Re: [Cz-L]Culture and relations between the various Ethnic groups which lived in Czernowitz/Chernivtsi before WW2

Hi
You are right Miriam saying "there were no ghettoes and no absolutely
uniformly inhabited neighborhoods. and the schools were integrated
during the Austrian period and still mostly integrated during the
Romanian period, but, there is always a but I wnt to school at the L.3
Gymnasium still called by the Jews Das Juedische Gymnasium ad I don't
remeber a Gentile child in in our class. There may have been one or
two, but the Jews where the overwhelming majority. On the other hand,
there were very few Jews in the L. 1 Gymnasium and even less in
L.O.B.
L.E.G. was mixed.
In the corner of Dreifaltigkeitsgasse 17, where I was born, opposite
the Franzensgasse, then Waaggasse and Steingase up to the Mehlplatz
Jews were again the overwhelming majority, the Grocers were Jewish,
even the cobbler and repairman of the Primus were Jewish. The
superintendents (Hausmeisters) of the bulidings owned and inhabited
by Jews were Ruthenians, as well as the house personnel. We moved
then to Balschgasse and there was a mixed poulations, Jews and some
Rumanians.
Paul Heger

On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 6:44 PM, Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu> wrote:
>
> Dear Karolina,
> Dear Czernowitzers,
>
> I left Czernowitz/Chernivtsi when I was just 8 years old.
> Therefore anything I will write about this subject is as seen and
> remembered
> by a child, or surmised from what I read or heard my parents talk about.
>
> The major ethnic groups in the city after WW1 and before WW2 were:
> Jews - about 50% of the population.
> Ruthenians, Romanians, Germans, Poles and Armenians.
> Each ethnic group lived predominantly in its own neighborhoods and
> attended
> its own churches or synagogues, but there were no ghettoes and no
> absolutely
> uniformly inhabited neighborhoods.
> The schools were integrated during the Austrian period and still mostly
> integrated during the Romanian period.
>
> Personal close friendships between members of the various ethnic groups
> were
> rare, but not unknown. The same can be said about intermarriages.
> I know of only two mixed marriages among the acquaintances of my family.
> But professional people were judged and employed according to their
> abilities, without regard to their ethnicity.
> My family physician was Dr. Alexis Vladimir Zaloziecki, the head of the
> Ruthenian community, and the most highly respected physician in Czernowitz
> in the 1930ies.
> Our piano tuner was Polish. My nursemaid was German.
> In the factory of my grandparents, which produced Kosher processed meat
> and
> only had about 8 employees, one was Polish.
> Almost all people spoke some Ruthenian, they had to in order to
> communicate
> with the villagers who sold their produce at the market.
> Non-Jews who worked for Jewish families often spoke excellent Yiddish.
>
> When at the end of WW1 the population of Czernowitz had to vote on
> becoming
> part of Romania, both Jews and Ruthenians voted as one block against it.
> When Czernowitz did become part of Romania, the government instituted
> measures which discriminated against both Jews and Ruthenians.
>
> Aside from ethnic divisions, there were also divisions due to wealth and
> education. Czernowitz was a very snobbish city. People of divergent
> ethnicity, but higher education were more likely to be in friendly contact
> with each other.
>
> While there were generally speaking no close friendly relations between
> people of different ethnic background and while each ethnic group probably
> had some stereotypical views of other groups, there were no hostile
> relations or hostile actions between the various ethnic groups, till the
> late 1930ies; and these were between Romanians and Jews and largely due
> to the Romanian government and its functionaries.
>
> The Czernowitz Address books accessible on the Ehpes website contain
> the names of the heads of families, their professions and addresses.
> By careful analysis of names according to probable ethnicity and matching
> this information with profession and or address, it would be possible to
> determine the most common professions for each ethnic group and the extent
> to which they lived in separate neighborhoods.
>
> Please in responding to this Email, write to both Karolina and Cz.-List.
>
> Mimi
>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. As a result,
 Messages sent to the list are available to the general public within days
 of posting.

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.it.cornell.edu/services/elist/howto/user/leave.cfm>

To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to:
<owner-Czernowitz-L_at_list.cornell.edu>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on 2012-06-25 10:24:32