Allow me to add: My mother also returned from Bershad late 1944 (with her mother and sister; her father died in the horrible winter of 1941 of typhoid fever, and his body was thrown into a mass grave in Bershad). A Russian soldier took them in his truck close to Cernowiz, and then they continued by foot to their original village (Petrauti de jos). Upon arriving at the doorsteps of their home, they found an Ukrainian family. Her mother agreed to "sell" the house and the land around in return for ... shoes for her sister. Then the path to Israel started... and it was very very difficult, and took my mother to the Netherlands, and her sister and mother to ... Cyprus. They reunited in 1948 in Israel. What a story.
On Wed, Jul 23, 2025 at 3:32 PM Miriam Suss <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Edgar > My mother returned from Bershad Transnistria with her sisters and their > children in late 1944, to the same devastated and hollow Czernowitz as the > writer of the article. Their homes had been occupied, the squatters not even > allowing her to enter to look for precious left behind photographs. > Consequently I have never seen an image of my grandparents and have always > wondered if my children or I resemble them. > The small family stayed in Czernowitz for 2 years eking out a living under the > Russian occupation but then moved to Timisoara where my mother found > respectable work as a seamstress allowing her to support the family. > In 1949 she made Aliyah. > Throughout her long life she always missed the vibrant cultured city of her > birth. > > > Miriam Suss > Melbourne Australia > > Email: [email protected] [[email protected]] > > > > > > > On 23 Jul 2025, at 7:29 pm, Edgar Hauster <[email protected] > > [[email protected]]> wrote: > > > Czernowitzers... > > > > A new edition of “Die Stimme”, the monthly Newsletter for the Bukovinians, > > was published on 01-MAY-1948. Let's take a journey into the past together to > > comprehend what moved our ancestors, their relatives and friends back then! > > > > On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaims the independence of the new > > state of Israel and naturally the first three pages of the May 1948 issue of > > “Die Stimme” are devoted to this magnificent event. But we are interested in > > a travel report to Czernowitz heading “ONCE UPON A TIME”: > > > > “Thousands of kilometers away from Czernowitz, I dreamed of seeing our city > > again. I longed for it and suffered from the separation as one can only > > suffer for a loved one. During the difficult war years, the thought kept me > > going: you will return to the city where you spent your childhood, you must > > not die on foreign soil. As black ink pours over the map, so Hitler's gangs > > poured over groaning humanity, murderously advancing almost as far as > > Moscow. Somewhere in the far west lay our Czernowitz, about which no news > > reached us. And then, finally, in the spring of 1944, we heard 150 cannon > > shots on Moscow radio: Czernowitz liberated from Hitler's gangs. When I came > > to work, my colleagues congratulated me as warmly as if Czernowitz had been > > conquered especially for me. One thought inspired me from then on: Back to > > this city. Everyone said to me: 'You look like you're sitting on your > > suitcase at the station, impatiently awaiting the arrival of the train.’ > > It was winter 1944/45 before I got to Czernowitz. I didn't come home as I > > had dreamed. The city was a sea of stone houses, cold and strange, because > > it lacked the soul: the local population. Strange faces wherever I looked. > > And then I felt that it was not the city that I longed for, but its people, > > who had been murdered in Transnistria or had moved away. The few > > acquaintances I still met greeted me with weeping and sobbing. Tired, sad > > people. I didn't dare ask about friends. Too often the answer was: 'Dead'. > > I fell ill with typhus. When I left the hospital, the winter was over. > > Emaciated by illness and suffering, I dragged myself through the streets. I > > felt lonely in our deserted town. How warm my heart felt when I suddenly saw > > myself being approached. From Martha Kern [renowned art critic and > > journalist]. Almost unchanged, she stood before me, blonde and slim. She > > knew that my family was no longer in Czernowitz and she said to me: 'Come to > > me, you will lie in an armchair on my terrace. I will nurse you as your > > mother would nurse you. I will make you well.’ > > When I read about her passing, I remembered this touch of warm humanity. One > > of the last pleasant memories I took with me from our city.RR” > > > > But where has the population of Czernowitz gone? Dr. Svitlana Frunchak > > answers this as follows: “Throughout the Second World War and the post-war > > period, the city of Chernivtsi was transformed from a multiethnic and > > borderland urban microcosm into a culturally uniform Soviet socialist city. > > As the Soviets finally took power in this onetime capital of a Hapsburg > > province in 1944, they not only sponsored further large-scale population > > transfers but also ‘repopulated’ its history, creating a new urban myth of > > cultural uniformity.” > > > > http://czernowitzbook.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-making-of-soviet-chernivtsi. > > html > > [http://czernowitzbook.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-making-of-soviet-chernivtsi.html] > > https://www.difmoe.eu/uuid/uuid:71a4ada0-7a97-4dbc-82ec-c321fd52ec98 > > [https://www.difmoe.eu/uuid/uuid:71a4ada0-7a97-4dbc-82ec-c321fd52ec98] > > > > Dr. Manfred Reifer founded the Chug Olej Bukovina [Association of Immigrants > > from Bukovina] and decided to publish “Die Stimme”. He entrusted with this > > task Dr. Elias Weinstein, the former editor of the renowned daily newspaper > > “Czernowitzer Morgenblatt”. > > > > I will try to let “Die Stimme” continue to resound in the future and invite > > you to follow me on this journey. Your comments are highly welcome! > > > > Edgar Hauster [MacBook] > > > > > > P.S.: By courtesy of the Digital Forum Central and Eastern Europe (DiFMOE) > > "Jewish-German Bukovina 1918+" Digitization Project: https://www.difmoe.eu > > [https://www.difmoe.eu] > > ************************************************************ > > ******************* > > 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 > > [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]/ > > [https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/] > > > > To send mail to the list, address it to <[email protected] > > [[email protected]]>. > > > > To remove your address from this e-list follow the directions at > > https://it.cornell.edu/lyris/leave-e-lists-lyris > > [https://it.cornell.edu/lyris/leave-e-lists-lyris] > > > > To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to: > > [email protected] [[email protected]] > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > ----------------- > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > 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 > [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]/ > [https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/] > > To send mail to the list, address it to <[email protected] > [[email protected]]>. > > To remove your address from this e-list follow these directions > [https://it.cornell.edu/lyris/leave-e-lists-lyris]. > > To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to: > [email protected] [[email protected]] > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > [data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=3D] ******************************************************************************* 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 the directions at https://it.cornell.edu/lyris/leave-e-lists-lyris To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
