[Cz-L] E-mails sent to me by a former Czernowitzer

Greetings,

I received a few emails from the daughter of a former Czernowitzer (who is
Roman Catholic) who now lives in Australia. I thought I would share some of
her emails (with her permission, of course)
Perhaps it will be interesting to you:

First e-mail:

School photos Czernowitz



What a great site you have created! Thank you.



While browsing through the school photos I discovered two relatives. In the
1938 photo from the Liceul Marele Voivod Mihai (LMVM) - my great Uncle,
Antonius Mraczek - 5th row from the top (already named in the photo). He is
presently residing in Warsaw, Poland and has just celebrated his 90th
birthday. He was so pleased when I sent on the photo! My father's older
brother - Joseph (Jusiu) Plach was in the Volksschule (In Schulgasse) 3rd
grade photo 1935. He is in the third row from the bottom. Looking at the
photo he is standing 2nd to the left of the teacher, wearing a jumper. Such
a precious photo for the family to now have. He was taken prisoner of war on
the Romanian front (He was in the German army). The family never received
any official information from the Russians about his fate.



My father, Carol Plach came to Australia in 1949 from Germany as a Displaced
person.

In January 2008, four generations of our family made a trip together to
Czernowitz: my father (Carol Plach) and myself (Kathleen) as well as my
husband and my sons (from Australia) and my Great Uncle Antonius (in the
photo) with his son (both from Warsaw). The house where my father lived with
his parents is still there and also the grandparents’ house and an uncle’s
house.



Both my father and his uncle have such happy memories of their lives in
Czernowitz. My father returned to Czernowitz for the first time in 1993
after leaving at the age of thirteen in 1940. Antonius Mraczek had not been
back for more than 65 years. My father photographed him in front of his old
school on our 2008 visit.



----------------------------



Second e-mail:


Dear Steve

Thank you so much for your speedy reply and for adding my uncle's name to
the photo page. Your site has sparked off many conversations about the past
and I have been pestering my father with questions. I thank you profusely
for this.

I haven't had too much of a chance to read the many interesting articles in
your 'museum', so I look forward to reading about your family background.
What a lot of hard work you have put into creating it!

To answer your question, yes, we have a few photos from before and also
during the war (when my father's family were in camps). I would need to
borrow them from my father to scan them if you are interested. I am not sure
if there are any studio photos but the photos from Czernowitz show walks
along the streets during various seasons. We also have original documents
such as birth certificates etc.

My father is Roman Catholic. He still remembers the names of his lovely
Jewish neighbours (the Goldberg's). My father has written a book for the
family about his life in Czernowitz and during the war years in case you are
interested in his early days there. Antonius Mraczek's (in the high school
photo) older brother carried on his father's blacksmith business before the
war - half his customers were the Jewish 'fiaker' (carriage) makers. My
father told me that this uncle spoke fluent Yiddish and was really taught
the business from his Jewish friends/customers. My father has written in his
book about a Jewish family, who were neighbours of his grandparents, the
Weissmans. Apparently they ran a wonderful bakery and my father spent many
happy hours watching them (and enjoying the aroma and free samples!) bake
for Pesach. My father has written that with the coming of Russia's secret
police, Mr Weissman disappeared overnight and his assets had been
confiscated. Horrible, cruel times. I think the building is still standing
next to my father's grandparents house. On our trip to Czernowitz my father
was horrified to see that the old Jewish cemetery that had adjoined the land
at the back of his grandparent's property now had a factory built on top of
it.

If we can help with any information, please let us know. I look forward to
visiting your whole museum. Thank you so much again for your wonderful work.


-----------------

Dear friends,

If anyone knows him or his family, and would like to contact either his
daughter or her father (who is currently 82 years old), please forward your
request to me.


Best,
Steven Lasky
New York
www.museumoffamilyhistory.com
steve_at_museumoffamilyhistory.com
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Received on 2009-06-27 13:41:38