Czernowitzers... Yaron E. from Israel, who is struggling against the hyper-bureaucratic obstacles posed by the German BVA [Central Service Agency of the Federal Government] in a citizenship case, brought a very interesting list at Yad Vashem to my attention:
https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/documents/6785122 The list, entitled “List of Jewish residents from Cernauti, 1942,” identifies 3,657 people and is dated July 23, 1942. BUT—and this is a significant "but"—are these actually the Jews who were present in Czernowitz on July 23, 1942? Based on my understanding of the list—and contrary to what Yad Vashem implies—I would say NO, because the translation of the Romanian list heading reads: "SUMMARY of the M.I. census forms that were submitted by the respective individuals and that were not retrieved by them to complete the M.II forms, which are currently in the archives of the Cernauti County Jewish Community Office—Census Section—" The list is based on Antonescu’s anti-Jewish Decree No. 3416 of December 16, 1941 ordering the census of Jews exclusively. Why would the Jews have risked failing to submit the required Form M.II, given the threat of a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of 200,000 lei? My hypothetical answer is: BECAUSE THESE 3,657 JEWS WERE NO LONGER IN CZERNOWITZ ON JULY 23, 1942, BUT HAD ALREADY BEEN DEPORTED TO TRANSNISTRIA IN JUNE 1942. In my view, this would mean that this list is not a presence list, but—quite the opposite—an absence list, and thus indirectly a deportation list. Historian PD Dr. Mariana Hausleitner considers this plausible and possible. Let us recall: According to the German Wikipedia, over 21,000 Jews were living in Czernowitz in February 1942. A few months later, the situation was entirely different. The Moldovan-American historian Vladimir Solonari writes on this subject: “Deportations resumed in early June 1942, by which point the authorities had compiled a list of 4,471 Jews from Cernăuţi who had escaped deportation in the fall of 1941 due to its suspension by the Conducător; the only exception allowed by the governor was for Jews seventy years of age and older.” VLADIMIR SOLONARI: THE TREATMENT OF THE JEWS OF BUKOVINA BY THE SOVIET AND ROMANIAN ADMINISTRATIONS IN 1940–1944 https://holocaust.kyiv.ua/Files/golSuch2005/Solonari_Eng.pdf What do you think, dear friends? Can you follow my hypothesis regarding this list? I would be very grateful for your feedback! Edgar Hauster [MacBook] 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. https://it.cornell.edu/simplelists/manage-subscriptions To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to: [email protected]
