Introductions from the Czernowitz2006 Reunion Group

Part 4

[Ed. note: These messages are not in any particular order.  The replies may or may
not be present or near the message.  If your introduction is not here and you wish
it published here, just drop me an email (romers_at_shaw.ca) and tell me what the
message number is that I missed. ...the webperson]


=================================================================
--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, Renee Steinig <rsteinig@...> wrote:

Hello, all. Here's my saga...

Although born in western Galicia, my mother, Rose Fallik-Reifer Stern
(unfortunately, no known relation to Mimi!), spent her formative years in
Czernowitz and vicinity. In the early 1920s, after the deaths of both her
parents, she was brought to Neuzuczka to live with her father's sister,
Rivke Reifer Lehr, and family. My mother later went to school and then to
work in Czernowitz. The box full of photographs that she brought with
her to
America reflect the city's vibrant and sophisticated Jewish life and the
happy times she had as a "young single" in Czernowitz. Who knows?
Maybe some
of you on this list are related to some of the friends in her pictures.

My mother left Czernowitz for America in spring 1938. In New York she
met my
father, a refugee from Germany. Her Czernowitz-bred fluency in German
enabled their courtship and they married in 1941. I was born in New York
City in 1947 and have lived in the New York area ever since.

The Lehrs -- the uncle and aunt who were like parents to my mother
--perished in Transnistria; Isaac died in Chechelnik in Oct. 1941,
Rivka in
Bershad in Oct. 1942. Ironically, Isaac (born in Bojan) and Rivka had
emigrated from Europe c.1900. They met and married in New York City
and had
their first child, Samuel (Monu), there in 1908. After a disagreement with
relatives in New York, they returned to Bukowina in 1910. World War I and
then tightened immigration laws prevented them from coming back to the
U.S.
Life appears to have been difficult for them: Isaac, conscripted into the
Austrian army in World War I, was a prisoner of war, and two of the three
children born to the Lehrs in Neuzuczka between 1911 and 1923 died
young. In
1930, Sam, an American citizen by birth, came back to the U.S. to avoid
military service in Romania. His younger sister, Klara Lehr Kreisler, made
aliyah after the war and lived in Tel Aviv until her death in 2003. Every
Saturday morning she met her friends from Czernowitz for coffee.

My mother's sister Eda and brother Pinchas (Pinu), who had also come to
Czernowitz after their parents' deaths, remained there during after World
War II. Pinu married Sidy Thal, the actress in the Yiddish theatre,
and was
himself director or the like of the philharmonic orchestra. Pinu and Sidy
both died in Czernowitz in the 1980s and are buried in the Czernowitz
cemetery. Eda and her husband, Markus Scherzer, made aliyah in about 1990
and died in Ramat Gan.

My mother always corresponded with her sister in Czernowitz, but she was
afraid to write to her brother for many years after an incident in the
early
1950's: he was jailed briefly when censors picked up a reference in one of
their letters to the possibility (or impossibility?) of his coming to
America. My mother eventually made one trip back to Czernowitz. In
1978, at
the age of 70, she traveled there to see her brother and sister for the
first time in 40 years. At that time Czernowitz was off the Intourist
route,
and she had to wait months for special permission for an extended stay
there. My children were young so I was reluctant to join her on the trip.
I've always been sorry and look forward to finally having an
opportunity to
visit Czernowitz with people who once lived there.

An interesting episode in her last years was a reminder of the culture my
mother was part of. After a massive stroke in 1993 damaged her brain, she
was still very verbal, and she repeatedly told us a Yiddish story about a
conversation between a brush and a shoe (spat), ending "Oz du kenst on mir
nit glantsn, meg ikh, bruder, oyf dir tantsn!" ("Since you can't shine
without me, brother, I can dance on you!") We had never heard these words
before her illness and had no idea of their source. We eventually
discovered
it: "Di Barsht un der Kamash" (The Brush and the Spat), a parable by
Czernowitz writer Eliezer Steinbarg.

