Re: [Cz-L] Life is Beautifu

Arthur - what a touching story and how lucky you and your father were -
hair raising!
Yes, someone was watching over you, I believe.

Thank you for sharing this with everyone.

Merle

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur von Czernowitz" <vonczernowitz_at_yahoo.com>
To: "Czernowitz List" <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 3:50 PM
Subject: Life is Beautifu

Life is Beautiful.

Crossing the Dniester River, visiting, the village of Budy and finding my
mother’s grave has awaken my memories which I kept concealed for all those
years.

About two years ago, my wife and I were dining at a sea side restaurant in
Jaffa, Israel.
At the next table I could hear people speaking Italian, Roberto Benigni his
wife Nicoletta Braschi were sitting there plus several other.

I am sure everybody must have seen the movie “Life is beautiful” (La Vita è
bella).
Where, a Jewish father (Roberto Benigni) with the help of his humor protects
his son in a Nazi death camp. He hides Giosué his son in the loft of his
hut from the Nazi guards.

I went over to their table excused myself and told them that I saw the film
“La Vita è bella” and I believe that I have similar story.
They invited us to sit at their table and wanted to hear my story.
I told them that I saw the film in Fayetteville, North Carolina and when the
film was over I started to cry, my wife asked me what is wrong and I told
her that the film is very similar to my story when as a child in
Transnistria.

This is my story
We were interned in Bershad, Transnistria during WWII. We lived with our
extended family; some were from Czernowitz and some from Strojinetz, in a
wooden hut not far from the city center.
It was the summer of 1943; a nice Sunday and a warm day. My father and I
went for a walk in the town square.
There were lots of people, having their Sunday stroll; suddenly we were
encircled by gendarmes and soldiers. This was “Polizei-Razzia” a police
raid.
They selected the men on one side and the women on the other side of the
square.
I was with my father with the men. After a while the police marched us out
of Bershad. We walked in endless wheat fields and soon I got very tired and
was unable to walk, my father took me on his shoulders and we continued to
walk. It was a long column and we were surrounded by gendarmes. The
soldiers constantly prodded with their bayonets those who could not keep up
with the column.
Suddenly I told my father that I needed to pee, he told me to be quite and
to hold it till we stop.
I started to cry and told him that I have to do it right now. My father
asked one of the soldiers if we could stop, so that I can relieve myself, he
said OK and to make it fast and join the column as soon as possible. There
in the wheat field was a small three, I stood there, but nothing came out.
Slowly the column passed us and they were over the horizon, the soldiers
forgot about us and nobody came looking for us.
We sat down and hid in the middle of this wheat field. Soon it was dark and
we started to walk back to Bershad, by the time that we arrived at our
family hut it was dark and nobody saw or stopped us.
We told our story to our family and they got very worried and did not know
what to do with my father and I.
Onkel Zeamu, (my mother’s eldest brother) had an idea to hide us in the loft
under the roof of the hut. We live there for over 3 months.
I told Robeto Benigni, this is exactly what happened in the film with the
little boy. Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini)

Later we were told that columns of exhausted, half starved men were placed
at the disposal of the SS by the Romanian gendarmes for heavy labor,
building bridges and roads. Very few returned alive after the war.
Roberto Benigni and his wife Nicoletta Braschi, liked my story and as we
said our goodbyes, I was asked for my address and a few weeks later I
received an autographed copy of the film.

Was this pure luck that in that moment of time I requested to relive myself
and by this I saved my father and myself of certain death? Or somebody was
looking over us.

There is going to be a second time when I saved life.

Arthur
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Received on 2010-09-04 16:18:03