Sami Kurtsberg

Kurtsberg says he knew few Jews of Rădăuți but worked there in 1953 with several Jewish co-workers, whom he names. In answer to Kerler, he confirms that the Jews there spoke Yiddish.

names his Jewish colleagues and confirms they spoke Yiddish

The formal interview begins with Lemster asking for his official name as in his passport. Kurtsberg offers his ID instead, and Lemster confirms the name and the address in Siret. He mentions that his parents died in Haifa, Israel.

the parents' deaths in Haifa

Kurtsberg gives his Yiddish name Shmuel and his birth date, 4 November 1936. He explains where he was born (the street and the district names are garbled, and the town is Piatra Neamț only per the catalogue). He names the old counties of Bacău, Suceava and Siret. He then explains that Piatra Neamț people called Suceava "meshuge Shots", and tells a story of neighbors who quarrelled so much over a tree that it was cut down.

the story explaining the nickname

Kurtsberg talks about his family before the war. His family left Piatra Neamț for Chernivtsi, where his father's relatives lived. His father worked as a butcher for a large firm. His mother, Matilda (Malke), was born in a village near Piatra Neamț (the name is garbled, Bălțătești per the catalogue) and worked as a tailor. His grandfather Shloyme worked in a boards factory in Storozhynets, whose boards were taken by wagon to markets. His younger sister died in Bershad in Transnistria.

gives his grandfather's name, Shloyme, and the sister's age gap

Kurtsberg describes his work as a cinema technician. He began helping a projectionist at sixteen while still at school, and was formally employed from 1953. He still works although retired, because his wife is not yet retired and the Siret cinema would otherwise close. He talks about film damage and operator qualification.

Asked about Transnistria, Kurtsberg first tells how Romanian television once filmed him. He describes a trip of rabbis, a rabbi's wife from the Bucharest federation and yeshiva students to Siret and Rădăuți, where they met in the big synagogue and he told the woman a few episodes. Lemster asks him to tell what he remembers.

the visit of rabbis and students to Siret and Rădăuți

Kurtsberg describes the deportation to Bershad: the night in the rain in the woods at Mărculești, the Dniester crossing where the sick were shot, and the winter in unheated houses. He tells of lice and typhus, of children collecting frozen vegetable peelings from Ukrainian yards, and of the yellow star. He describes street-by-street roundups, executions at an airfield and the mass graves, and children's games. He also describes theater performances, prayer in small groups, and two Romanian soldiers from the front who came to the house. Lemster also asks about songs.

adds typhus, roundups and executions at the airfield, the soldiers' visit and the playing children

Kurtsberg describes theater performances in Siret soon after the war, in the cinema hall, in which Kranenfeld, Herber Grafe and Dina König (?) acted. He gives the plot of a comic play about an emigrating woman who travels to America in a trough and a husband asking for coffee.

gives the plot and the actors, not only the fact of performances

Kurtsberg recalls his prewar childhood: his father at work and his mother sewing. His father was very religious and prayed at the synagogue in Bershad and in Siret; Siret had a street of synagogues. He tells stories of his observant grandfather, including a Passover joke about wrapping, and the Four Questions with riddle-like questions.

the grandfather's Passover practices and the riddles

Kurtsberg talks about prayer in small groups and matzo baked in the Bershad ghetto, made kosher with the little flour obtained. He discusses relations with Ukrainians, some of whom helped Jews while others denounced them. Kerler asks about the word for fruit. Kurtsberg comments that he is forgetting Yiddish since he has no one to speak it with.

Kerler's question on a fruit word, and Kurtsberg's remark about losing his Yiddish

Kurtsberg recalls meeting the rabbi's wife from the Bucharest federation and speaking Yiddish with her. His grandfather disliked Polish Yiddish, while Bessarabian Yiddish was praised. He tells two stories he heard from his grandfather: a rebbe and his wife Sure, who came to serve him food with uncovered hair, and a mother whose son Yosele is drafted and who is told he is still not leaving as the train departs.

two full anecdotes and the rabbi's wife

Kurtsberg recalls Sabbath eve gatherings of his father's brothers and sisters, with a meal and stories. He then describes Purim in Siret after the war, with friends, costumes, going from house to house and Purim food such as hamantaschen and stuffed liver. He mentions the High Holidays that follow.

Kurtsberg describes Passover after the war: strict kashrut, matzo and beet dishes, and storing the Passover dishes in a large chest in the attic. He then speaks of building the sukkah with his grandfather, covered with corn husks, and says that he and his grandfather slept in it. He cannot recall the grandfather's stories at that moment.

Kurtsberg says his grandfather was a Hasid of the Chortkiv(?) rebbe. He tells of attending the Romanian school in the morning and cheder for two hours in the afternoon, where he learned Hebrew, Torah and Humash. He recalls the custom at the river, shaking out pockets, which Kerler identifies as Rosh Hashanah (Tashlikh), and jokes with his grandfather. He does not remember Tisha B'Av customs.

the rebbe's name or town (garbled) and Tashlikh

Kurtsberg recalls traditional Jewish weddings in Siret, including those of his two uncles. He describes the chuppah, the ceremony, the broken glass, Hasidic and ballroom dances, and Jewish musicians, including an accordionist named Fisher (?). He names the master of ceremonies, Grünfeld, who led the wedding. Songs for the bride, groom and mother-in-law are discussed, though he cannot remember the jests.

names the musician and the master of ceremonies

Kurtsberg talks about his mother's cupping (setting 'bankes') for colds and how it helped him as a child. He recalls a story from the Bershad ghetto, which was under Romanian and German command: a Romanian commandant had a young Jewish peddler who sold small wares dragged to death behind his motorcycle, and was later caught in Bucharest and shot at Siret. Lemster then asks about Jewish work in Transnistria.

