1. The Marcus Family
Mendel Marcus was the head of the family, he was a very religious Jew,
and a wealthy person owning real estate property not only in Barlad but
also in Palestine. Before leaving to Bucharest where all the passengers
of the Struma were due to meet before embarking, he was accompanied by
his wife and his two sons who were chemists by profession. Then a family
drama started. The elder son went aboard the ship with his wife, her parents,
the Varcovici who were native of the town of Jassy and two daughters.
However the younger son, Aurel was expected to leave by himself since his
fiancee’s (Anuta, Nuta Maiersohn) parents were opposed to her departure
arguing that the journey was rather unsafe. As soon as the train pulled
out from Barlad to Bucharest the parents were so touched by their daughter’s
sadness that they decided to get a permit from the local authorities, although
it was no easy thing, that enabled her to travel from Barlad to Bucharest.
In fact she reached Bucharest in the last minute, one day before the Struma
ship passengers left for Constanta. The couple was married quickly by a
rabbi just before departure. I have this information thanks to the testimony
of Mrs. Bianca Grinberg who lives in Israel and is native of the town of
Barlad. As far as Mendel Marcus’ elder son was concerned, my research has
been hampered by a number of registration errors and the lack of additional
data. I looked his name up in the passengers’ names record and even this
record abounds with registration errors or ambiguities. It is likely that
all family members were registered under the additional family
name of “Lupu” , that is Marcus Herscu-Lupu, age 42, his wife Aneta Marcus-Lupu
41, their two daughters, Marga Marcus-Lupu 13 and Ivette Marcus-Lupu 7.
Prior to their departure from Barlad to Bucharest, the Marcuses came
up to my parents’ place to say farewell, in fact my parents were renting
a house owned by Mendel Marcus himself. People used to nickname him “Mos
Mendel” (= “Old Mendel) and he was so religious that as soon as he
was told that the passengers were not allowed to carry aboard the ship
more than 20 kilos of luggage per person, he decided to give up his piece
of luggage and took instead a Torah scroll that he had previously donated
to the synagogue where he used to attend the prayers. My parents’
memories about the Marcuses are connected with a very touching moment.
While my parents were talking with the grown-ups, Mendel Marcus’ elder
son’s daughters were dancing around happily, celebrating that they would
shortly reach the shores of Eretz Israel.
2. Marcus (Figaro)
These Marcuses were a different family from the one previously
presented, they were also native of Barlad and were among the passengers
aboard the Struma. The husband was Lucian Marcus age 30, his wife
Kena’s age was probably between 28-30, and their son Julian was between
7 or 8 .It is not clear whether Lucian’s father, who was a hairdresser,
whose age might have been between 45 and 50 was aboard the Struma ship.
People used to nickname him Figaro, that was the name of his exclusive
hairdresser’s shop that was located in Strada Regala (Royal Street), where
only the rich people of the town could afford to go. Lucian who was also
a hairdresser by trade had learnt in Paris between the two world wars.
I have this information about the Marcus family thanks to the testimony
of Saul Cahane and Nathan Rubinstein who live in Israel and are native
of the town of Barlad.
3.The Leibovici Family
The husband was a chemist by profession and he was a manufacture dealer’s
son living at Barlad. His pharmacy was located in Strada Palada. His wife
was the daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant from the town of Vaslui.
They didn’t have children. The husband’s brother called Jonas had left
for Bassarabia that was annexed by the Soviet Union following the August
1939 Ribbentrop- Molotov agreement. Jonas Leibovici who held Communist
views acted like all the young Jewish people from Barlad who were affiliated
with the Communist Party and in 1944 when Romania became free from the
fascist regime he returned to Barlad and started to learn for a law degree.
Eventually Jonas and his two sisters (it is known that one of them
was called Sheli) emigrated to Israel.
4. Shmil (Shmuel) Gutenmacher,
nicknamed Micki
My father got acquainted with Micki through Shabtai Nadiv (Gutenmacher)
who was Micki’s brother and a good friend of my father’s.