Some facts about me and my husband (both going on the trip):

Steve is an actuary and officer of the N.Y. Life Insurance Company,
where he
has worked for 40 years. I am a homemaker, active volunteer in our
community
(library board, synagogue board, etc.), and a professional genealogist --
the latter involvement an outgrowth of a 30-year obsession with
researching
my own family's roots. Steve and I met as students at Columbia and Barnard
Colleges, respectively, and have been married 39 years. We are the proud
parents of Karen and Deborah and the even prouder grandparents of Benjamin
(7), Samuel (almost 4), and Talia (2)

Languages: I can read, write, and understand some German; to a lesser
degree, read and understand French and Yiddish; and read prayer book (and
gravestone) Hebrew. Unfortunately, the only language in which I can
comfortably converse is English. Steve reads and understands some
Spanish; a
little German and Yiddish, and also, synagogue/cemetery Hebrew.

Renee

Renee Stern Steinig
Dix Hills (Long Island), New York, USA
========================================================

From: Gabriele Weissmann
<G.Weissmann@...>
Date: Thu Feb 23, 2006  10:35 am
Subject: (kein Betreff)
G.Weissmann@...

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Betreff:  Re: From Gaby
Datum:  Thu, 23 Feb 2006 08:52:58 -0500
Von:
An:

> Dear Group,
> Here I go:
> My name is Gabriele Weissmann.
> Residing in Berlin, Germany.
> Born in Bucharest in 1945. My parents had a crowd of Czernowitz friends
> and acquaintances in Bucharest,  so we had a group of young children
> with whom we met from time to time.Emigrated with parents to England in
> 1959. Lived in Bristol until 1964. Then went to London University to
> study Spanish. Got my
> BA in 1967 and fled from England to Geneva, where I worked in several
> international organizations. Then I met my childhood friend Eduard
> Weissmann, also of Czernowitz parents, now a musician, fell madly in
> love and married him in 1972, thus having to go to Berlin to live. I
> would have gone to the end of the world with him, but fortunately Berlin
> was nearer. The past weighed heavily on the city, the wall was present,
> the Germans trying to forget the war but not the wall, having big
> inhibitions when meeting Jews. But life was good, we were young and
> looking towards the future.
> I worked shortly as PA for the British Consul-General, then our daughter
> Nadine was born, one of the happiest events in life.She is now a
> fully-fledged opera-singer, mezzosoprano, and we are her proud parents.
> She has just returned from a big singing competition in Barcelona, with
> 3 prizes - one prize for a concert in Brazil next year, theWagner prize,
> and the 2nd prize of the competition (out of 250 singers!). Must be the
> Czernowitz genes.
> Later I worked for the Canadian Military Mission in Berlin for 16 years.
> Am now a lady of leisure, doing all sorts of household chores,
> correspondence, arranging
> meetings, travels, holidays, etc. Could open an office.
> Like many of you in the group, I spoke German at home and Romanian in
> school, thus having two mother tongues. French of course, in Romania a
> must, then
> we came to England where one had to speak English, the English being so
> insular about languages. And then I took Spanish because I was lazy and
> it was easy.
> That is about all about myself.
> Gabriele
======================================================

--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, Alexander Raviv
<ravivhaifa@...> wrote:

> Dear Miriam,
> In reply to your message 273 here are my answers:
>
> 1. Dr. Alexander Raviv
> 2. I was born in Czernowitz in 1932 as Alexander Ruebner.
> My parents left Czernowitz in 1934 for Bucharest and then
> returned to their hometown after the annexation of Northern
> Bukovina to the Soviet Union.
> After our return from Transnistria in 1944 I spent another
> two years in Czernowitz before going back to Bucharest.
> 3. Emigrated to Israel at the end of 1948 where I have lived
> since then (to the exception of the years 1963 - 1968 spent
> in France for studying purposes and where I also prepared
> my doctoral thesis).
>
> Best regards,
> Alexander
=======================================================

--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, "cornel fleming"
<cornel.fleming@...> wrote:

ok, iguess its my turn. born nov 36.   grew up in czernowitz. survived
the
war there because my mum did some work and study in bucarest and met and
became friends with one of romanias royal princesses....so when things
got
nasty we had a rum. army sentry outside..which kept a houseful of jews
alive.  my real father died in 1941, and i am trying to find his grave.
since he was living"underground" at the time i am not doing too well
so far
.   in 45 a czech army armoured train was based in czern. for a time
and my
mother met and married my stepfather, originally from pressburg...now
bratislava. we went with the train as it fought its way through to
czechoslovakia,  stayed for a while and when the reds became noisy we
migrated to australia.  did medicicine.then started travelling .
israel
for a while then england for a degree in aviation medicine, then back to
chel ha,avir. i have 3 ribbons on my uniform....6day war ,attrition
and yom
kippur.    was at ben gurion when sadat came, it all seemed peaceful
so went
travelling again and got stuck in england.....now have 2 offspring and
run a
large family practice in london.       and thats about it        cornel
============================================================

From: Gabriele Weissmann
<G.Weissmann@...>
Date: Mon Nov 14, 2005  2:45 am
Subject: Czernowitz for ever
G.Weissmann@...

