Drawing of Alexander Vaisman

Jewish Ukraine: 10 facts about the Jews of Chernivtsi

Without Chernivtsi, it is simply impossible to imagine Jewish Ukraine. Here, in the center of the Bukovina region, Jews did not just participate in the life of the city - they controlled it, and had rights that representatives of other Jewish communities in the territories that are now part of Ukraine could only dream of. About how the Jews of Chernivtsi and the surrounding area got these rights and what famous people of Jewish blood were born on this earth - in the new chapter of the project "Jewish Ukraine: 10 facts about ...".

Read also about the Jews of Kirovograd , Chernigov , Uzhgorod , Donetsk , Khmelnytsky , Cherkassy , Lutsk ,Poltava , Zaporozhye , Vinnitsa , Kherson , Kharkov , Odessa , Rivne , Crimea , Ivano-Frankivsk , Nikolayev ,Lugansk , Ternopil , Sumy , Zhytomyr , Lviv and Of

1. 600 centuries of history

The first evidence of the residence of Jews in Chernivtsi dates back to 1408. Over the next two centuries, the Jewish community of the city was continuously growing - Ukrainian, Moldavian and Polish Jews fled here, fleeing from the raids of the Khmelnitsky Cossacks, as well as the Russian-Polish, Polish-Swedish and Russian-Turkish wars. Both Ashkenazi and Sephardi migrated to Chernovtsy, but the culture of the former was still dominant, and Yiddish became the main language of the community.

In the sixties of the 18th century, Jews acquired the right to own real estate, which greatly simplified their stay on these lands - they built houses in which they lived and who rented. Most of the Jews of Chernivtsi lived near shopping areas - this concentration led to the emergence of a Jewish quarter in the city that was called the "Jewish City" (Judenstadt), and in the same place in 1710 the first synagogue in the city was built.

When in 1774 this region passed to Austria, the new government began to fight "with the dominance of the Jews" - in the first 13 years 392 Jewish families were expelled from the city. Authorities allowed to settle in the city only to those Jews who decided to engage in farming - of course, there were few urban farmers. Despite all prohibitions, the city's population again continued to grow.

In 1781, Joseph II, the Austrian emperor, issued the Edict of Tolerance - this was the beginning of a new stage in the life of the Jews of the empire in general and Chernivtsi in particular. Then the representatives of the assimilated Jewish intelligentsia got an opportunity to get a job in the civil service and public positions. In addition, additional taxes and duties were abolished (which, for example, the German Jews continued to pay). Jews of Chernivtsi were also allowed to erect stone structures, including synagogues. All this contributed to the active development of the Jewish community in the city.

2. Jewish burgomaster with the title of baron

Solomon von Weiselberger (1867 - 1931) was born in the village of Drachantsy, just a few kilometers from Chernivtsi, to the family of a Jewish landowner. Solomon (whose name, even in official sources, was reduced to Salo) was disaccustomed to the Faculty of Law of Chernivtsi University. Franz-Joseph, where a lot of Jewish students were trained (in 1904 there were 272 Jews studying there, which was 42.5% of the total number of students).

Salo demonstrated excellent progress in studies, and for academic merit he was appointed to the position of a lawyer, and in 1892 and to the post of judge of the district court of the Imperial Railways. After 15 years, Vaiselberger emerges from the judicial system and begins to work in the magistrate of Chernivtsi, a class city authority. There Vaiselberger took up issues of city improvement, and one of the main directions of his activity became the electrification of the city.

" Chernivtsi is a city where a Sunday started with Schubert, and ended with a duel. This city - halfway between Kiev and Bucharest, between Krakow and Odessa - was the secret capital of Europe, where the best soprano sang, and the coachman of the fiacres argued about Carl Kraus ... where there were more bookshops than coffee shops.This is the city where the dogs were called the names of the Olympic gods and where the hens raked the poems of Helderlin from the earth. Chernivtsi - it was a ship of pleasures with the Ukrainian team, German officers and Jewish passengers on board, who constantly kept the course between the West and the East under the Austrian flag , "- well-known Austrian journalist Georg Heinzen spoke about Chernovtsy about a century ago. And such a multifaceted, multicultural city required really wise management.

Weiselberger's work in positions related to the city's leadership began in 1909 - that's when he became vice-mayor, and in 1913 he was appointed burgomaster. He was recommended to this post by another famous native of these lands and also a Jew by Benno Strauher, on the initiative and with the support of which in 1907 - 1908 in Chernivtsi a famous Jewish People's House was built, which became a real architectural monument.

