RE: [Cz-L] My Czernowitz Roots

Dear e-friends,
I too was moved by Phil's account.
= My father Solo was born in Cz in 1908 but died when I was 1 year old in 1960=
(he was much older than my mother and they did not stay long together).<= BR>He had 2 brothers Isidore who died in Paris years ago (I did not met him = and
his daughter, my cousin, does not know much and even less interest) a= nd
David who was single and died in Paris also in 1993
I took the oppo= rtunity to go to Cz for the first time in August 07 and went
to the cemet= ery where I found the grave of my grand-father Markus 1870-1922
(died als= o at 52....).
Does any of this name tell you anything ?
I thank for yo= ur answer and want to tell all other Czers how important your
memories ar= e for me and how avid I am to share them
Happy Hanoukah
CordialementAlain Katz
33 (0) 6 07 30 62 37

-----Message d'origine-----
D= e : bounce-3414065-8420454@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-3414065-84= 20454@list.cornell.edu] De la part de ALFRED
SCHNEIDER
Envoyé&nb= sp;: dimanche 21 décembre 2008 22:40
À : phil katz
Cc : = Czernowitz-L
Objet : Re: [Cz-L] My Czernowitz Roots


Dear = Phil,

I read your letter in Czernowitz-L, was fascinated by your rema= rkable story,
and hasten to add a few comments. I must compliment you for= tying together
the facts you do remember in a timeline that appears very= plausible with my
own recollections. Of course, I am your senior by abou= t fifteen years.

First the chronology: Czernowitz Ghetto (September 1= 941); a border crossing
when you were about three (the USSR-Romanian bord= er around 1944/45); Barlad
(a town in Romania, 1945), Bucharest - Vienna = -Bremerhaven - New York
(1946-51)  - Liechtenstein!!! (as I deduced = from your e-mail address). There
is one important gap: 1941 - 44; was you= r family able to stay in Czernowitz,
thus escaping deportation to Transni= stria? As you might have gathered from
the correspondence involving the T= raian Popovici plaque, this was a decisive
factor for those who managed t= o survive the war.

As to your family names, Katz was a very common na= me, I knew some but don't
remember anyone who might have been your Dad. I= was, however, well
acquainted with Lukawetz, a large village (actually t= wo villages,
Ober-Lukawetz and Unter-Lukawetz) on the Sereth river. I had= a number of
relatives there and used to spend some of my vacations with = them on a large
estate that  my uncle (Jakob Landwehr) administered = for the Count Wasilko.
The name Wolloch sounds familiar. Because of your = Dad's sport activities,
you might be able to find more details in publica= tions about that period,
especially if you read German.

I certainl= y want to welcome you, probably our first Landsmann in
Liechtenstein, to = the "Damals in Czernowitz" exchange and we would be
delighted to hear mor= e about the "Flying Czernowitzer" (without a
parachute).

Regards,<= BR>
Alfred (Fred) Schneider

----- Original Message -----
From: = "phil katz" <pkatz@awi.li>
To: "czernowitz-L" <czernowitz-l@corn= ell.edu>
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 11:40 AM
Subject: [Cz-L] M= y Czernowitz Roots


