Re: [Cz-L] About Evgenia Finkel, Traian Popovici, etc.

Hi Charles,

Thank you for your message. It provided interesting and valuable information
about people and events which were being distorted by the fallibility of
memory and the variety of individual experiences.
My stepmother and I received a (Calotescu) authorization in 1941 without any
payments, by virtue of my father having been a medical doctor for the
Romanian government railroad (CFR) which qualified us as state pensioners.
My uncle paid a hefty sum to some intermediary for an authorization that
turned out to be counterfeit and he wound up in Transnistria. Nevertheless,
I believe that Traian Popovici was a remarkable personality and it is
unfortunate that his character and intentions are being put in question by
the flimsiest of rumors.

I visited Czernowitz in 1977 when I met Evgenia Finkel and Joseph Burg. They
were co-chairs of the "Eliezer Steinbarg Jewish Cultural Association", the
de-facto representatives at that time of the Jews of Czernowitz, with
offices in the former Juedisches Nationalhaus. She seemed to be the driving
force of the association which appeared to be involved in charitable,
educational, and publishing activities. She bitterly complained that the
Jewish school they had established had recently been acquired by a religious
group from abroad (I believe Chabad-connected) and was being transformed
from secular to religious. She gave me several issues of a journal
published in Russian containing mostly memoirs of survivors but also
articles of historic interest (e.g. the activities of the communist
underground during 1941-44). My impression was that the editorial style and
orientation were quite reminiscent of the Soviet period and that the
contributors to the publication were predominantly Jews who had settled in
Czernowitz after the war.

I had a lengthy discussion with Burg, covering his childhood in Wiznitz, his
survival during the war in the USSR and the rebirth of Jewish culture in
Czernowitz after the fall of the Soviet regime.

Regards,

Alfred (Fred) Schneider

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 2010-05-11 14:37:08