[Cz-L] Popovici plaque, all considerations, facts and controversies.

We have been debating the issue of placing a plaque
to commemorate the actions and personality of Traian Popovici,
for quite a number of weeks.
I am at a point in time, when I am supposed to let those helping me
in having the plaque placed, know, what exactly the inscription
of the plaque should be and how it should look.

I first wrote to the Chernivti city authorities about this issue
on March 24 of this year. This is what I wrote:

> You may know, that during World War 2, the mayor of Chernivtsi,
> then Cernauti, was Mr. Traian Popovici.
> Mr. Popovici helped save many thousand Jewish citizens of Cernauti
> from being deported to Transnistria and being killed there.
>
> Former Jewish citizens of Chernivtsi, who owe their lives to
> Mr. Popovici, would like to have a memorial plaque placed
> in a public place in Chernivtsi. This plaque should tell of
> the noble and humane actions of Mr. Popovici.

I immediately received this answer:
>
> In response to your letter about the memorial plaque to Mr. Traian Popovi=
ci we
> inform you that Chernivtsi City Council supports the idea of putting the
> memorial plaque honoring the memory of this outstanding figure.
>
> If you manage to collect necessary money for this plaque we shall find a
> proper public place for commemoration of Mr. Popovici.
>
> Please keep us informed about the progress of this project.

I responded to this letter by asking about the size of the plaque,
whether it could be placed on either the city hall building,
or the house in which Dr. Popovici lived, whether it could be
in two or three languages and made some suggestions as to
the wording of the inscription. Apparently by mistake, I once suggested
that the number of Jews saved was 15 000 and another time,
that it was 20 000.

According to what Maita Prout wrote me later, the city authorities
Then sent me a letter asking for the correct number of people
saved by Traian Popovici.

I never received this letter, therefore decided to enlist
both the support of Josef Zissels and of Maita Prout.

Josef Zissels, told me that he would be in Chernivtsi at the end of May,
at that time, if I sent him an exact facsimile of the way I wanted the
plaque to look, he would have it made. He also told me that there was no
chance of placing the plaque on the building of the city hall and that the
plaque should be in Ukrainian, Romanian and English.

Maita promised to get an estimate of the cost of having the plaque made and
at the same time inquired as to why I had received no further correspondenc=
e
about this issue from the Chernivtsi city authorities. That is when she was
informed about the missing email questioning me about the accurate number o=
f
Jews saved by Popovici.

As soon as I received this information, I asked Dr. Radu Ioanid to write to
the Czernowitz authorities and let them know this number. He asked Mr.
Altskan, to do this and Mr. Altskan sent an appropriate letter to the
Chernivti authorities. I informed this list of the sequence of events.

A debate on the number of Jews saved by Popovici issued.

At the same time there was also a discussion among members of this list
about the wording of the inscription.

In order to come to a generally accepted inscription, I asked that suggeste=
d
inscriptions be sent by May 12th. I later extended this date to include
David's suggestion, which was sent one day late.
I then posted the suggestions and asked for a vote to be sent by May 18th.

By May 18th, I received only 5 votes, three of these were in favor of my
suggestion, which is:

 HERE LIVED TRAIAN POPOVICI 1892-1946
 IN 1941, AS MAYOR OF CZERNOWITZ,
 HE SAVED 19600 JEWS FROM DEPORTATION
 TO TRANSNISTRIA AND PROBABLE DEATH.
 IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE,
 FROM THE JEWS OF CZERNOWITZ.

I also explained the practical considerations; a plaque attached to a house
in use, can reasonably only be about 18" wide and 15" high. (46cm x 38cm)
It may have to be smaller. Each letter in order to be legible has to be at
the very least
1.2 cm wide and 1.8 cm high, there have to be empty margins, the three
languages used in the inscription have to be separated from each other, eac=
h
version of the inscription should fit neatly into a rectangular space, etc.

The above inscription is 36 spaces wide and 6 rows high. It will occupy a
space 43.2cm wide and about 13.3cm high ( allow for a 0.5 cm space between
rows). Assuming that once this inscription is translated into Ukrainian and
Romanian, each language will take up the same size space, the inscription i=
s
too long.

I therefore suggest we drop the last line, which will make the inscription
in each language only 11cm high and in all 3 languages, including the space
between one language and the next and the upper and lower margin to be 1cm,
all three inscriptions will require a plaque of size 45.2 cm wide and
37cm high.

As to the number of Jews saved by Dr. Traian Popovici, ie. The number of
those who were saved by his actions in getting Marshal Antonescu to permit
governor Calotescu to issue and sign authorizations and the authorizations
signed by Dr. Popovici in his capacity as mayor and which were honored by
the military government.
The recognized authoritative sources say the number is 19600.

Read:
Matatias Carp: "Cartea Neagra"
Radu Ioanid: "Holocaustul in Romania"
I.C. Butnaru: "The silent Holocaust Romania and Its Jews"

Jean Ancel, in his book "Toldot Ha-Shoah Romania", writes
that the number of people included in the Calotescu authorizations
was 16 569 and that 3120 people were saved from being deported
by Nov 15th due to having Popovici authorizations, this number includes
some, who had remained in the Ghetto on Nov. 15th, without any
authorization.
This puts the number remaining at 19 689 plus possibly more, who remained
in Czernowitz without any authorizations, because they had managed to hide.
 
I found my family's Popovici authorization, it was issued on Nov. 27, 1941.
 From this it is evident, that some Popovici authorizations were issued afte=
r
Nov. 15th 1941. Therefore it is likely that Popovici, in total,
issued more than 31200 authorizations. But it must be remembered that havin=
g
a Popovici authorization, did not automatically save one from being
deported, neither in the winter of 1941, nor during the deportations
of June 7, June 15, and June 29, 1942. I remember quite definitely,
my family hiding on June 7 and on either June 15 or June 29, even though
we had a Popovici authorization. Others were not so lucky.

I can continue with my efforts to have a plaque bearing the inscription
  
 HERE LIVED TRAIAN POPOVICI 1892-1946
 IN 1941, AS MAYOR OF CZERNOWITZ,
 HE SAVED 19600 JEWS FROM DEPORTATION
 TO TRANSNISTRIA AND PROBABLE DEATH.
 IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE

In the 3 languages mentioned above, made and put up in Chernivtsi,
or we can start he whole discussion from the beginning. If we start
the discussion from the beginning, I do not have the time to be
further involved in this matter, but I will gladly furnish whoever
Is elected to do so with all the necessary information of what
I have done so far.

Today is May 21st. I need to have the inscription translated to Ukrainian.
I need to send it for approval to the Chernivtsi city authorities. I need
to make a facsimile with the desired type and send this to Maita Prout and
Josef Zissels before May 30.

Cost: I do not know how much making the plaque will cost.
I will pay $300-400 towards this cost, I expect the remainder to be paid
by the members of this list.

Mimi



  
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Received on 2008-05-21 18:51:59