Dear Czernowitzer,
Have just joined your group. We are two Czernowitzer "Kinder" of 2nd
generation, around 60 years old, we live in Berlin, Germany,my husband
is a cellist in the Deutsches-Symphonie-Orchester, I am now a housewife,
our daughter (3rd generation) Nadine is 31 years old and an opera
singer. My mother, Ria Gold nee
Meerbaum is almost 90 years old and lives here in Berlin. (Does anyone
have parents who know the family?)
We have visited Czernowitz 3 times already but would love to join the
group in May 2006 if possible at the time. There is a possibilty to
travel from Berlin
to Warsaw and Lviv by plane, and then from there 6 hours by bus to
Czernowitz. Maybe next year there will be other ways of getting there
more easily.
Would love to hear more about members and their background. Do let us know.
Sincerely,
Gabriele and Eduard Weissmann
============================================================

--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, alon <alonltd2@...> wrote:

Sorry for not having written earlier - We were renovating foro almost 2
weeks now our flat and had no internet connection.

My name is Danny Alon and I will be attending the reunion with my father ,
David. I am 33 years old, married + 2 children. I am a practicing
physician
(studied in Jerusalem). I was born in Israel and we live in Kefar
Sava. All
of my grandparents were born in Bukovina - 3 of them in Cz (Mosche
Ellenbogen, Paula Heitner and Oskar Rosenstock) and one in Sereth (Klara
Rosenthal).
My interest in Cz started long ago - in its unique cultural landscape and
its social, religious and linguistic diversity. I used to hear lots of
German as a child who spent many wonderful hours at his grandparents,
listening to fascinating stories regarding both the old hometown, the
deportations to Transnistria, the Aliya and the first years in Israel as
well as in the detention camps in Cyprus. I later learnd the language
professionally. Finding the Internet group and the planned reunion was a
true celebration.
I speak Hebrew, English and German. I do understand Yiddish quite well.
My father is an insurance agent and is 58 years old. My parents were both
born in British detention camps - at Atlit and in Cyprus. They live in
Petach - Tikva. My father's interest in Cz and in the journey has arisen
through mine. He is now very enthusiastic and is looking forward to seeing
the city, its surroundings and the jewish graveyard. He speaks Hebrew,
English, some German and good Yiddish. Upon reaching 18, he decided to
change his name from Ellenbogen to Alon in order to make it sound more
hebrew - according to the trend those days. We are all Alons ever since.

Looking forward to meeting you all,
Danny
====================================================

From: Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo@...>
Date: Thu Feb 23, 2006  2:27 pm
Subject: Personal introduction
mirtcz

From Mimi:

I was born in 1937 in Czernowitz as Miriam Reifer.
The Hebrew name was the idea of my maternal grandfather,
Saul-Leib Steinmetz, a very active member of the "Poalei Zion".
Except in school I have always been called Mimi.

My family and I managed to stay in Czernowitz during the war.
We lived on the Schmiedgasse (Str. Cronicarul Neculcea), close to
the NE corner of the Volksgarten. As a child, I played with Jerry Wolf
(Yossi Eshet), went to first and second grade with Arthur Rindner,
sled down the steep Dr. Fechnergasse, or some other street which
branches from the Brauhausgasse.

I speak English and Hebrew well, German and Yiddish - reasonably.
Romanian and Italian - very poorly.

I left Czernowitz in 1945, lived in Oradea Mare till the fall of 1947.
Then in Holland with the Aliyat Ha-Noar, till going to Israel in Feb. 1949.

Except for brief periods, I have lived in the US since 1959.
These periods included many extensive stays in Israel, a year in England
and one year in Italy.

I visited Chernivtsi in 2003 and 2004, - I could still find my way around
after 48 years!

I am married, have two sons and 3 grandchildren whom I adore.
I have a BA in Mathematics, but now spend much of my time
weaving 3D fabrics.

