Czernowitzers, Boaz, Mark, Berti, Miriam,
I love this thread and am thrilled by your contributions. When my father passed away in 2001, he left his (unpublished) memoirs and the (published) letters of his father, i. e. my grandfather Elias Hauster from 1946-1949:
http://radautz.blogspot.com
These were answers to many questions - not asked, not asked by me, not asked by me in due time - and this hurt my father throughout his life. But he was anything but conflict-averse, neither in private nor in political matters, and therefore our relationship was difficult, to put it mildly. This applies equally to the relationship between my father and my grandfather. Let's try an insight into their world of thought on 07.04.1947 [
http://radautz.blogspot.com/2007/12/blog-post.html]:
„Unfortunately, I have fallen into a time when the most shattering tragedy of mankind is taking place, in that European culture received a deadly blow from the advance of the Steppe [synonym for the Soviet Union], comparable only to the Migration Period, which came to a halt only after 300 years. Driven from my home and my domestic existence, I became from the mental fine worker [under Austro-Hungarian reign] to the mud and water carrier, we live [in Radautz] in empty rooms with some crudely carpentered household appliances, our stuff is tattered, a son [Maximilian Hauster] is murdered [in Auschwitz], winters we suffered from cold, still now it is here early in the morning and at night sensitively chilly. Our hygiene (only ablutions, because we are "people without bath") is at the zero point in winter, as far as possible, the cold must replace the hygiene. I was forced to throw away part of my spiritual life in 1942 [under Greater Romania dicatatorship] for cornmeal, and part of it into the Steppe [see above]. Mother can't keep to a diet, we haven't seen bread for months. We can't spend 100,000 Lei for one kilogram of bread! You will therefore understand my hobbyhorse Palestine, because the instinct of self-preservation drives me away from the area of the Steppe [see above], which also affects the neighborhood [Socialist Romania]. The few years [two!] that remain for me for the earthly way of life, I would like to spend in a milieu where human rights and human dignity are respected.“
This letter and another hundred plus sparked my interest and passion for Bukovina and so I met Bruce for the first time in Amsterdam and got to know Jerome. It’s the wonderful Gaëlle Fisher who has written with such a cultural empathy on the subject in her book "Resettlers & Survivors":
https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/FisherResettlers
Admittedly, too late for my father, but not too late to share my thoughts with all of you. We must keep in mind that our parents and grandparents in Bukovina experienced the rise and fall of empires, occupying powers and nation-states: Austria-Hungary, Russian Tsarist Empire, Great Romania, Soviet Union, Great Romania alongside Nazi Germany, Ukraine.
The way parents and grandparents dealt with these experiences is very individual, but I think they all of them have a certain detachment in common, in a kind of know-it-all-manner [„besserwisserisch“, dear Berti]. This is especially true for those who survived the Holocaust in the region. With the exception of Austria-Hungary, which they are nostalgic for, from all other state authorities they have experienced only humiliations, hypocrisy, dispossessions, injuries and murders, so why should they show them any respect?
This rebellious attitude aka know-it-all-manner aka „besserwisserisch“ did not remain without consequences for the relationship with us, the following generations. When my father died in August 2001, apart from the Fall of Communism and the Revolutions of 1989, however being on the safe side of the [Berlin] Wall, what earth-shattering crises had I, born in Bucharest in 1957, experienced myself by then in Good Old Germany? Nine Eleven was still four weeks away, Afghanistan, Iraq, Financial crisis, Euro crisis, Corona and even Putin's brutal war of aggression on Ukraine were still far-away, chronologically and geographically. Now I am 65 years old, but who has experienced more history first hand, our parents and grandparents in Bukovina or me in the wide world?
Just my two cents, dear friends, back to you, warmest wishes and a good week!
Edgar Hauster [MacBook]
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From: bounce-126981763-8322570_at_list.cornell.edu <bounce-126981763-8322570_at_list.cornell.edu> on behalf of B W <weinboaz_at_gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2022 11:28
To: Czernowitz Discussion Group
Subject: [czernowitz-l] Question about Sadgura culture
Hi group,
My grandfather was born and raised in Sadgura until 1916 when he and family moved to Vienna. He then barely escaped in 1938. I met him several times. He didn’t tolerate disagreement well, especially on political matters. My father, now elderly, is hesitant to express his opinion on anything, and conflict avoidant, except on politics. He’ll steer conversations to politics and then give an uninformed, rigid political opinion - almost like a test of loyalty. I don’t understand these behaviors, and I wonder if it can be attributed to the jewish culture in sadgura or vienna of the time. Do these behaviors ring a bell? Thank you for any information.
Boaz
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This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of
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in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily
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Received on 2022-11-28 16:28:51