| Hi Berti As always it’s a delight to read your contribution- a veritable treasure of information of cultural characteristics and historical facts from the Bukovina. Especially interesting from someone with memories of those days. I miss similar conversations with my mother Cecilia (born in Cz in 1918). Thanks for replying to Boaz’s difficult question. Miriam Suss Hi
Boaz,
I
suppose that nobody from the group even considered answering your question. Up
to now all second or third generation Czernowitzers were interested in
information about the whereabouts of their ancestors, births, marriages, deaths, families,
careers etc. All about facts. There are of course personal stories collected on
Ehpes, stories that might give an opening to character traits of some parents or
great parents, but your question is so generally formulated that I doubt there
is an intelligent answer to it. Still, I decided to make a try of isolating some
variables of this complex endeavor, because I don’t quite have other things to
do, and given my age I might be one of the few who have personal memories about
the cultures you refer to.
I
am placed locally and temporarily on the line between Sadagura and Vienna. I/e.
born in Czernowitz 1929, half generation between your father and grandfather, geographically
and more important culturally, also in a town between them. The gradient from a
religiously traditional Jewish society of Sadagura to one more liberal, assimilated,
although still mostly concentrated in Leopoldstadt (the 2. Bezirk also called
Judenstadt at that time), passed through Czern., which had both characteristics,
in time and culturally, proceeding from Sadagura to Vienna.
The
Yiddish _expression_ for not giving in, in disputes is to be an Akschen. The royal
court of the Sadagura Rebbe, the internal fights and family disputes, the case
of the son Bereniu who was brought back to the court by force over the frontier
from Suceava (Rumania), are examples of this trait. You may look up the History
of the Jews of Bukovina by Gold.
As
to Vienna, when I arrived in Israel in 1950, I heard for the first time the
_expression_ “Besserwisser”, meaning somebody who knows better, indifferently of
what arguments you bring along. It was particularly targeted at Jews coming
from Vienna and I had the occasion to prove the assessment personally. A Viennese
Jew always knew better – decades later I could confirm from personal experience
that the phenomenon was not limited to Jews, a good part of the population of
the city “knew better”. Not my personal friends though.
All
this is of course to be taken with a grain of salt, it probably was quite
standard in the region and at the time.
I
suppose the more important cause of the difference of opinion you refer to should
be attributed to the generation gap. Your father might have accepted and continued
the political opinions of your grandparent but refused to be himself intolerant
and as you write, avoiding conflicts that your grandfather would have pleasure
to express. Father/son conflicts are often resolved by partial identification (political)
and practical opposite behavior i.e., being a nice person.
What
shaped the characters of both men will probably mostly remain in the dark. I am
still working at the causes in my own life. You really have all the time
to ponder about your roots.
Best,
Berti. 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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-- Wo Es war, soll Ich sein.
This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of
Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions expressed
in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily
the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members
or entities connected with this mailing list. The Czernowitz-L list has
an associated web site at http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a
searchable archive of all messages posted to this list. Beginning in 2021,
archived messages can be found at:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
To send mail to the list, address it to <[email protected]>.
To remove your address from this e-list follow these directions.
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This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of
Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions expressed
in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily
the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members
or entities connected with this mailing list. The Czernowitz-L list has
an associated web site at http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a
searchable archive of all messages posted to this list. Beginning in 2021,
archived messages can be found at:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
To send mail to the list, address it to <[email protected]>.
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