[Cz-L] Reminiscences from Anny Matar

Czernowitzers... Anny wanted this to go to you as well as me:

Dear Jerome, I always find that other people's stories trigger something
in me and make me think back. I actually had a very short "teen" life in
Cernowitz. Age 10 Gymnasium Carmen Silva (you probable were too young to
have even heard the name) then one year away in the Notre Dame Galatz
-recalled to Czernowitz 1939 with the arrival of refugees from Poland
(because of my step-Father's business my parents couldn't? leave town),
on my return Hoffman Gymnasium (two minutes walk to my house). What made
me think of home? A program shown here of Polish Jews now living in the
U.S.A. Of course they lost their families there but they themselves left
before W.W/2. They all came from, what they called a Steital, but
although much smaller than our town it was most reminicent. The people
people spoke about their homes always full of people -family / friends /
neighbors - the warmth in which they grew up never feeling lonely, never
being alone. (You could see how much they miss this in the U.S. and
their language was most accentuated Jidish). They spoke about the
laughter, the shared joy with childhood friends, later the different
Zionist movements which each one joined and the laughter. They so much
stressed the laughter as though they never did that again so
wholeheartedly and the walks on their main street (our Herrengasse)
meeting their friends, boys and girls walking arm in arm laughing. The
photos they showed were of young people walking. Why were all the
pictures taken while walking? The photographers took quick snapshots,
handed out their cards and you went to fetch them if you wanted to. (I
wonder how many thousands were left in those shops and how many stories
they could tell about the living and the dead. All these stories were so
close to home and so many memories of walking arm in arm with friends,
laughing finding everything funny enough to laugh about, watching people
walking past and my friends, 2years older than I, who knew all the
gossip about those passing by, made funny or "piquant" remarks about
them and we LAUGHED real belly laughter. However hard the situation at
home might have been, here we were young full of joi de vivre, being
unaware that sooner or later we'll be separated by war and only few of
us found each other again and were able to take up where we left off.
I'll forever be grateful to my dearest friend friend Vicky Gedaly who
introduced me to my short teenage life at home and with whom, although
we were separated for 10 years, could pick up where we left off, even
laugh together although, to my greatest regret, illnesses have taken
their toll, and Ilana is our messenger of love.

Now, dear Jerome, I can't get through to CL... somehow I don't manage
the "secret" code and I thought you like Manses so I'm sending this to
you. Thank you for your patience reading it, Regards, anny

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Received on 2009-11-18 01:00:00