The cupping is only briefly mentioned; the main part of the passage is the ghetto story of the peddler killed by the Romanian commandant, and a question about Jewish work in Transnistria.

Kurtsberg lists occupations in the Bershad ghetto (carpentry, a barber, a blacksmith, doctors who made medical cabinets, dentists). Answering Lemster's questions, he describes Sabbath preparations at home, his mother's Friday cooking and the food of Sabbath and Shavuot. He also describes how chickens were slaughtered and salted at the kosher butcher.

Adds the Shavuot dairy food and the dialect terms for bean dishes and chicken dishes.

Answering Lemster's questions, Kurtsberg discusses non-Jews who spoke Yiddish and says he has not heard of converts. He names the Zionist organizations in Siret (Yikhud, Maccabi) and the Jewish Democratic Committee through which people registered for emigration to Palestine. He also answers questions about a Yiddish library, newspapers, sports clubs and Yiddish theater performances in Siret.

Kurtsberg talks about Hasidim in Siret and describes the holy place (the Jewish cemetery area) with its old and newer parts and the graves of famous rabbis, visited by Hasidim from America and Israel. The team then plays him a recording of Iosif Kogan singing songs from the Bershad ghetto, with brief remarks identifying Kogan, now in Tulchyn.

Adds Kurtsberg's description of the three parts of the holy place and the visiting Hasidim from abroad.

Answering Lemster, Kurtsberg describes his mother's Jewish dishes such as jellied fish and goulash from offal, and the drinks at Friday night and Sabbath meals (home-distilled grain brandy). He also answers a question about kosher sausage.

Kurtsberg explains the meaning of several Yiddish terms (dibbuk, golem, a foolish person, and a word his father used). Kerler then asks about Purim rhymes; Kurtsberg recalls the chimney sweep play and says that Christian friends joined the Purim players and that they were all friends.

Adds the explanation of terms such as dibbuk and golem and the point that Christian friends took part in the Purim performances.

Kurtsberg describes how his mother cured the evil eye by extinguishing coals in a glass of water, and a similar cure used by his wife. He explains the term 'geshterkt' (starched) in an anecdote about a person with a strong will, and tells a story from his father about a melamed in Strazhynits (?) who cooked his food all mixed together.

Adds an explanation of the starched laundry word and a story about a melamed who cooked all his food in one pot.

Answering Lemster, Kurtsberg tells two anecdotes about Hershl Ostropoler: one where he eats in an inn without money and persuades the innkeeper to forgive the bill, and one where a friend glues his beard to the table. He says he heard them from his father. He then recounts the story of the Golem of Prague and says he read it in Yiddish.

Adds the Golem of Prague story and the source of reading.

Kurtsberg discusses his reading of Yiddish literature, saying he read Sholem Aleichem in Romanian. He describes his monthly visits to the Jewish cemetery to pay the electricity bill, light a memorial candle at his grandfather's grave and sit there. He also talks about the key to the Radauti cemetery and about visitors, rabbis and yeshiva students who come to Siret.

Adds the key to the Radauti cemetery and the tourists and rabbis who visit.

Answers Kerler's questions about Christians who came to the synagogue to light candles on Friday evening and pray to God in times of trouble. He says the practice also occurred in Siret and Rădăuți. The passage ends with his promise to tell a story about Hershl Ostropoler.

Also mentions that the practice occurred in Siret and Rădăuți, and leads into a story about Hershl Ostropoler.

Tells a story about a poor, pious Jew who prayed all his life to earn a living. After his death he reproaches God for not helping him, and God asks whether he had ever played the lottery. Kurtsberg is unsure whether the hero is Hershl Ostropoler or Sholem Aleichem's figure. Lemster then asks about Chelm stories and about the crazy people of Suceava.

The anecdote's hero is uncertain (Ostropoler or another figure), and Lemster steers toward Chelm and Suceava stories.

Talks about Suceava as a "crazy" town whose people were always drunk and quarrelsome. He then discusses the current mayor and a teacher, a professor who also served as community president. He also describes a former Securitate officer, a Communist party member who had changed his family name. He begins to speak about his own father, a butcher, and says he does not want some of this recorded.

Includes talk of a local professor and community president and a former Securitate officer.

Answers questions about his children. His son and daughter live in Tel Aviv, and the daughter has no children. His second wife has a son in Suceava, an engineer, who is married and works with his wife. Kerler gives a business card with his email so the grandchildren can be reached.

Adds the second wife's son and his family in Suceava, a grandson who is also an engineer, and the exchange of contact details.

Prompted by Kerler, Kurtsberg describes prewar Jewish life in Siret. He says Jews were a large share of the population (a figure around thirty-eight percent is given), lived above their shops in the center, and sold to peasants on credit. He contrasts this with Mihăileni, where Jews were an overwhelming majority. He ends with a long humorous story, heard from his father, about cavalry horses quartered at an estate near Mihăileni and an officer whose horse grew horns. Kerler thanks him at the close.

Adds the cavalry-horse story and the contrast between Siret and Mihăileni.