[Cz-L] turkish jewish graveyard

Dear Hardy,
Thank you for sending the picture of the remains of the old jewish
graveyard which some of this list "experts" on the " holly year 1778 "
have difficulties to accept.
It is really very regretful that so much has disappeared.
Here bellow some details regarding the "none existing " Jews of Czernowitz
who, probably, are buried there. It is not the first time this material is
referred to.
There still is the comforting possibility that the majority of the Jews
waited until 1778
to die and be buried.
With best regards,
Wolf Terner.

This is a translation of the chapter “On the history of the Jews in
Czernowitz”,Geschichte der Juden in der Bukowina
{History of the Jews in the Bukovina} Edited by: Dr. Hugo Gold,
Written by: Prof. Dr. Herman Sternberg, Published in Tel Aviv, 1962
The Historical Development up to 1775 (a short overview)
The first documented proof of the existence of Jews in Czernowitz was a
contract of the Moldavian Prince Alexander the Good with the Lemberg
Merchants Guild. which bore the date October 8, 1408. However, it can't be
concluded from this document that Jews didn't lived in Czernowitz either
permanently or temporarily, at a much earlier date. It appears that because
of the confusion of war in this region, Jewish settlements existed only with
interruptions. The place was deserted when it was plundered by enemies only
to be settled later when the opportunity arose. Because of this, the living
tradition which binds together communities was lacking.
The conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, opened a new chapter in
world history and caused serious consequences for the princedoms of Moldavia
and Wallachia and for the Jews of Czernowitz. The Turkish sultan was now the
boss and the local princes became kings and had to purchase the right to sit
on their throne and to wage war together with the neighboring princes with
repeated presents at the gate. Moreover the mutual mistrust led to bloody
incidents. Also, the strained relation with Poland resulted in war which
caused great suffering for the population. In 1509, Czernowitz was plundered
by the Polish Hetman Kaminetzky and in 1538 was likewise burned to ashes by
a Polish army. The Moldavian King Alexander Lopusneanu (1552-1561 and
1564-1568) issued terrible ordinances against the Jews and only relaxed them
when commanded to the Sultan through the intervention of the Duke of Naxos
Don Josef. It is noteworthy that the Turks who kidnapped young boys in the
lands they conquered and after educating them put them in the slave army of
the Janitscharen, made an exception with Jewish boys.

At that time, many Jews came from Western Europe to Czernowitz, some were
Ashkenazim, called "Franken" who fled persecution in Germany and some were
Sephardim. While the Sephardim moved further, the Ashkenazim remained in the
city and brought the Yiddish language with them. During the short period of
peace before the outbreak of the Turkish Polish war in 1600, commerce
developed. The connection stretched from Nuremberg to Adrianopel and brought
Armenian, Greek and Jewish businessmen great profits. About that time in
Czernowitz, as in other cities of Moldovia a form of Jewish self government,
called the "Kahal" modeled on the example of the Polish Jews was developed.
It was called "Bresla Jidoveasa" (Jewish guild). The director carried the
title "Starost." He was supported by the community elders. The elders
together with the Starost and the rabbis were elected, although, the results
of the election had to be confirmed by the Prince. The community was allowed
a restricted autonomy and self government. Nevertheless they were powerless
to protect themselves against the spiteful actions of the current ruler. The
fact that the Jews had the same clothing and language as other residents of
Moldovia brought them no advantage.

The Phanarioten in the expectation of higher income from taxes promoted the
settling of foreign merchants. The Jews were treated differently than other
taxpayers. A report about those times came from the Jesuit Boskovich who
accompanied the English envoy on a trip from Constantinople to Poland and
because of bad weather was forced to remain two weeks in Czernowitz. He met
many Jews in the city in whose houses his traveling companions were
quartered. The Jews, he reported, occupied themselves in the export business
and were subject to many oppressive restrictions. From a 1774 document one
sees that they didn't even have the right to build a synagogue. They had to
send a request to the Divan ad hoc in Jassy requesting permission to rebuild
the synagogue that was burned down by Russian soldiers.

Because the Jewish population of the city consisted of heterogeneous
elements there were many contrasts that sometimes even led to quarreling. In
the first quarter of the 18th century, the starost Cerbu (Hirsch) was at the
head of the community. One of his successors was Lazar Israel who held his
office through 35 years into the Austrian occupation. He harbored no
feelings of Jewish solidarity. In 1777, he requested in a memorandum to the
Lemberg High Command, that the "foreign Jews" be removed. He died in 1782.
The rabbis during that period were Rabbi Meir ben Jechiel (died 1740), rabbi
Simche Seew from Kuty (died 1780) and rabbi Baruch ben Schlomo (died 1793).

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Received on 2010-10-24 09:22:04