> Hello Ms. Taylor and fellow Czernowitzers= ,
>
> My name is Phil Katz, and I have been rather timid about w= riting to
> you all, since I am but a newcomer to the group. I am fasc= inated by
> the stories, photos, and articles sent between you all in = that it
> brings my history, long forgotten, to the forefront.
>=
> You see, I was born in Czernowitz, on September 27, 1941 in the
= > Ghetto; I can not remember much, as my parents did not wish to discuss<= BR>> any of their history with me, however this little I do know:
>=
> My Father's name was Moritz (Moishe) Katz. He was a highly skilled<= BR>> electrician who owned his own store somewhere in Czernowitz, with a<= BR>> large sign which I saw in a photograph.  It read KATZ.  I = believe he
> was born and raised in Czernowitz, but I am not certain.<= BR>>
> My Mother's name was Baby (That is not a typo) Wolloch. She = was from a
> place called Lukavetz, I believe. A town in Bukovina. Som= ehow
> (unknown) they married sometime in the late thirties.  For= my Dad, it
> was his second marriage from which came a son, Salo Katz= , for my Mom,
> it was her first.
>
> In addition to his e= lectrical business, my Dad was an avid soccer
> player, as well as a m= otorcycle racer.  I do not know what proficiency
> he attained in= both, however, I do have photos of him wearing apparel
> with numbers= both with a soccer ball and a motorcycle.
>
> The story gets so= mewhat fuzzy from here on. I recall a story my Mom
> told me about hav= ing received some false documents so that we could
> get out of Czerno= witz, and that all they could get were papers for an
> adult couple an= d a daughter, not a son.
>
> As the story goes, my Mom had me gr= ow my blonde hair, shoulder length,
> acquired clothes for a two or th= ree year old girl, and dressed me in
> those, in an attempt to deceive= the guards. I was at an age where I
> had started to speak and walk b= y then.  I am told that while the
> guards were inspecting my par= ent's papers, I wandered away, as a
> curious child will do and starte= d to walk towards a guard who was
> calling to me. My Mom and Dad, rea= lized I was missing, and in horror
> also realized that I was having a= conversation with the guard all they
> could envision was being caugh= t in this masquerade, and going to
> prison. In the meantime I was hav= ing a grand old time with guard who
> had given me some chocolate and = engaged me in conversation.
>
> "What is your name little girl" = he asked with a smile on his face.
> Just then a heavy truck was passi= ng with a noisy engine. "Philip", I
> responded. although my name was = that of a little girl, I did not know
> enough to answer correctly, bu= t in innocence, as a child would do.
> Although the truck engine drown= ed out my response, to my Mom and Dead,
> they said it were if the ent= ire world had fallen still to the
> exclusion of my voice. "What is yo= ur name little girl?" he repeated
> again, "I did not hear you". By th= en my parent'shad been cleared to
> cross, and my Mom rushed over, gra= bbed and yanked me by my hand, and
> tore me away with a frozen smile = on her face to the guard, saying to
> me "Come, we must go now!"
&g= t;
> I guess that was a close one. They say one's life and circumstanc= es
> which change one's life is predicated on decisions, right or wron= g.
> Classic case which all transpired in 3-4 minutes that lasted a> lifetime.
>
> Not real certain about the rest. I think I r= ecall either stopping or
> even living in a small town called Barlad.&= nbsp; I vividly recall my Dad,
> who was a master with his hands, buil= ding me a tricycle out of spare
> parts while in Barlad. I clearly rec= all arriving In Bucharest, where
> we finally settled down for a numbe= r of years. I was enrolled in
> school there, we lived on a street cal= led Poppa Russo, and my parents
> both were employed. My Mom made frie= nds with a popular actress, who's
> last name was Pereziano, who was a= ppearing in Shakespeare's "Mid
> Summer Night Dream", and they were ca= sting children for a bit walk in
> part, and I was selected, and my th= espian career got its start.
>
> We lived on the third floor, an= d one day while playing with friends at
> an open window's steel bar, = I slipped and fell three floors, ended on
> my head in a brick courtya= rd. I was shaken of course, rushed to a
> hospital, and checked OK. It= must have been a slow news cycle in
> Bucharest, since the next day, = an article appeared, something like
> ......"The Boy Parachutist falls= out of a three story window without a
> parachute".
>
> I= t's really amazing how these suppressed memories, until now are
> comi= ng to me. Around 1946, for reasons I can not state, I recall
> moving = from Bucharest to Vienna. I have a vivid recollection of
> getting the= re via Budapest, since I clearly recall hearing everyone
> speak a ton= gue that was unfamiliar to me, Hungarian.
>
> Up to that point, = I was fluent in Russian, Romanian and German. I
> guess in those days,= you had to be multi lingual to survive.&nbsp;
> When we arrived i= n Vienna we wound up in the "19 Bezirk", Sievering -
> a beautiful out= skirt of Vienna, and more specific Grape and Wine
> growing country. I= t was the 19th American Controlled District. In
> those days, the cont= rol of Vienna was taken over into sections by the
> winners, the Brits= , French. Russians, and GI's.
>
> We wound up in what was once a= huge mansion with acres of gorgeous
> property owned by an aristocrat= which was converted by the GI's into a
> DP Camp. Each huge banquet r= oom, housed hundreds of families, and the
> only thing that separated = our accommodations were blankets separating
> each cubicle. It was lit= erally a United Nation of Jews who were
> fortunate enough to have esc= aped the atrocities that brought them
> here, and in their eyes freedo= m.
>
> I will never forget how they laughed and joked and sang, = probably for
> the first time in years. It's a miracle what freedom ca= n do even under
> these sparse circumstances.
>
> I was en= rolled in school, my Mom went to an ORT supported school to
> learn pa= stry baking, and my Dad, due to his skills, found a full time
> job, a= s a spot light operator in a night club in downtown Vienna, an
> area = called 'The Graben'. I was making friends, Viennese and immigrant
> al= ike, my Mom and Dad were employed and happy, and I felt that all was
>= well.
>
> Circa 1950-51 we packed up once again (I understood t= he word Immigrant
> well by then), and wound up in Bremer Haven to boa= rd a big old
> freighter, who's name I will never forget, "The USS Gen= eral
> Blatchford". It seems that distant relatives in NY had found ou= t our
> whereabouts, and sponsored us so that we could live and hopefu= lly
> finally stay in the US, where the "streets were paved with gold"= .  It
> was a rough crossing but I noted that every passenger had= a new
> sparkling look in their eyes, with a anticipation of what was= to be, I
> had never seen before.
>
> The day we entered = NY Harbor I was on deck, and could clearly see the
> NY skyline as wel= l as the Statue of Liberty.  Even at the age of 9 or
> 10 I thoug= ht I died and went to heaven.  I did, and I did.
>
> I don'= t know where all of these thoughts came from.  I was merely
> goi= ng to introduce myself, and tell  you how much I enjoyed the
> co= mments written. I apologize for the length of this "quick note" but
> = I guess the question really is, can anyone fill in the blanks? I have
>= ; always wondered but never tried since I guess these memories were
> = always subconsciously buried somewhere, and now they are pouring out
>= of me.
>
> I sincerely thank you all for your indulgence and pa= tience.
>
> Phil Katz
>
> [Please post in plain text= rather than HTML... see notes below for
instructions - moderator Jerome]=
>

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