Re: [Cz-L] Re: Museum-Holocaust

Miriam (Mimi) Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>

To follow up on the letter of Bruce:

I have it on good authority, from three different sources,
that Mr. Zissels is both the driving force behind the museum
and the exhibition of Jewish life in Chernivtsi before 1940.
Funding for the museum and the exhibition are also channeled
Through Mr. Zissels.

Neither Mrs. Shevchenko nor the city administration of Chernivtsi,
Should be blamed for the decisions of Mr. Zissels.

I do not know the motives for Mr. Zissels' insistence on the
total omission of the fate of the Jews of Czernowitz during WW2,
 from the planned exhibition. I write "insistence" advisedly,
because I know of others who have tried unsuccessfully to change
his mind. I do know that he leaves open the possibility of adding
displays about this period to the museum at a later date.

I believe that the outrage of many members of this list, at the
omission of the war years from the exhibition, was due to their
suspicion that this omission was caused by Anti-Semitism.

Mr. Zissels can hardly be accused of Anti-Semitism and possibly
if many of us wrote him and voiced our disagreement he might reconsider.
Those interested can write to Josef Zissels at either:
   
<vaad- ua_at_ukr.net>

Or: <josefz_at_svitonline.com>

Finally we must must ask ourselves:
Is a Jewish museum which commemorates the culture and achievements
of the Jewish community of Czernowitz, but omits the holocaust,
better than no museum?

Then decide individually whether we want to help this museum come
into being, despite not including the events of WW2.
Consider that this will be the only museum of Czernowitz Jewry.

Miriam Taylor

[Moderator's Note: Mr. Zisels' email addresses can be readily found on the internet. Thus I've allowed their inclusion in this email.
See for example:

<http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/Jewish+Agency+Resources/JAFI+WZO+Related+Sites/WZO/Federations/Ukraine>

and

<http://www.eajc.org/anons_gen_r.php?id=937>

Moderator Bruce]

> Dear Friends:
>
> It's come to my attention that the driving force behind the
> establishment of a Jewish Museum in Chernivtsi is Josef Zisels, Chair
> of the Vaad of Ukraine <http://www.jewukr.org/frames_e.html> and
> General Council Chairman of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress
> <http://www.eajc.org/>. This has come up on the list in posts from
> March 11 and March 22. I don't have all the facts, but it is a
> distinct possibility that Mr. Zissels may be the person who made the
> decision to focus only on the pre-War / pre-Holocaust period. For a
> person like this, who has been jailed in the past by communist
> authorities for following his own political beliefs, it's hard to
> explain why he would work so hard to establish a museum that is
> tantamount to a denial of the holocaust.
>
> More investigation is required. We can not assume the Chernivtsi
> authorities are behind the decisions.
>
> I have seen copies of correspondence from Josef Zisels addressed to
> another list member. Language/translation difficulties make it
> difficult to fully understand his reasoning, but he leaves open the
> door to the development of holocaust period exhibits in the future.
> He also proposes that an initial stage be completed in time for the
> August 19-20 celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Yiddish
> Conference, and that during the 600th Anniv. celebration in October,
> a campaign for the museum's expansion will be announced, along with
> plans for fundraising and the creation of an international council of
> museum trustees. The correspondence raises the possibility that if
> the "Diaspora" supports the idea, it will be possible to expand the
> museum to include the holocaust and post-War history. I take this to
> mean that financial support will be sought.
>
> After viewing the letter from Mr. Zisels, I have to say that I am
> still at a loss to explain why he supports cutting off the museum's
> coverage of the fate of the Czernowitz Jews. Some treatment would be
> much more accurate than no treatment of the War years at all.
>
> Another interesting point from the correspondence: the museum is to
> be named the "Museum of Bucovina Jewry", implying broader coverage
> than Czernowitz alone. The letter also alludes to contact with "Jews
> of "Die Stimme"", implying direct contact with the World Organization
> of Bukovina Jewry. Can anyone in our group confirm whether the World
> Organization has been in contact with Mr. Zisels and what their
> stance on the Museum might be?
>
> If we obtain his permission, we will be glad to share the full
> contents of his letter. For now, I can only paraphrase and comment
> on what I saw.
>
> Bruce Reisch
>
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This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of
Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The Czernowitz-L list
 has an associated web site at http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a
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 Text" if possible (help available at:
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Received on 2008-03-29 11:57:10