[Cz-L] Cold in Czernowitz

From: David Glynn <glynn_at_spontini.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 13:07:39 +0000
To: czernowitz-l <czernowitz-l_at_list.cornell.edu>
Reply-to: David Glynn <glynn_at_spontini.co.uk>

Regarding cold weather memories of Czernowitz, my mother Erica recalled the
rigours of walking to and from school in the extreme cold of one
particularly cold winter. This might well have been the winter of 1928-9.

Erica was delighted to have her memory confirmed by an old Czernowitz
postcard which I purchased. The card shows the memorial on Str. Regina
Maria, and is addressed to Herrn Fred Voigt, Löbau in Sachsen, Deutschland.
On the back is written, in remarkably neat handwriting:

19 II 1929
Sehr geehrter Herr!
Ihre Karte habe ich dankend erhalten. Bitte mir entschuldigen daß ich nur
jetzt Antworte aber unser Stadt war wegen den großen Schnee und Kälte einige
Tage von ganzen Welt verspert. Wir hatten -40 bis -45 Kälte gehabt.
Mit herzlichen Grüßen
Ihr
Z. Schimpl

which translates as

19 II 1929
Very esteemed Sir!
I received your card with thanks. Please excuse me that I am only now
answering but our town has been cut off from the world for several days on
account of the great snow and cold. We had -40 to -45 degrees of cold.
Cordially
Yours
Z. Schimpl

------

David

----- Original Message -----
From: <fichblue_at_aol.com>
To: <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>; <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 2:59 AM
Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Daily life in Czernowitz

Here are some more cold weather memories of Czernowitz, from my late
mother Pearl Spiegel Fichman's memoirs (Before Memories Fade):

The winters were extremely harsh so that the snow that fell in November
would melt in March. When I was in second grade, in the winter of 1928,
the bitter frosts persisted all through the winter months; the
temperature dropped to -40 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. (At -40 the
two measurements are the same).

The newspapers wrote about the Danube being frozen solid and that
people from Bulgaria skated across the river to Romania. It probably
happens once in a century for a winter to be so severe. People used to
say that the wolves were coming out from the woods into the villages.

As much as the apartments were heated with fire-wood, the moment we
stopped stoking the fire, the apartment cooled off, at night. One
covered up with featherblankets, over the shoulders, just the nose
stuck out, for air.

On the windowpanes, the indoor humidity froze forming ice flowers, but,
at the bottom of the window, nearer the frame, toward the sill, the ice
got to a thickness of a finger or two. We had double windows and in
between, on the sill, we placed a sort of longish pillow stuffed with
sawdust, to prevent the frosty air from penetrating through any crack.
In order to air the rooms and the kitchen, the windows had a top part,
which could be opened. That was called "Oberlicht" (top-light).

I remember one Saturday afternoon, on my return from school, (school
was on six days a week) Mother and [my sister] Sali were in the
apartment, all wrapped in blankets. Since Mother would not light a fire
on the Sabbath, the person who came around to do it at lunchtime,
didn’t come back again to renew it later. The embers had burned out,
only ashes remained and the room was cold. Mother would start heating
the house again after the first star had appeared. When I came home,
jolly and happy and with rosy cheeks, Mother asked anxiously: "How is
it outside?" She heard the whistling of the wind all around. She
thought that I would be frozen. I answered that it was so nice and
breezy, that I crossed the road a few times back and forth, for it was
windier that way.

I read recently the memoirs of the Bulgarian writer Elias Canetti and
he describes the severe winter of 1928 and how they crossed the frozen
Danube by sleigh into Romania.
---------------------------

Eytan

Eytan Fichman, AIA
B.Arch., M.Arch., Ed.M.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 2010-10-31 07:23:01

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : 2011-01-01 14:59:48 PST