Thank you so much for your response and your opening up new information and= connecting the dots for me. It's really wonderful, how in such a shor= t time, I already feel a sense of belonging from the members of this group.&= nbsp; at the same time I am experiencing mixed emotions I've never felt, mel= ancholy, pain, joy, and curiosity, to say the least. To get to the question regarding41-45 and how we were able to manage being&= nbsp; deported. This again, as I recall takes me back to a story my Mo= m once told me about those terrible days. She told me that the authori= ties came to my Dad, and made him an offer he felt he could not refuse. = ; It was basically, utilize his electrical and engineering skills to do thei= r bidding, or the entire family, including himself, my Mom, my half brother = and myself would be deported immediately and separated. I am uncertain= of the time line of our stay there, our flight over the border and arrival = in Bucharest. But this I know, my Mom told me this story as a child, w= ith tears in her eyes, no doubt lamenting the loss of her many friends and f= amily members. does this story sound correct? As for Lichtenstein, no, I am actually based in NY, and have never been to = Lichtenstein. Thank you again for making some of the pieces of my life= a bit clearer. It's like being re-born.
Dear Phil,
I read your letter in Czernowitz-L, was=
fascinated by your remarkable story,
and hasten to add a few comments. I=
must compliment you for tying together
the facts you do remember in a ti=
meline that appears very plausible with my
own recollections. Of course, =
I am your senior by about fifteen years.
First the chronology: Czerno=
witz Ghetto (September 1941); a border crossing
when you were about three=
(the USSR-Romanian border around 1944/45); Barlad
(a town in Romania, 19=
45), Bucharest - Vienna -Bremerhaven - New York
(1946-51) - Liechte=
nstein!!! (as I deduced from your e-mail address). There
is one important=
gap: 1941 - 44; was your family able to stay in Czernowitz,
thus escapin=
g deportation to Transnistria? As you might have gathered from
the corres=
pondence involving the Traian Popovici plaque, this was a decisive
factor=
for those who managed to survive the war.
As to your family names, K=
atz was a very common name, I knew some but don't
remember anyone who mig=
ht have been your Dad. I was, however, well
acquainted with Lukawetz, a l=
arge village (actually two villages,
Ober-Lukawetz and Unter-Lukawetz) on=
the Sereth river. I had a number of
relatives there and used to spend so=
me of my vacations with them on a large
estate that my uncle (Jakob=
Landwehr) administered for the Count Wasilko.
The name Wolloch sounds fa=
miliar. Because of your Dad's sport activities,
you might be able to find=
more details in publications about that period,
especially if you read G=
erman.
I certainly want to welcome you, probably our first Landsmann =
in
Liechtenstein, to the "Damals in Czernowitz" exchange and we would be<=
BR>delighted to hear more about the "Flying Czernowitzer" (without a
para=
chute).
Regards,
Alfred (Fred) Schneider
Received on 2008-12-22 23:39:33
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