He remembers Micki as a true idealist among the Jewish youth who were
aboard the Struma , one of the most outstanding personalities of the
Barlad-based Zionist youth organization and also in Romania. Everybody
had warm memories of him.
The Israeli journalist, writer and philosopher Shabtay Nadiv who is
Micki’s brother, told me that their family was native of Bassarabia. His
father Zeev (Wolf) was an expert of wool-cotton companies management. He
held management positions at Kishinau and Jassy and eventually settled
at Barlad where he was the manager of the “Progresul” company.
Micki was a member of the Bethar Zionist revisionist movement and actually
his entire family was affiliated with this trend. He was the assistant
of the head of the Barlad-based Beitar organization. My parents remember
that he was attending the Codreanu High-school at Barlad where he was an
excellent, intelligent and hard-working student cherishing the hope of
going to Erez Israel and working to build up the Jewish Homeland.
Micki’s family could not afford to pay for the expenses of
the journey aboard the Struma, but Micki who was 21, was assisted financially
by a Jewish engineer.
5.The Schechters
Among the victims of the Struma shipwreck I would like
to mention also Baruch (Burah) Schechter , his wife’s name was
Bluma and their son’s was Eugen Iancu. Baruch was Mina Schechter’s brother
and my aunt’s Coca Waissman’s mother (her maiden name was Herskovici
and her husband , the physician Dan Waissman is my mother’s Erna’s natural
cousin).
Baruch was 44 and his wife was 42, both were head accountants by
profession and they were employed by petroleum companies; the husband
was working with the Romanian Distributia Company, his wife was employed
by the Romanian-American Astra Romana petroleum company.
6. Ozias (Iehoshua)
Blank
His father kept a pub located close to the Barlad barracks. At the
end of the thirties, Ozias ended the Commercial High School of Barlad and
started to work as a bookkeeper. Ozias was the head of the Barlad-based
Zionist-revisionist youth organization and he held this position
until the eve of his departure. According to the data given in the
victims’ record, Ozias Blanck’s age was 28.
7. Mrs. Zuessman
( or Zisman)
According to the data given in the victims’ record, there were
two ladies aboard the Struma whose family names were alike. One was called
Sophia Sara, she was 58; but the second lady’ s first name was not given
in the record. That’s why I cannot fully determine to whom the biographic
data was related although I have a reason to think that they refer to Sophia
Sara Zisman. In fact she was the widow of the wealthiest man of Barlad
who owned the largest iron-dealer’s shop in the town. Since she was a widow
she was willing to join her son Joseph, who was nicknamed Bebe Zisman and
who had left for Palestine in 1940 aboard the “Sacariya” ship. He was a
student at the Haifa Technical Institute (The Haifa Technion). After his
mother’s death in the aftermath of the Struma tragedy, he was adopted by
professor Moshely who was teaching at the same institute and eventually
took his family name. In 1944 he joined the Jewish Brigade
and as soon as Romania became free from the fascist regime he revisited
the town of Barlad accompanied by Bernard Suliteanu who had also joined
the Jewish Brigade. The latter became a professor at the Medical School
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
8. The two young
men who were not accepted aboard the ship:
according to a testimony by Shaul Cahane.
This is the story of two young men, namely Iuji Epstein and Saul
Cahane who were born at the beginning of the twenties and who were willing
to reach Palestine aboard the Struma ship. They left Barlad and reached
Bucharest and put themselves in touch with Lipa Haimovici who was the organizer
of the journey and also the leader of the youth Zionist-revisionist movement.
Haimovici, who had informed them about the departure, let them know that
the ship was undergoing serious repairs. The aforementioned young men decided
to wait in Bucharest but several days later Haimovici told them: “I suggest
you come back to Barlad and I will inform you in due course as soon as
the repairs are over.” They followed Haimovici’s advice but they never
heard from him again... That was their destiny, to remain alive...
