Re: [Cz-L] Theodor Criveanu

The remaining 20,000 Jews ,who were not deported ,were not necessarily the
most indispensible
 of the city, without whom the city would collapse.
   They were just the Jews left in the Ghetto at that date without reference
to their qualification.
    To let all of them get permits was a work of a genius.
      Permits were also achieved by bribes to functionaries.
     Whoever came up with the 20000 number knew that it was a number of
grace, not of
    reality.The number corresponded to the ghetto inhabitants in November
41.
      Calotescu ,when confronted by Popovici with the city critical
maintenance condition
    told him: "Take 200 Jews and lets have the job done."
      Popovici had better ideas and went to Bucharest and the rest is known.
      It probably was Criveanu's job to put up these lists.
       But it was Popovici who started the process and who paid the price.
        Why didn't the Rumanians finish the job in 1942-3?
        They tried and a few more thousands were rounded up and deported.
         But by then the sh-t hit the fan on the eastern front and the
victorious rumanians weren't
          so sure of their glory and had second thoughts.
      Hardy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Renee Steinig" <genmaven_at_gmail.com>
To: "HARDY BREIER" <HARDY3_at_bezeqint.net>
Cc: "Czernowitz Genealogy and History digest"
<czernowitz-l_at_list.cornell.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 5:07 PM
Subject: Theodor Criveanu


> Yad Vashem named Theodor Criveanu a Righteous Among the Nations in
> August 2007. Their press release about him is at
>
> http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/press_room/press_releases/07.08.07.html
>
> In part, it says:
>
> <<... By mid-November, about 28,000 Jews were deported. The
> deportations were halted after the Mayor of Czernowitz, Dr. Traian
> Popovici managed to persuade the Romanian military governor and
> General Antonescu to leave the remaining 20,000 Jews, claiming that
> they were vital to the economic stability of the town. They were
> allowed to return to their houses, but in the summer of 1942, Mayor
> Popovici, who was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad
> Vashem in 1969, was charged with granting permits to "unnecessary"
> Jews, and was removed from office.>>
>
> <<... Theodor Criveanu was a lawyer from Brashov, recruited as a
> reserves officer to bring Antonescu's secret plan to concentrate the
> Jews of Czernowitz in a ghetto. As part of this job, he was told to
> present the authorities with a list of names of Jews who were required
> for work in the city. Against orders, and notwithstanding the grave
> risk to his own life, Theodor secretly handed out permits beyond the
> allowed limit, also giving them to Jews who were not essential to the
> workforce. Amongst these Jews were Berta and Osias Hefter and their
> daughters Hilda and Malvina.
>
> <<In her testimony to Yad Vashem, Hilda explained that Criveanu gave
> permits to many Jews who were not entitled to them, thus saving them
> from deportation to Transnistria. During this period, an attachment
> was formed between Theodor and Malvina Hefter, and through her,
> Theodor provided permits to Jews who applied directly to either of
> them.
>
> <<Theodor and Malvina married, and in 1945 their son Ze'ev (Willie,
> currently of South Africa) was born. In 1950, Malvina and Zee's moved
> to Israel. Theodor stayed in Romania, and passed away in 1988.>>
>
> The statement does not say exactly when Criveanu issued work permits.
> Could this have been after Popovici was removed from office?
>
> There are many articles online about Criveanu. Most are rewordings of
> the Yad Vashem press release, but an article in an Australian Jewish
> newspaper
>
> https://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=3970
>
> adds that Criveanu's son Willie, who lives in Israel, <<stumbled
> across his father's diary several years ago on a trip to Romania. He
> sent it to Yad Vashem to have it analysed.>>
>
> Renee
>
>
-snip-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of
 Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions expressed
 in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily
 the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members
 or entities connected with this mailing list. The Czernowitz-L list has
 an associated web site at http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a
 searchable archive of all messages posted to this list. Please post in "Plain
 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 2009-01-29 15:46:04