RE: [Cz-L] language matters

I can easily sign my name on Danny Alon's letter. That was exactly the
situation with my parents, who were born in 1912 and 1913.
They never spoke Romanian, as if they didn't know the language at all. It's
only today that I realize that they probably knew Romanian pretty well,
because that was the language at school, elementary and high school.
They made Aliya on 1932. Then they spoke German. In our library there were
volumes of Goethe and Schiller in Gothic script, and volumes of Shakespeare
with translation to German on the other page.
It all ended after WWII, when they made a decision never to talk in this
language anymore. They started to communicate only in Hebrew, except when
they wanted to talk privately, and then they spoke Yiddish. On the Seventie=
s
my mother went back to German. She read literature and newspapers, and
extremely enjoyed German films and television, till she died in 1997. My
father who died on 1981 never used German anymore.

Yael


Regards,
 
Yael Katz-Mastbaum, Adv.
Industry Bldg. 12th floor
29 Ha'mered St., P.O.B. 50367 Tel Aviv 61500
Tel: 972-3-5105010, Fax: 972-3-5105019
Mobile: 054-3030889, 052-3678781
yael_at_katz-mastbaum.com
visit at: www.katz-mastbaum.com



-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-2215612-3499345_at_list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-2215612-3499345_at_list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Alon
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 6:34 PM
To: 'Czernowitz Genealogy and History'
Subject: [Cz-L] language matters

A recent report from last Saturday:
My grandfather is being taken care of by a lady from Moldova. She speaks
Romanian but has learned good Hebrew since she came to Israel as a foreign
worker 3 years ago. She speaks with my grandfather Hebrew only. On Saturday
I wanted to explain something to her, and was looking for the word steel. I
asked my grandfather for help: Could you please tell me the Romanian word
for steel? My grandfather looked at me pathetically, and answered: You
forget, Danny, that I am an Austrian Bukowiener. I speak German, not
Romanian.
I am pretty sure that he knew the Romanian word, for he visited Romanian
schools as a child. I also remember him speaking Romanian with some
neighbours in the past. However, his sense of identity - and language has
much to do with it - has remained quite stable, to say the least. His was
born in 1914 and still tells everyone how it took 6 years till his father
was sent home by the Russian enemy, being kept there as a POW of the
Emperor's army.

Danny Alon
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-
-
This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject
of
Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. Messages sent to the
 group are archived at <http://czernowitz.ehpes.com>. Please post in "Plai=
n
 Text" if possible (help available at:
<http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/PlainText.html>).

To remove your address from this e-list follow the directions at
http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/elist/lyris/leave.html

To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to:
owner-Czernowitz-L_at_list.cornell.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
--
This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject =
of
Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. Messages sent to the
 group are archived at <http://czernowitz.ehpes.com>. Please post in "Plai=
n
 Text" if possible (help available at:
<http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/PlainText.html>).

To remove your address from this e-list follow the directions at
http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/elist/lyris/leave.html

To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to:
owner-Czernowitz-L_at_list.cornell.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
--
Received on 2008-01-07 18:07:42