[Cz-L] RE: czernowitz-l digest: September 10, 2010

Oy! Today's collection of messages and comments was like going back to school. It is odd how we can be exposed to more or less the same environment and retain altogether different perceptions. I don't recall ever hearing "Ruthenian" or ever meeting a person of that classification. I think that when I first heard the word I thought it was a made up word such as Lower Slobovian, a category invented by the late cartoonist, Al Capp. It seems as though Czernowitz was a small replica of America with its cultural and linguistic mix. Dad came from Arad and thus had many Hungarian friends. I never learned the language but became so accustomed to hearing conversations in Hungarian that even today I feel at home in a crowd of Hungarians chattering away without understanding anything they are saying in that Mongolian tongue.

All this reminds me of a joke from the late 1930 somewhere in Germany. An SS man walks down the street and sees a colleague of his coming out of the house of a Rabbi. Suspicious, he goes up to the other SS man and accosts him, "Hans, vat are you doing coming out from the house of a Rabbi?" "Ho, ho," laughs Hans, "I am learning Yiddish so that ven I am checking on those Jews, and they talk among themselves and don't know I understand them, I will learn their secrets!"

"Dot's very clever, mein freund, very clever," says the first SS man.

"Of course," says Hans, "It is like the Rabbi has been teaching me. If you want to get ahead in the world, you have to use your...." He now taps the side of his head, "You have to use your tuchus."

Andy Halmay,

> -----Original Message-----
> From: czernowitz-l_at_list.cornell.edu
> Sent: Sat, 11 Sep 2010 00:25:49 -0400
> To: czernowitz-l_at_list.cornell.edu
> Subject: czernowitz-l digest: September 10, 2010
>
> CZERNOWITZ-L Digest for Friday, September 10, 2010.
>
> 1. [Cz-L] Deciphering German script
> 2. [Cz-L] Two way street
> 3. RE: [Cz-L] Our love affair with the German language.
> 4. Re: [Cz-L] Our love affair with the German language.
> 5. RE: [Cz-L] Our love affair with the German language.
> 6. [Cz-L] The end of an Empire.
> 7. Re: [Cz-L] In German, about German and Yiddish in Czernowitz
> 8. Re: [Cz-L] Deciphering German script
> 9. Re: [Cz-L] Deciphering German script
> 10. RE: [Cz-L] Two way street
> 11. Re: [Cz-L] Two way street
> 12. RE: [Cz-L] Our love affair with the German language.
> 13. Re: [Cz-L] Our love affair with the German language.
> 14. Re: [Cz-L] Deciphering German script
> 15. Re: [Cz-L] Our love affair with the German language.
> 16. [Cz-L] deciphering German postcard
> 17. RE: [Cz-L] Deciphering German script
> 18. [Cz-L] Czernowitzer German
> 19. RE: Czernowitzer German
> 20. [Cz-L] Die Peschl
> 21. Re: [Cz-L] Two way street
> 22. Re: [Cz-L] Deciphering German script
>

-snip- digest deleted
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 2010-09-11 14:34:36