[Cz-L] an Frau Barbel Rabi

The other day I heard on the radio the long-forgotten hymn of communist =
Russia and I suddenly remembered the time when, as a ten-year old, I =
sang this hymn along with the other pupils in my class, standing at =
attention and knowing all the words. There were other hymns before that, =
my parents, incidentally, knew only the Austrian =93May God save the =
emperor=94.

I, starting first grade, sang the Rumanian hymn =93Long live the King=94 =
under the Rumanian flag. Then the Russian communists invaded our city =
and ruled for about a full year after which the Rumanians returned with =
full Nazi support.. Unfortunate jews were sent to the camps, the =
luckier ones stayedg behind in our graceful, beautiful city, under the =
worst possible circumstances; we lived and walked on egg shells, =
frightened of what the next day, or night, may bring. Until the day when =
our town went up in flames and the Russians came back. This time, who =
ever could, left Czernowitz, first to the South of the Bucovina and =
then to places all over the world, somewhere else in Europe, the U.S., =
Australia and finally to Israel..

=20

At the present time I am a member of the so-called Czernowitz List. We =
are a group of people connected by e-mail, exchanging childhood =
memories, opinions, ideas and arguments..

The site started out as a genealogy research project. Former =
Czernowitzers, their children and even grandchildren, people with only =
the faintest connection to the city and making their home thousands of =
miles away were and still are looking for relatives, friends, neighbors =
former school mates. Once I wrote something, I don=92t remember exactly =
what, which had nothing to do with genealogy .upon which one man =
protested and wrote::

=93She shouldn=92t write about anything else! We have a project which is =
the search for family and friends. Why should she want to discuss other =
topics?=94

I was deeply offended and decided to resign from the group. But one of =
the founders wrote back and said =93it was not meant that way, please =
disregard this, stay with us, just write about whatever you wish!=94

=20

In the meantime the group branched out and everything is being discussed =
from childhood memories, events from long ago, the songs we sang and =
listened to at that time, politics so voluble during our troubled =
childhood and youth. Also the oddities of the Czernowitzer German =
language., There is also great concern about the decay of the jewish =
cemetery in Czernowitz and what is done about it. We receive reports on =
how the city has changed submitted by people who returned to our =
hometown after many decades in order to close a still open circle, or to =
give in to nostalgia, and see if the house of their birth is still =
standing. Mails go back and forth describing facts, feelings and =
everything that comes to mind. All subjects are being discussed =
meticulously and an argument or two is always welcome. =20

=20

It seems that, while I was away on vacation, I have missed a gripping =
discussion on,, strawberries, big and small, healthy or not, and what =
one can do with them in case one is not allergic. I hoped that someone =
would put me up to date, but in the meantime other topics became just as =
interesting. Genealogy has evolved into diverse other directions. Last =
subject discussed was , strangely enough =96 stuffed cabbage. Members =
came up with various recipes received from mothers and grandmothers and =
the correspondence went back and forth for quite a while until one =
member put his foot down and wrote:

=93We are out of stuffed cabbage! So what is next?=94=20

It really doesn=92t matter what=92s next, because as soon as I enter =
this site, and I suppose others feel the same way, I feel that I am back =
home in Czernowitz, the very first home I knew;. there were many other =
places which I called home later, but none of them shaped me into the =
person I became as the city of my birth did.. On this site I am part of =
the people who understand me, understand my language, my feelings and =
my very zany sense of humor.. =20

It=92s so good to belong.

Lucca
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Received on 2010-11-10 05:39:44