Introductions from the Czernowitz2006 Reunion Group
Part 5
[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]
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From: Ethel Tillinger <ethelt@...>
Date: Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:07 pm
Subject: Re: [czernowitz2006]
Emailing: The Jews of Chernivtsi
ethelt@...
Dear Chernovitsers
I've been reading with envy your emails about your coming trip to
Czernowitz and wish I could accompany you. My parents lived in
Czeernowitz, my mother Paula Krumholtz was born there, my father
Naftalia Tillinger was born in Vishnits but came to Czernowitz as a
13 year apprentice to a furrier. They married and lived in Czernowitz
before being sent to Mogilev in Transnsitria.
I wonder if any of you knew them (they're both dead now) and you'll
most certainly walk the streets they walked. I visited Czernowitz and
Vishnits on my own in 1992 and would so love to be going with all of
you. I live in Australia and work as a therapist and counsellor so
getting away at such short notice is impossible but my heart is
travelling with you and I'm drinking up all the stories about life in
Czernowitz.
Thank you for the slender email links (I feel like an illegal
listener so I thought I'd tell you I was here).
Warm regards
Ethel Tillinger
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--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, "victoriaguider"
<victoriaguider@...> wrote:
My name is Sharon Fitch. I currently live in Ottawa, Canada. Both my
grandmothers came from Chotin, with other relatives coming from
Czernowitz. My husband's ancestors came from Suceava, thus my interest
in both those locations. I will be traveling with my husband's cousin
Johan, who is from Maastricht, Netherlands. I speak English, French,
German and Yiddish (the last 2 not well). Names I am researching
include: Feiczewicz , Grover, Wiseman, Frankel, Poylisher. I have long
dreamed of visiting our ancestral towns. I am looking forward to
meeting some of you and learning about this area.
--- End forwarded message ---
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--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, Adrian Barbu
<adrianbarbu@...>
wrote:
Kind regards from Geneva in Switzerland.
Just another country on a long journey. My parents, Herbert and Minna
Berler (Haber) left Czernowitz in 1945 for Bucharest, settled in
Duesseldorf in 1970. My father was a lawyer and worked many years as a
journalist. Names such as Berler, Hubner, Hollinger, Wiznitzer,
Pistiner, Allerhand, Nachbar belong to the tribe.
I graduated in Aachen, got my Ph.D. there as well followed by an MBA in
Fontainebleau, France. In 1978 I came for a short assignment to Geneva
and never left since. My group of companies is active in the healthcare
field, from healthcare delivery to pharmaceutical industry.
My wife
Mirela (born Nachbar) is an M.D. with roots in Czernowitz /
Banila as
well. Both my sons are born in Geneva. Roy studied Business and
Marketing in the US and lives in Florida and participates in our
operations there, Daniel graduated last year in Geneva and teaches
Ancient History and History of Religions at the University in Lausanne.
I did visit Czernowitz about five years ago with my mother. She
couldn't understand that there was a border between Romania and the
Ukraine. She told it laud enough when we crossed the border and I was
happy to cross the border back as a free man\uffff
Hope to be able to make it to your meeting in May. So long, Adrian
Barbu-Berler
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--- In czernowitz2006@yahoogroups.com, "David Glynn"
<glynn@...> wrote:
Personal Introduction from David Glynn
I was born in London in 1950. I studied Mathematics at Cambridge,
and
am an Engineering Consultant specialising in Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD). We simulate fluid flows on the computer - if you
are
interested you can find out more on www.flowsolve.com. My brother
Michael is a consultant physician and gastroenterologist at one of the
London teaching hospitals, and has 3 girls aged between 4 and 12.
