Dear friends,
Today I was informed by a good friend of hers, Christel Wollman-Fiedler,
a photographer and author from Berlin,that our 98-year old Hedwig
Brenner, our doyenne,passed away last night after a short fight between
life and death. She has been a wonderful person, with a strong and
lively personality, interested in people's lives. She had a phantastic
memory, remembering her years in Czernowitz and knew at least half of
the population, she could tell you hundreds of names and who they were
and what they had been doing...Christel has spent every year visiting
Hedwig, staying with her for one month every time, discussing with her,
helping and opening a window to the future.. She published a few
pamphlets and wrote about her in "Die Stimme" and was notably the
person who recommended Hedwig for the high German and Austrian Medals
of Honour a few years ago. All this so late in Hedwig's life.
During the war, with an enormous courage, which only youth and
determination can give, Hedwig went to the German Kommandatur in
Czernowitz and asked to speak to the Kommandant. By an incredible
coincidence, the Kommandant had studied in Prague at the same time as
Hedwig's husband, and had known him! She thus achieved the release of
her husband. A frightening and beautiful story which she loved to tell.
Hedwig has spent many years of her later life, writing several books
about her life, about Czernowitz, about many people she had met during
her long existence....And then she started writing biographies of Jewish
women in ...painting, architecture, etc. A big task and she did it
wonderfully. We can be so proud of her.
Up to the last weeks, she loved talking, interested in a multitude of
things and as we know, her book on" Jewish Women in Music and Dance" has
just been published. She had spent the last years of her life hearing
and seeing badly, but in spite of this had worked continuously to finish
this, not her last project. She intended to start a new one on Jewish
actresses. She was full of life, loved to entertain, especially persons
with Czernowitz ties, made her famous Cz. Schmettentorte, and even
yesterday she posted a comment on our List. There is still much to tell
about her. Many follow-ups from persons who have known her personally
will probably follow soon. A big loss.
Gabriele
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Received on 2017-01-23 08:04:26