Re: [Cz-L] Waiting to get out of there.

Dear all, Leo and I describe this period in some detail in Ghosts of Home. In order to leave in 1945, people had to have papers proving they were from Southern Bukowina or other areas of Romania. My parents managed to acquire some valid papers belonging to a family who had been killed in Transnistria. When they claimed the passes allowing them to cross the Romanian border, they had to prove these false identities, all this under severe risk. They got out via Siret, but the rest of the family stayed until 1946. In the book, we speculate why the Soviets opened the borders in 46. We also tell the story of some other families's departures. See also the memoirs of Pearl Fichman, Hedwig Brenner and my father Carl Hirsch (available on www.ghostsofhome.com).

Thank you , MImi, for collecting these accounts which give so much depth and texture to this very confused period.

Marianne
On Mar 12, 2011, at 7:43 PM, Miriam Taylor wrote:

> Thanks to all, who replied to my question as to when and how, those who were
> born in Czernowitz and survived the war, managed to get out of the USSR.
>
> Those who answered my question, wrote (I abbreviate some answers):
>
> Frieda Tabak: We left Cz in the fall of 1945 for Poland.
>
> Kurt Nachman: My mother left legally in 1945 to "reunite" with her my
> brother in Bucharest. At that time there was a short period of "open
> borders" with the East Block countries for family reunion after the war. It
> was quite straightforward - you only had to demonstrate that you have
> family in satellite countries.
> I myself remained in Czernowitz and left for Rumania in 1955.
>
> Gabi Rinzler: I left with my parents in April of 1946 via Siret. that night
> they closed the border.
>
> Asher Turtel: I was about 4 years old, our family had planned to try to
> cross the border illegally. One evening we put our few belongings
> on a truck (me seating with my mother on the truck behind the drivers cabin)
> and headed to the border. Arriving there we discovered that there are
> soldiers (Rumanian? Russian?) there. The next day we returned the same way
> and succeeded to cross and arrived to Seret. The reason for doing it
> illegally, was that the Russian authorities demanded everyone to enlist and
> my father was sure that there will be executions according to those lists.
>
> Lucca: I left Czernowitz with my parents in 1946. All our belongings were
> placed on a cart drawn by a single tired horse.
>
> Eytan: My mother left Bucharest for Prague, on her way to Paris and then the
> USA on September 10, 1947. My father (born in Lipcani but raised in
> Czernowitz) left for Palestine in 1944 on a smuggler's boat.
>
> Please excuse me if I missed anyone.
>
> As I remember the events of 1944, 1945 and the possibilities for leaving
> the Soviet "Paradise" and our hometown of Czernowitz which had become
> Czernovtsi, were these:
> Before the liberation, the only Jewish people who could leave Czernowitz,
> were those who had been subscripted by the Romanian authorities for "munca"
> (work) on the highway, or rail being built somewhere in the south of
> Romania. One of my uncles, Yehoshua (Schiku) Steinmetz, was somewhere on
> munca, my parents found a way of bribing the authorities and he managed to
> get to Palestine in 1944, I believe, before Romania's surrender. Possibly,
> he was on the same boat as Eytan's father.
>
> Even though, greatly relieved at no longer being under Romanian fascist
> rule, most Czernowitz Jews had learned their lesson in 1940-41 and wanted to
> get out. Some were afraid of being drafted into the Soviet army in 1944 and
> early 1945, some had good reasons to be afraid they would be sent to the
> Dombas region, some just had had enough of "Tovaresh Stalin".
>
> During the early summer of 1945, the border was opened briefly to allow
> those who claimed to be from southern Bucovina, to return to their homes.
> All those who wanted to leave had to gather in Tereblesti, from where they
> would be allowed to cross to Siret. My family and I and some other family,
> rented a horse and cart to take us to Tereblesti. At Hliboka we were joined
> by other Czernowitzers, who worked at the Methyl Alcohol (Spirtus )factory
> in that village. From Hliboka to Tereblesti we walked in order to spare the
> horse. As I was told, 12000 Jewish Czernowitzers waited a few days in
> Tereblesti, before being allowed to cross the border. During that waiting
> period, most people slept in one large barn and a number of babies were
> born, also a number of death occurred. Each person was searched for jewelry
> and money, before being allowed to cross, gold watches, in particular were
> confiscated by the border guards. Hasty arrangements had to be made to have
> someone from Romania to come with a cart to the border, in order to pick up
> the Czernowitzers crossing on foot.
>
> Of those who could have left at that time, but chose to remain, some were
> waiting for the return of relatives from the interior of the USSR, some did
> not want to leave their homes, some may have had various personal reasons.
>
> I have no definite knowledge of the number of native Jewish Czernowitzers
> who remained in town after 1945, but estimate the following: Before 1940,
> there were about 50 000 Jews in Czernowitz. I think that about 2000 were
> deported to Siberia in 1940-41. Up to a thousand, either left with the
> Russians when the war started, or were murdered by the Romanian army and
> gendarmes. About 20 000 received permission to stay in town during the war.
> Of the approximately 27000 who were deported to Transnistria, only about
> 17 000 returned and some of these were drafted into the Soviet army and died
> shortly afterwards. In 1944-45 a few hundred managed to cross the border
> Illegally. This would mean that in 1945 there were in Czernowitz about 36000
> native Jewish Czernowitzers. If 12 000 crossed into Romania in 1945 and a
> similar number in 1946, then about 12 000 would have remained.
>
> If anyone has correct, accurate numbers, instead of my estimates, please
> make these know.
>
> Mimi
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Received on 2011-03-13 06:15:01