My mother Erica is the Czernowitzer in my immediate family. She
was
born there as Erika Grunberg in 1923. Her father, Rafael Grunberg,
she never knew - beyond the fact that he came from Radautz, we know
nothing about the Grunbergs at all. My mother lived with her
brother
Leander, mother Amalia, grandfather Schulem Landau and uncle "Nola"
Landau, in a succession of very small flats in the Reissgasse, the
Siebenburgerstrasse and the Kathedralgasse. Nola had trained as a
doctor in Prague - one room in the flat was his surgery, and doubled
as a (multiple) bedroom at night. Before WW1 the Landaus had
lived in
Eisenau in the Southern Bukowina, where they ran the local shop - of
Schulem's parents and family we know nothing. Erica's grandmother
Chana died on a visit to Breslau when Erica was only 2 - she was born
a Peretz. Our wider family in Czernowitz were the Peretz's (they
were
originally from Itzkany).
Erica went first to the Meislerschule, then won a stiff competitive
examination to the Oltea Doamna (the best state Gymnasium for girls) -
this was initially near the Meislerschule in the Landhausgasse, then
moved in 1937 to the Siebenburgerstrasse. I suspect that during
the
war, this building became the Yiddish school that Mimi and Arthur
attended. (Any information as to what happened to the Oltea Doamna
would be welcome!)
My grandmother Amalia had two sisters, both extremely close - Gusta
who married Lazar Schaechter, and Netka, whose first husband was Adolf
Fleischer (his brother owned the Kapitol cinema in the Herrengasse),
her second was Max Gelband who ran a prosperous shoe shop in the
Hauptstrasse. These two aunts each had a daughter - Gusta's
daughter
was Franceska (Franzi), Netka's was Anny. The family was always
extremely close, and Erica, Franzi and Anny have been like sisters all
their lives.
My mother's family was extremely poor, and how they managed to leave
Czernowitz is an interesting story. My aunt Franzi was a great
beauty. At the age of 16 she was at a dance in the Cafe de
l'Europe
in the Herrengasse, and was introduced to a very wealthy Polish
businessman who happened to be visiting Czernowitz. He was
smitten,
and within months they were married - after an exotic honeymoon in
Egypt, she went to live in Warsaw. In 1937 tragedy struck - her
husband died, leaving her a wealthy widow at the age of 21. She
now
had the means for the family to emigrate, and her uncle Nola had the
vision to make it happen. First he sent Erica to school in
Switzerland in 1937 - then in 1938 he, Erica, Franzi, together
with
Erica's mother and brother Leander came to London.
My mother studied chemistry at Kings College, London - the university
was evacuated to Bristol, where the bombing proved to be worse than in
London! She took a PhD and became an industrial chemist, and
later a
university lecturer in science education. She met my father at a
party to celebrate the end of the war, and they spent 56 happy years
together. Leander, who had studied pharmacy at Bucharest and
natural
science at Prague (and had spent a year at the La Tei pharmacy at
Dreifaltigkeitsgasse 37a in Czernowitz), went on to study oil
engineering at Birmingham, and eventually became head of the Fluids
Section at the National Engineering Laboratory in Scotland.
Not all the family escaped Czernowitz in time. Extraordinarily,
Franzi's parents Gusta and her husband went back to Czernowitz from
England just before war broke out. My other great aunt Netka
stayed
with her husband Max. They all had a chequered time during the
war,
but managed to survive and to avoid being deported. Anny had a
very
difficult time and made her way to Palestine, she now has a large and
happy family in Israel.
I have said more about the family than about myself, but I feel that
it is our Czernowitz connections that are likely to be of the greatest
interest.
We often visited my mother's exceptionally close and German-speaking
family, and to me Czernowitz has always been a familiar concept, but I
knew absolutely nothing about it. And I could find out nothing
about
it, since no books in England seemed to make any reference to the
Bukowina at all. It was only with the advent of the internet that
Czernowitz began to take a concrete shape in my mind, and I have been
amazed by the flood of information to be found there. I am looking
forward to the reunion, my first visit to Czernowitz, as an
opportunity to understand more of the context from which the family
came.
