[Cz-L} The springs I used to know....

This year my own personal spring is one of tragedy and trying not to
delve too much, I force myself to bring back to mind the careless
springs of my childhood and early youth.
Czernowitz in spring was pure magic. Perhaps other European cities
were not less magical at this time of the year, but I did not know
any other cities. Czernowitz was my home for 16 years, and isn't it
strange that the early years of our lives seem the longest when we
look back?

The weeks before Easter coincided with spring cleaning all over the
world, but cleaning a Jewish home just before Pessach in Czernowitz,
was a major undertaking. Close to the Seder Night, my strictly
religious grandfather walked through the house with a candle,
searching for the "chametz" which had to be removed. I was fascinated
by this slow and meticulous tour through the rooms and the
surroundings.

Spring brought sunshine and exhilaration. As already mentioned, cars
were very scarce those years before the war, but there were two lines
for electric trams, one going up, the other down in a straight line
from the "Volksgarten" to the railway station. Sometime in May we
finally dared to pack bathing suits and boarded the tram going down
until we reached our beloved river Pruth. The water was often much
too cold still, moreover only few of us knew how to swim then, but we
enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine after the cold winter.

Bucovina winters were really very cold. Before the war, we had no
problem filling our cellars with wood in anticipation of the cold
weather. Peasants riding in horse-drawn carriages brought wood to our
homes, the price of which was reasonable. Our apartments were
equipped with tiled stoves, the color of the tiles matching the one
of the walls.
Various members of our family always tried to grab a place with one's
back to such a stove, the warmth was so comforting.

And then, I remember the days when heating was no longer necessary,
my mother opened all windows wide to the air which was permeated with
the intoxicating scent of lilac...I can hardly believe it, but I
haven't seen or smelled lilac since the age of sixteen!
Lucca
Received on 2004-03-24 09:35:39