Re: [Cz-L] where are you from?

My mother, Pearl Spiegel Fichman's 1995 answer to this question, from the p=
reface to her book, Before Memories Fade:
---------------------------------------------------------------
To tell that I was born in Romania is correct, historically, yet my surroun=
dings, my first language, my first registered impressions, the first songs =
I sang, the first fairy tales told to me, the first jokes I heard and under=
stood - all those were German, based on the life of a province, of a town, =
of a family that existed within the Austrian culture. Up to the age of six,=
 when I started first grade, I did not understand a single word of Romanian=
. Growing up, the Romanian education went on side by side with the accustom=
ed life of before - no cutting off of the former, just adding another facet=
 to my life. I became bilingual by necessity, by circumstance.=20
 =20
As history intruded onto the scene, when I was 20, the Soviet Union took ov=
er the province where I lived and another layer was about to be added to th=
e former. The war and Nazi occupation brought a sharp interruption of the R=
ussian-Ukrainian scene and the Romanians came back for three years. As the =
Soviets returned in 1944, I lived under them another year and left Czernovi=
tz for good, in 1945. After an interim of two years in Bucharest, I came to=
 the United States for slightly over two years of studies and then settled =
for seven years in Israel. For the last thirty years, my home is in the Uni=
ted States, my language English. My native town has been Russian ever since=
 1944.=20
 =20
Now, considering layer upon layer of languages and cultures and regimes, ho=
w can I easily answer a seemingly simple question? As a rule, I say: "I was=
 born in Romania." This often calls forth a remark about liking gratar, mam=
aliga, red wine, ctuica and gypsy music and dancing the hora. Well, I reall=
y do not stem from that background. We liked different foods: we ate wiener=
 schnitzel and drank spritz - a mixture of wine and soda-, we listened to G=
erman classics, we enjoyed German literature, we loved the poetry of Schill=
er, Goethe, Heine; we sang songs by Schubert and Lehar, we danced to Straus=
s waltzes. "What kind of a fake Romanian are you?" would be a natural react=
ion. We followed the Austrian tradition because the area had been for gener=
ations part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, those were the customs familiar=
 to us. Little by little the Romanian customs started to appeal to the youn=
ger generation, yet old traditions are hard to erase, it takes generations =
for the new ones to set in.=20
 =20
"So what is the area now?" It is part of the Soviet Union now. In fact, Buk=
ovina was located in the North-Eastern corner of Romania and is now the Wes=
tern part of the Ukraine. Hard to explain to any person who does not exactl=
y follow the vagaries of European history in the 20th century. Instead of t=
rying to clarify this complicated matter orally, I rather take a detailed m=
ap of Europe and try, if possible, to clarify and show where all this took =
place.=20
----------------------------------------------------------------
Eytan

Eytan Fichman, AIA=20
B.Arch., M.Arch., Ed.M.
=20
42 / 11 Tran Binh Trong,
Hai Phong, Viet Nam

=20
-----Original Message-----
From: Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>
To: HARDY BREIER <HARDY3_at_BEZEQINT.NET>
Cc: cornel fleming <cornel.fleming_at_virgin.net>; 'Sylvia de Swaan' <sylvia.d=
eswaan_at_gmail.com>; 'Winters, Stephen' <Stephen.Winters_at_atlantichealth.org>;=
 'CZERNOWITZ-L' <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
Sent: Wed, Apr 27, 2011 2:47 am
Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Visit

Everywhere I go, whatever language I speak, with one exception,
eople ask me: Where are you from?
he exception is Austria. There are two possible explanations:
) I have a perfect Austrian accent, I certainly use Austrian =20
erminology.
) The Austrians are used to so many foreigners and they are too polite
o ask a stranger personal questions.
Germans and Swiss also often mistake me for an Austrian, but I am =20
areful
ot to use Yiddishisms except when speaking to Bukowiner.
Mimi

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Received on 2011-04-27 21:07:54