Re: [Cz-L]Popovici authorizations

We are not concerned with the general Character of Traian Popovici, only
with his deeds to save the Jews of Czernowitz. There is no doubt that it was
he who initiated the efforts to allow at least part of the Jewish population
to remain in the city. All stories that he did so in order to benefit
financially, are neither documented or verifiable.

I do not believe that "there are two sides to everything", many of the
Romanian government, military and police officials behaved abominably and
there are no excuses and mitigating circumstances to make us forgive
intentional murder. Some Romanian civilians and soldiers occasionally
protected Jews because they felt sorry for them, or because it suited them.
For instance, the Romanian who had taken over the factory owned by my
family, needed my father and uncle to run the factory for him and let us
live with him in his apartment for some time in December 1941. But when an
ordinance was issued that Romanians hiding Jews would be severely punished,
he told us one evening that we could not stay in his apartment that night.

A Jewish family was living on the "Partere" floor in the same apartment
building, my mother took me with her when she went down to ask if we could
stay that night with them. The husband said that we could NOT stay with
them, it would endanger them, but the wife said that we could stay and so we
did.

Mimi

On 1/15/11 12:11 PM, "Dana Dimitriu" <dana.dimitriu_at_web.de> wrote:

> Good evening,
>
> both Popovici authorizations and Obodovca are part of my family story -
> strange coincidence ...
>
> My grandfather, Ernst TAMLER, managed to obtain a Popovici authorization for
> himself, his wife Olga, born MIZRACH, and his daughter Adriana - my mother.
> Without this permit I guess I would not be here to write this email :-) Opapa
> was assigned to work in the sugar factory in Zarojani. My mother tells the
> story of him coming home from the factory every now and then although he did
> not have permission to do so. He came on a cart with a peasant and one day the
> cart was stopped by a Romanian officer who wanted a ride to a place on the
> road - Opapa thought he was in for it as the peasant was surely going to
> denounce him? All the way until he got off, the officer bragged about his
> doings, including of course all sorts of "activities" regarding the "jidani" -
> but the peasant just kept his mouth shut and never said a word ...
>
> On the other hand, my great-grandmother, Sabina TAMLER, born NEUMANN, widowed,
> was deported to Transnistria in October 1940 from Zastavna together with her
> younger brother Otto NEUMANN and his wife Regine and his children Irene and
> Martin. Sabinas youngest daughter, Edith, decided to accompany her mother even
> though being married to a Christian she would have been spared the deportation
> at that point. She left her husband Julian DRABIC and her newborn daughter
> behind - and is the only one of the deported family who survived, and the
> reason why I know the story. Sabina and Otto and his family died in Obodovka
> of typhus, probably in January 1941. Edith also had typhus - but being barely
> over 19 she was probably strong enough. Her husband managed to bring her back
> from Obodovka, for which he later had to pay dearly - the Soviets accused him
> of collaboration with the Romanians (how else could he have succeeded in
> getting his wife back from Transnistria?) and after a secret military trial
> sent him to Siberia for 17 years.
>
> So far I have never come across anybody mentioning Obodovca, I am wondering
> Emil if you would be willing to share your stories?
>
> Regarding saints / sinners / other such categories ... I do not believe in
> people being only good / only bad / only wise / etc. - there are two sides to
> everything and everybody in this world. Some people behave decently under
> normal circumstances but turn into abominable characters when put under
> pressure - yet for others, difficult or critical situations bring out the best
> in them. I mean no disrespect - I only think it is difficult to know
> beforehand - and after facts have been consumed, nothing can be changed. I am
> sure Traian Popovici was not a saint who did only right - but I think what
> matters is that he stood up to help people - how many of them is secondary, as
> the saying goes „Wer auch immer ein einziges Leben rettet, der ist, als ob er
> die ganze Welt gerettet hätte” - "whoever saves a single life, it is
> considered as if he had saved the entire world".
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Dana Dimitriu
>
> Wiesbaden, DE
> Email dana.dimitriu_at_web.de
> Fax +49-3212-3262367
> --
> Researching: BRECHMAN, BOLCHOVER, FISCHMAN(N), HALPERN, MIZRACH, NEUMAN(N),
> RABINOVICI, SCHERZ, TAMLER
> in: Ataki, Gan Yavne, Husiatyn, Kopyczynce, Kozmin, New York, Prague, Putila,
> Rhode Island, Salvador de Bahia, Sereth, Tel-Aviv/Jaffa, Vienna, Zastavna
> --
>
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

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Received on 2011-01-15 21:47:38