For municipal (and any other) work, the times were not the most simple then - the war began, and Bukovina fell into the sphere of interests of several countries. Vaiselberger coped well with his duties, in particular, he solved the problem of small change coins (he established the printing of city money for Chernivtsi), thereby stabilizing the local economy for a while. At the post of burgomaster Salo stayed until the middle of 1914 - then the Russian troops entered the city. Together with other important figures of city life, Vaiselberger was exiled to Siberia, and he stayed there for more than a year.

When in November 1915 Vaiselberger was released due to the petition of international organizations, he was sent to Vienna, where he again took up political activities. By the way, his courage and loyalty to the city did not remain without the attention of the Emperor of Austria: Vaiselberger was granted the title of Baron, and before the surname appeared the prefix "background". After the war was over and Bukovina became part of Romania, Salo continued to maintain contact with his native land, cooperating with the Bukovinian organization of the National Liberal Party, was a senator in Romania and a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

3. A disciple of Freud who loved to compose

Wilhelm Stekel (1868 - 1940) was born in the village of Boyany in a wealthy Jewish family. But nevertheless, the parents found money to pay for his music lessons (Wilhelm was a very talented violinist) and could send him to study medicine at the University of Vienna.

Stekel, who later himself became one of the most famous psychiatrists of his time, treated his nervous breakdown with Sigmund Freud. Stekel was so impressed by the methods of the "father of psychoanalysis" that he became his follower - one of the first and most noteworthy.

The young psychiatrist Stekel actively promoted the new science (in particular, Freud's own ideas) in the German-language press - he, along with Alfred Adler, another well-known physician in psychiatry, edited the magazine "Imago" on non-clinical aspects of psychoanalysis.

The main themes of Stekel were the problems of human sexuality. For example, he introduced the term "thanatos" to refer to the desire for death, and also invented the term "paraphilia" to refer to sexual deviations. He also defended the assertion that in each of the people there is hidden homosexuality.

Despite the fact that Stekel was one of the first adherents of Freud's theory, their paths diverged. In 1912, Freud broke off relations with him: Stekel doubted that the Oedipus complex and the fear of castration was the starting point of most of the neuroses. However, this is the official version, and the unofficial (and, most likely, the real one) is that Stekel liked to invent the clinical case simply on the move and often put the teacher in an uncomfortable position with his harsh statements.

" Freud was very annoyed by Stekel's habit of telling at a meeting of the Society episodes from his life that, as Freud knew from experience, were entirely fictitious, and then defiantly look at Freud, as if provoking him to violate professional ethics by refuting his words, " recalls Ernest Jones , a disciple and Freud's first biographer. - [Shtekel] wrote very fluently, but carelessly, was a born journalist of a rude blow, for which the effect was much more important than the truth of the facts reported. Indeed, he partly earned his living by constantly supplying the satirical articles to the local press . "

In spite of the fact that Stekel composed (and simply - lied) disrespectfully, he did it not maliciously, but in his reckless and cheerful nature. " I am here to make discoveries; other people can prove them, if it pleases them , "he said.

After the Nazis came to power, from Vienna Stekel moved to London, but for a long time he did not live there. He committed suicide in a London hotel room, taking a lethal dose of aspirin, being unable to endure the pain of gangrene caused by diabetes.

4. The man who built the "theatrical" America

John Adolf Eberson (1875 - 1964) was born in Chernivtsi to a Jewish family, but he did not stay long on his native land. At a young age, the future architect graduated from the school in Dresden and studied electrical engineering at the University of Vienna, and then served in the army.

But life in Europe seemed to him not as interesting as it is across the ocean - and in 1901 Eberson immigrated to the United States. The first city in which he came to earth was New York, and then Eberson moved to St. Louis, later - to Hamilton and Chicago, but in 1926 again returned to New York. At first Eberson worked in an electrical company, and then he began to study architecture. His American debut (not counting small works and decorating fairs) was the project of the Jewel Cinema in Hamilton (Ohio) for 350 seats.

Immediately after his arrival in 1901, Eberson became acquainted with the theater designer and developer George Johnson, who revealed the potential of gypsum before John - later Eberson will actively use gypsum in his projects, decorating the building of theaters. In 1908, architect Eberson founded his own business in Hamilton, where he received a number of major projects.

Orders were poured on Eberson without stopping - together with his son Drew Eberson he designed about 1200 cinemas, theaters and opera halls, and not only in the USA. Buildings according to their models also adorn the cities of France, Venezuela, Mexico and Australia.