David
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From: "nitai riegler" <nitaiir@...>
Date: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:26 pm
Subject: reunion cz2006
nitaiir
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My name is nitai riegler born in tel aviv in 1958,I am a physician
currently living in westport, ct. usa. my father is manfred [fredi]
riegler born in cz. in 1923 currently living in tel aviv & vienna.
my parents & myself will be travelling to the reunion. I am booked
on
the os flight from vienna to leviv on 5/18. I saw a message about a
bus to cz. I hope this is for the 18th. otherwise if there is anyone
else arriving on that day I would love to share a ride to cz. my
parents are coming in via kiev by train. we may aso be joined by our
cousin herta rauchwerger born in cz in 1933. we are all very excited
&
looking forward to the trip. please let me know if additonal
registration is required also I would appreciate confirmation
regarding the transportation from leviv to cz. on 5/18. thank you,
nitai.
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From: MyRetreat2@...
Date: Wed Jan 18, 2006 7:23 pm
Subject: Hello from a new member of
the Czernowitz 2006 group!
MyRetreat2@...
Send EmailSend Email
Hi everyone!
My name is Cora Schwartz and I will be joining the group in Czernowitz
in
May. I would like to take this opportunity to tell everyone about
myself as I
have been to Czernowitz many times with my late husband, Rudy
Koenig who was
born in Czernowitz in 1930 and immigrated to American is 1959. I would
therefore hope to be of help to anyone who needs it.
Please take a few minutes to read the following and let me know what you
think:
I am Jewish and live in New York. I am a Behavioral
Psychologist who is
"semi" retired. I own a retreat up in the Catskill Mountains
which is mainly
for writers and artists in the city who need a place to work. I
mention the
retreat because, as you will see from my website it is dedicated
to Olga
Kobylianska, the famous writer who lived in
Czernowitz. I have been doing
indepth
research over the past few years about Olga (more on this later.)
I am also a writer and photographer who has been published in various
literary journals over the years. I have recently completed
a novel based on
true
life; my life with Rudy who was a camp survivor in
Transnystra. We lived
together for 25 years and traveled to Eastern Europe, mostly
Czernovisti and
Mogeliv almost every year. At first, when it was part of
Russia, we brought
money and things for his elderly family to sell on the black
market. Rudy's
life here in New York was geared toward one goal, and one goal
only: GOING
HOME! No sooner had one trip ended then he started planning
for the next. All
this is of course explained in my novel (for which I am starting
to look for
an agent/publisher)
I have so much more to say but I will end by telling you that I
knew what
Czernowitz meant to Rudy. In many ways he was trying to recapture
his
childhood there and I never saw him as happy as he was walking
the streets of
Czernowitz. So now, as a writer and photographer I have become
very interested
in
people who have built new lives and lived their lives in other
countries, but
still have the need to GO HOME.....therefore I hope you can see
why this
reunion is so important to me. I would like to take pictures
(perhaps make a
video) and interview folks as they visit Czernowitz and
remember. I await your
replies on all this. Please send your emails to me at
_myretreat2@..._
(mailto:myretreat2@...) I am having trouble getting onto
the website but
will keep trying.
The prospects of being with the group are very exciting and important
to me.
I will help in any way that I can. Please take this into
consideration.
Sincerely
Cora
======================================================
From: "Robert Burton"
<robert.burton@...>
Date: Thu Mar 2, 2006 7:52 am
Subject: Fw: [czernowitz2006] Cz.
personal introduction
rlburton4545
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For special attention of Mimi Taylor & Marianne Hirsch
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Burton
To: Renee Steinig
Cc: Morry Silber ; Julia Drylewicz
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: [czernowitz2006] Cz. personal introduction
Your Rivke Lehr may have been related to my grandmother Rachel (Regina,
who
married Meir/Max Kula). My information is that Noah Lehr and Leah
(Lotte)
Steinmetz Lehr - her parents, my great grandparents - had 8 children -
my
grandmother, RIFKA, Karl, Sigmund, Bertha (m. to Jacob Rubel, the Rubel
name has
appeared in messages), Sarah (Sidonia), Lazar (Loniu who is said to
have died in1920 in
Vienna) and Jacob. However, when you write Rivke Reifer Lehr, it
suggests that the maiden name was Reifer, and the relationship - if any
- would
be through Rivke's husband. I believe there may have been more than one
family
Lehr. Perhaps you might provide more information, and we can see if we
are
cousins.