Most important of all, I love all things Czernowitz and Bukovina,
I can't help it, it is in my bones.
====================================================

--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, Bruce Reisch <bir1@...> wrote:

Dear Friends:

Though I will not be able to join you this coming May, let me
introduce myself anyway.

I was born in New York City in 1955, and live now in upstate New York
with my wife, Kim (an attorney and professional volunteer), and three
wonderful children (ages 18, 16 and 10).  My parents were also born
in New York City, but 3 of my four grandparents were born in Europe.
I am a professor at Cornell University working on grapevine genetics.

My father's family ties me to Bukovina.  My paternal grandmother and
her brothers and sisters all came from Radautz and told many tales
about Bukovina, some captured on audiotape. There were bakers,
carpenters and tailors in the family.  My father's father was from
Sadagora, where there were quite a few Reisch's.  After my
grandfather lost the first of his grandchildren in childbirth or soon
after, he went to the Sadagorer Rebbe in the 1950s, then on a visit
to New York City, to ask him for a prayer for the health of his next
grandchild.  Though our family was not Hasidic, there was still a
strong belief in the abilities of the Rebbe.  I learned about this
from the present day Sadagorer Rebbe when I visited with him in B'nei
Brak in 1999.

My grandparents and some great grandparents emigrated to New York
City between 1909 and 1920.  Through my genealogical research, I
learned about family that still remained in Europe during the
holocaust; some survived and many perished in Transnistria.  My
cousin Mendel Halpern wrote about his Transnistria experiences, which
are now found posted on the JewishGen Yizkor Book web site.  Some of
my Sadagora family lived for a time in Czernowitz, especially post
WWI and prior to emigration.

I visited Radauti, Sadagora, and Czernowitz (also Gura Humora and the
painted monasteries of Bukovina) in 1998.  Dr. Gaby Rinzler of
Florida helped greatly in planning my trip to Czernowitz.  During
this trip, I found houses where my family had lived, tombstones of my
great grandparents, and also found many archival records in both
Czernowitz and Radauti.  I wrote up my experiences and,at the urging
of the Sadagoran's United" discussion group, created ShtetLinks web
sites for each of my two shtetls.  See web sites listed below.

I've enjoyed the "Personal Introductions" series, and I'm going to
suggest we do the same on the Mother Group, Czernowitz-L@...

Warmest wishes,

Bruce Reisch
Geneva, New York
================================================

--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, Mark Heckman <mrheckman@...> wrote:

Ah, I totally forgot about my own introduction. Thanks for reminding
me, Joe.

My name is Mark Heckman. I live in Davis, California, where I am a
computer
scientist. I formerly lectured at the University of California, Davis,
but now
work in private industry doing research in the area of computer security.

My grandmother, Bertha Dondey (nee Wekser) and her family lived in
Horodenka,
Zastavna, and other towns in the area of Czernowitz (they moved around
a lot
-- every child was born in a different town). While she and most of her
siblings emigrated to the United States before WWI, her older brother
David
and his family were doing well financially and they stayed in Czernowitz.
David's daughter Dora was a classmate of Hedwig Brenner and later
married Rudy
Bruckenthal, whose family owned a bakery in Czernowitz, I believe. The
family
managed to hide in Czernowitz during WWII and avoid Transnistria, but
Dora's
brother, my cousin Alois (Louis) Wekser, was kidnapped into the army as a
young teenager by the Soviets. He survived the war, however, and
rejoined his
family in Czernowitz in 1945 or 1946. After the war they all managed
to get
across the border to Rumania and eventually, after several years in the
Dominican Republic, made their way to the United States. Louis and
Dora live
today near San Francisco and, although they cannot come with me to
Czernowitz,
they've given me some ideas about things to see.

I speak some German, some French, a few Yiddish swear words, and even some
Mandarin Chinese (which I don't expect to have much use for on this
trip, but
you never know). I will be accompanied by my girlfriend, Kathy Loretz.
Last
year we did a genealogy trip to her ancestral homeland in Uri Canton,
Switzerland, so this year she's coming along on mine!

--Mark
=======================================================

From: "flo heymann"
<floheymann@...>
Date: Wed Feb 22, 2006  2:24 am
Subject: RE: [czernowitz2006] Cz.
Personal introductions.
floheymann@...

