernowitz and remember.  I await your replies on all this.  

The prospects of being with the group are very exciting and important to  me. I will help in any way that I can.  Please take this into  consideration.

Sincerely
Cora