My family history has many stories - too many for right now. For me,
the BIG ONE
is that my parents, Susana Lehr Kula, who married Friedrich
Budabin (Frederick
Burton) were two of the 700 Jews allowed into Canada in the run-up to
and duringthe war.
I have their September 4 letter home that war was declared "yesterday".
My father told me that they felt they had to change the name becauseit
was too
German sounding. They arrived in Canada - via New York - on
August 27, 1939,
and one week before the war started. Their parents finally got out in
1942 -43
via Constanza (the Romanian Black Sea port), Constantinople, Cyprus and
thence
to Palestine, and after the war, here to Toronto.
The family is in Canada, Australia, Sweden, England, Israel & the
USA - and I am
sure many other countries as well. I am copying this to Morry Silber
(Australia)
and Julia Drylewicz (France) - Morry, I know is related; Julia, we have
not been
able to establish a relationship, and perhaps you or Mimi Taylor can
provide
some more information that links us all.
Regards,
Bob
Robert Burton
Burton-Lesbury Holdings Limited/
Cobob Holdings Limited
307 Sheppard Avenue East
Toronto, ON M2N 3B3
416 226 6895 Ext 29, Fax 416 223 0321
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From: Shellie Wiener <s_wiener@...>
Date: Thu Mar 2, 2006 9:20 am
Subject: Re: Introductions
s_wiener
Hi, all,
Although I am not able to join you this spring in
Czernowitz, my thoughts are with you. My immediate
family having lived in Wiznitsa, Sanok, Putila, and
other nothern Bukovinian villages and also many from
the southern Bukovinian town of Dorna Vatra, I cannot
say with any certainty that I had family living in
Czernowitz.
And yet, you give voice to a place and time that means
a great deal to me. Since I have no first hand
knowledge or memories to share, I have mostly been a
silent participant in the group planning process.
Yet, your experience gives me hope that I will one day
have time and funds to take this same trip [and of
course, I will have benefited from your trials and
tribulations - even as to which hotel.]
In the books referenced for reading in preparation to
the trip, I see that the book compiled by Felicia
Steigman Carmelly, my third cousin - "Shattered!
50 Years of Silence: History and Voices
of the Tragedy in Romania and Transnistria" is
recommended. This book is heart-breaking for me, as
both of Felicia's Rubinger grandmothers were first
cousins to each other as well as to my paternal
grandmother. In fact, until I read it three years ago
I didn't even know that Felicia existed. [My
grandmother had 55 first cousins just on her father's
side!]
Nonetheless, I was born in Brooklyn to American-born
parents - my grandparents having left Kolomea and
Dorna before 1920. I have always assumed that
Czernowitz was a larger and more active city than
Kolomea. While my Kolomea grandfather's surname was
Windwehr, there were Rubingers in Kolomea as well as
Bukovina. Without a doubt, all Rubingers are related.
I have relatives in Israel, Australia, Canada,
Europe, Argentina and Brazil and the U.S. Jane Reifer
and I have not spoken in a while but her family is
intermarried with 4th & 5th cousins of mine.
For almost 20 years I have lived in San Francisco with
my husband and two sons. My older son was born on
April 20 - which was Hitler's birthday, as well. When
the two boys killed students at Columbine HS in
Colorado on April 20, 1999, they left a note about
celebrating Hitler's birthday. This was talked about
often at the time, and mu son now hates his birthday.
I have mentioned that like the idea of the Messiah
being born on Tish B'Av, perhaps he is destined to do
some good in the world.
So, if you have any comments about Kolomea vs.
Czernowitz or any thing to say that is encouraging
about sharing a birthday with the most reviled person
on the planet, please drop me a note.
I remain a staunch Czernowitz supporter and wish you
only the best for the trip and for always.
Shellie Wiener
San Francisco, CA
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