Re: [Cz-L] Ringplatz Poster

Miriam (Mimi) Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>

Dear Berti and all members of the Cz.-List,

I agree with Berti's ideas, as to what we should and should not
expect from the city of Chernivtsi;
 
We, and/or our parents and grandparents lived there once, but we do not live
there any longer. The current inhabitants of the city have the right
to decide how to celebrate this anniversary and it seems quite sensible,
to highlight the agreement signed by Alexandru cel Bun with the Polish
merchants, since it is this document which is the basis for the anniversary
celebrations.

Nor should we blame the public display of this document, on Ukrainian
chauvinism. Alexandru cel Bun was a Moldavian/Romanian prince.

When I looked for memorial plaques on the city streets, I found among
others, one to Eliezer Steinbarg, one to Sidi Tal, to Moshe Altman,
to Ciprian Purumbescu, to Eminescu, to Erwin Chargaff, all of these either
Jews or Romanians. There is a monument to Paul Celan. If the current
inhabitants of Chernivtsi, were so self-centered and xenophobic as some
would have us believe, they would not have put up these plaques.

There is in Chernivtsi a street named after Sholem Aleichem, another named
after Eliezer Steinbarg. (This last one, may be new, I saw it now on my last
visit, but do not find it on the "ehpes" street translator.) There is also
a street named after Popovici. This is not disregard for Jewish culture or
history.

Mimi

> I generally enjoy Hardy's wit, but sometimes have to make an effort not to
> respond to
> his exaggerating ideas. This is one of sometimes.
>
> 1) The poster will most probably disappear some month after the 600
> anniversary.
>
> 2) The Shevchenko stern look is primarily in the eye of the beholder.
>
> 3) If not for the trade agreement - who knows, our great-parents might not
> have settled
> in this town 450 years later.
>
> 4) I was, I think, the first to mention on this site Traian Popovici, in
> relation to his bust
> being put up in Fundu Moldovei, and having known him personally and part of
> his family
> as good and helpful neighbors I enthusiastically endorsed Mimi's idea to do
> something
> similar in OUR TOWN. But if asked, with all due respect, I would not have
> proposed to have
> one of his authorizations put up provisionally on the Ringplatz. Museum
> yes, street no.
> Permanent plaque on his house - yes, temporarily mention in anniversary -
> no.
>
> 5) Czernowitz is not at all famous , it is known to us who love it and may
> be some hundreds of Germans who
> look back at its culture and also at its Jewish heritage. I don't know
> exactly about their feelings
> but ours are about the time of our, or our parents' past. No fame in that.
>
> 6) True the Ukrainians had until the middle of the last century played
> only a minor cultural and economic
> role in the development of the town. But look at what they are doing now and
> agree that it is primarily
> their right and obligo to give their festivities the direction they prefer.
> Everybody knows this, and I hope Hardy might agree, too.
>
> Let us all enjoy the half full glass,
>
> Berti
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "HARDY BREIER" <HARDY3_at_BEZEQINT.NET>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 4:01 PM
> To: "CZERNOWITZ-L" <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
> Subject: [Cz-L] Ringplatz Poster
>
>> Ringplatz Poster.
>>
>> On the Czernowitz Ringplatz, on that enormous concrete wall behind
>> the stern looking Shevchenko monument , a poster of giant dimension
>> has been exposed. It is the first written document in which Czernowitz
>> was mentioned. Hence its importance . It deals about a trade agreement
>> between Alexandru the Good of Moldova and the Lemberg tradesmen.
>> It is from October 1408 and hence we have the 600 Jubilee festivities
>> soon.
>> How nice and how historically significant.
>> How important to the City.
>> With all due respect, if asked, I would chose a different document
>> as a poster.
>> I would hang a poster of a Popovici Authorization issued to one
>> Leibowitch Samuel ,wife Gitl and two children ,to be temporarily
>> exempted from evacuation to Transnistria, in October 1941.
>> Much more important than a trade agreement with the Lemberg
>> tradesmen.
>> Leibowitch and family stayed alive , left Czernowitz and
>> settled in Baltimore. He was a taylor.
>> All this, due to this authorization. He ,and others, kept the
>> story alive. For the world to know.
>> And Czernowitz today is famous ,not because of the Lemberg
>> agreement, but for its Jews.
>> Everybody knows this except the City administration. Hardy

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Received on 2008-08-28 21:00:32