Re: [Cz-L] Soviet Czernowitz,

Serah is right; many could not leave Czernowitz, not in 1939 and not
in 1945 or 1946.
Before the war, after many attempts, my parents obtained a visa to
immigrate to Chile.
But my maternal grandfather refused to leave Czernowitz and my mother
would not leave him.
Many people in their thirties and forties had older parents who
refused to leave,
so they all stayed in Czernowitz.

After the war, some people did not leave because they had sons who
had retreated
with the Russian army at the beginning of the war and they were
waiting for these sons to return.
Others had elderly parents, who they felt could not be uprooted.
While very few, if any Jewish Czernowitzers wanted to live under
Communist Russian rule,
probably, many were not too happy at the thought of living in Romania.
They had just endured four years of Romanian persecution.
Both in 1939 - 40 and in 1945 - 46, the number of countries which
were willing to allow
Jewish refugees to immigrate was very small.

But I do not think that the story of Czernowitz is a typical story of
Jewish persecution.
The Jewish population of Czernowitz grew from a very small number at
the beginning
of the 19th century, to about 50 000 in 1940, or from a very low
percentage of the population,
to constituting more than 50% of it.
During the Austrian period their living conditions, level of
education and opportunities
for social and professional advancement improved tremendously.
In central Europe, only the Jews of Vienna, Budapest and Prague lived
on a comparable level.

Even during WW2, most Jewish Czernowitzers were luckier than Jews in
other parts of central
and eastern Europe.

Quite possibly, this is why so many of us still think and write about
Czernowitz and go to visit it.

Mimi

On Dec 22, 2012, at 9:12 AM, Jacob Greenberg wrote:

> Not everybody could leave. My parents couldn't and had to stay for
> another 30 years.
> Don't you think that the story of Chernowitz is a typical story of
> Jewish persecution?
>
> Serah Kraft
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "HARDY BREIER"
> <HARDY3_at_BEZEQINT.NET>
> To: "Miriam Taylor" <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>
> Cc: "CZERNOWITZ-L" <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 6:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Soviet Czernowitz,
>
>
>> After this long explanation : Do you agree with my comment ?
>> Hardy
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Miriam Taylor"
>> <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>
>> To: "HARDY BREIER" <HARDY3_at_bezeqint.net>
>> Cc: "CZERNOWITZ-L" <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
>> Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 9:47 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Soviet Czernowitz,
>>
>>
>>> Hardy, Since you referred to this photograph showing the worn faces
>>> of peasant women at a market as "the face of a nation" and wrote
>>> that
>>> this is why we left Czernowitz, I thought that you meant to say,
>>> that life
>>> in Czernowitz was hard and that is why we left.
>>>
>>> During the war and after it, life in Czernowitz was hard, our
>>> parents
>>> had experienced communist government in 1940 - 41 and knew
>>> what to expect if they staid.
>>> That is why we left.
>>>
>>> Before the war, life in Czernowitz was more or less reasonable.
>>> Jews could not obtain certain jobs, were not accepted at the school
>>> of medicine, were generally discriminated against and occasionally
>>> were murdered.
>>> My mother said that before the war, we were like the worm who
>>> bored a hole in the horse-radish root and once inside it, thought
>>> it was heaven. In 1938 and '39 many wanted to leave, but for one
>>> reason
>>> or another could not.
>>>
>>> Our grandparents or great-grandparents moved to Czernowitz
>>> because they believed that life there, was better than in the
>>> villages
>>> and little towns in which they were born. And for a while it was.
>>>
>>> Mimi
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Dec 17, 2012, at 12:31 PM, HARDY BREIER wrote:
>>>
>>>> What is hard physical work ?
>>>> I think you refer to a wrong picture.
>>>> Hardy
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Miriam Taylor"
>>>> <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>
>>>> To: "HARDY BREIER" <HARDY3_at_bezeqint.net>
>>>> Cc: "CZERNOWITZ-L" <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
>>>> Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 7:18 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Soviet Czernowitz,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> This is not the face of a nation, this is the face of hard
>>>>> physical work!
>>>>> And this is not why we left our beloved town.
>>>>> Otherwise our grandparents would not have settled there and our
>>>>> parents
>>>>> would have left as soon as they were old enough.
>>>>> In many ways it was much nicer to shop in the market than go
>>>>> to the supermarket.
>>>>> I still remember both the taste and the beauty of the fresh
>>>>> butter wrapped in a rhubarb leaf.
>>>>> Mimi
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Received on 2012-12-22 09:56:23