Concerning the suggestion of Mimi here is my introduction to the groupe
My name is Florence Heymann. I am 56 years old, married with Jacky (Yaacov)
Heymann (originally from Strasbourg France, living in Israel since 1/964),
four children (Elinadav, Sarah, Vania and Anaëlle, two grand-children (Yair
and Eliyah). I live in Jerusalem and all my children too.
All my paternal family was from Czernowitz. My father wame to France in
1936. My maiden name is Herschmann, and we had also Feuer and Kramer in the
family.
My ties with Czernowitz were, in the beginning, a curiosity for my roots. I
was born in France (Nice) and we were, during all my life there (until 1980)
more French than the French people.
But in 1978, I decided to write my PhD thesis about the Jewish identities in
Czernowitz and I continue until now to write on the subject and also on
related matters, like constructions and deconstructions of religious
identities, but also familial identities, national identities, and so on.
I am writing nom a book about the Shoah in Transnistria (all my books are in
French and not translated until now). And I have also right now to write a
paper about the sport in Cz. If somebody have informations or something to
tell about this subject, it will be great.
All the best.
Florence Heymann
============================================================

From: "Salo and Ruth"
<saloandruth@...>
Date: Sun Feb 26, 2006  11:39 am
Subject: Personal introductions
salosherer2

My name is Salo Sherer formerly Scherer.  Born in Czernowitz in 1930.  I lived
at Mircea Voda Laterale # 4.  I had a wonderful life until 1941.   I was
deported to Transnictria in a forsaken place, Jurin. My father died there.   I
was introduced to Zionism in the ghetto.  In 1944 my friends who returned from
Transnictria formed a Zionist group, we left in 1946 from Czernowitz to Romania,
joined the Hahschara.  We were indoctrinated to the Hagana and after a long
journey, crossing illegally from border to border, ended up in Cyprus with the
Alia B.  Then joined the I D F.  My aunt in America, who was childless convinced
me to join her in Arizona.  I now live in California.  I remember leaving
Czernowitz with a heavy heart, but will never forget the autrocities committed
by localities and compatriots.  Due to my knowlege of German, Russian, Romanian,
Hebrew and English helped me and others to go through this long journey.  Sorry
I cannot join you.
==============================================================

--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, jfa2000@... wrote:

Hello, Renee --

Oh my goodness. The names in your "saga" ring several bells for me, as
they come up in my history as well. I am Jessica Falikman Attiyeh. My
cousin, Jerome Schatten (responsible for the Czernowitz website at
http//czernowitz.ehpes.com) whose paternal grandmother was Sali
Falikman, will also be reading your letter and seeing the familiar
names come forward.

Those names are "Fallik" which might possibly have been Falikman or
Falikmann at some earlier date (there's actually a Falik Falikman I've
got a record of); and Lehr, as I've come across a Rose Lehrer who
witnessed a Falikman death in the Holocaust archives. Then, Jane
Reifer, another long-time member of the Czernowitz conversation, has
been looking for Roessler in Czernowitz -- and so have Jerome and I.

So there are possibilities here, and dare I hope that they might bear
fruit for at least some of us.

I will search through my files to locate the Lehrer reference, and
will get back to you on that. Also I'd be glad to send you privately
my Falikman files if you would like to see the various Czernowitz
Falikman births/marriages/deaths that might or might not add to your
own family information.

Til later. Jessie Falikman Attiyeh
San Diego, CA
==========================================================

From: "S.Carlile" <s.carlile@...>
Date: Thu Feb 23, 2006  7:40 pm
Subject: Re: [czernowitz2006]
Personal introduction
s.carlile@...

Just to wish all of you a joyous reunion!  Even though my family is not
Jewish, I still feel I am amongst my own kind when I read your emails.  My
name is Viola Lena.  My mother's father was a Roman Catholic priest named
Johann Bojescu and he married Otilia Matilde Laufersweiler around 1926 or
so.  Otilia's step-mother attended the University of Czernovitz (must have
been around 1910 or so?) and was majoring in English and French.  She wrote
a book of poems and I have the edition that was published in German.

I am hoping to make a trip to Romania and possibly Ukraine in the summer of
'07.  Good luck to you all and it is so lovely to hear all about you.  I
can't wait to hear what your trips were like!

God bless you all!
Your 1948 born in Salzburg, Austria "cousin" - Vye
=============================================================
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