Dear Mimi, Cornel and the rest of of the group.
Though lately I became a somewhat silent member, I read every posting. From some of them I learn facts and history (not to forget the culinary secrets) of the city I was born and used to call home while from others anecdotal accounts, assumptions and references to somewhat questionable sources.
I deeply regret to inform you that the latest remarks by you was a slap in the face of the entire Soviet Jewry that was forced to flee Soviet Union starting with 1956 (through Poland) and continued till the beginning of this century. People who questioned the sufferings of the Jews during the Holocaust are called Holocaust deniers. What do you call people who don't believe in the existence of the Antisemitism in former Soviet Union and Ukraine in particular?
I am glad you had a great experience visiting Czernowitz. There always were are and will be decent people at any situation. And bringing foreign currency into the local economy would never hurt.
But don't make fun of us who lived there day in and day out, dealing with the "problem", while the Soviet life did not make us "happy".
OH, WE NEW OUR PLACE AND POSITION VERY WELL! we new to learn in the first grade that the girl you really like and want to be friends with has a secret - her father is in jail for istening to Kol Israel. If you want to be friends with her you will learn to keep her secret.
We knew that colleges in Ukraine are not for us. You needed to go far away were they were desperate for a few really talented students.
IF 2 % the students admitted to the University were Jewish, boy, that was a good year (in a city where 50% of the population were Jews)
We did not compete with the general population. We competed with each other for those few places.
Same situation was at the work place and everywhere around. You left or were taken away by your parents because you (or they) knew better than to stay behind. How soon have you forgotten.
Ask for the converts. There is a saying in the last 20 years or so that suddenly everybody discovered a Jewish grandmother. Interestingly it happened when the Soviet Union fell apart and despair and food shortage.
I live outside of Washington DC. It is a little known fact. But the a lot of "suddenly"Jews were trying to immigrate to US. Unfortunately INA
opened an special office with expert in Russian. Guess what? Most were forged documents (a friend of mine worked there).
Yes there are real converts and I respect them very much.
But lets be realistic. People convert for different reasons. It's their choice and their right. It's a different topic and has nothing to do with the Jewish life of today's Czernowitz
At the conclusion, I will not ask you to take off your pink shades and see the life and Czrnowitz as we had to experience it I and do admire your romantic notion, but please give us the courtesy of trusting our personal accounts.
Sincerely, Channa
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Received on 2014-10-21 13:20:14
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