II. The Story of Jacob Stoljar (David Stoljar’s father)
Before setting out to present Medeea’s tragic story that is undoubtedly
the most meaningful topic of this research paper, I would like to point
out the encounter between my own parents and David Stoljar’s father that
occurred by an unexpected turn of fate at the end of the 50’s or the beginning
of the 60’s.While my parents were spending holidays in the spa town
of Tiberias (Hamey Tveria), they came in touch by chance with a lady
whose name was Rachel (Rachela) Hershkovici, and who was nicknamed “Parumbita”
(= the dove), the name of her shop located opposite my parents’ glassware
shop on Stromba Street in Barlad opposite my childhood home. Rachela was
proud to introduce to my parents her husband who was a pleasant-looking
gentleman in his early sixties who was running a kiosk on the Mediterranean
beach at Haifa. They spent several days together and as they were chatting,
David Stoljar’s father started to conjure up the story of his family, and
he also referred to the episode in which his son was the only survivor
of the Struma tragedy. My parents are not historians and they didn’t think
of writing down the details given by David Stoljar’s father. However they
have good memories and are able to remember faithfully the main points
of their conversations although their recollections may contain a number
of inaccuracies due to the passing of time. Stoljar told my parents that
he was a wealthy merchant in Bassarabia and that he succeeded to move to
Romania (to the Old Kingdom “Regat”) before the Russians came in and Bassarabia
was annexed by Russia (his wife, David’s mother, died when she was young).
Given the unsafe circumstances that were developing in Romania he thought
of the solution of sending his son to France. Due to the considerable wealth
that he had managed to transfer from Bassarabia into Romania he was able
to
send his son to Paris where David continued his studies and he was
living in a boarding school. After a while he asked him to come back
to Romania and thought that his departure aboard the Struma will bring
him eventually to a safe place. David Stoljar’s father was a simple person
and it goes without saying that he could not really recount the events
from a historic perspective. That is why it behooves us to explore the
historic and political background of the 1939-1942 time-span and
by doing so one could properly understand Stoljar’s concerns with
regards to the his son’s future.
In my opinion Stoljar made up his mind to move from Bassarsabia to
Romania (Regat, Old Kingdom) as a result of the German
invasion of Poland on September the 1st ,1939. The Soviet Union decided
to enforce promptly the clauses of the Molotov-Ribbentrop secret agreement
of August 23rd 1939 and annexed the territories that had been in fact granted
to Russia including the regions of Bassarabia and north Bucovina. Undoubtedly
Stoljar could not be aware of the political circumstances that brought
about a sudden change in Romania’s position. Romania that was in fact an
ally of Poland within the terms of the Little Entente treaty was too weak
to condemn the invasion, it hastened to declare itself neutral on September
4th 1939 and had no alternative but to give in and accept the annexation
of Bassarabia, north Bucovina and the Herta regions by Russia. On July
the 2nd 1940 Romania made the declaration that it was giving up the British
guarantees and two days later a pro-German government came to power. Shortly
afterwards on July 16th 1940 a German military delegation was invited to
Bucharest by the new government. In my opinion Stoljar the
father could not have knowledge of these political developments and his
actions were merely set off by an instinct for self-preservation and by
the concern of saving his son’s life. As he made up his mind to send his
son to Paris while Romania declared itself a neutral country, he could
not have guessed that France, a Great Power and an ally of Britain according
to the “Great Entente” treaty that had assured Romania of its political
guarantees, was itself under imminent threat. However as soon as he realized
this, he hastened to bring his son back to Romania in the summer of 1940
while the war in France was at its height and the collapse of France became
a fact.
(It appears that following the capitulation of France, David Stoljar
was able to return to Romania, as did other Romanian citizens, due to a
request of the Romanian government addressed to the German.) . As soon
as his son returned from France, Stoljar came to the conclusion that the
only chance left for David to remain alive was to emigrate to Palestine
aboard the Struma and he hastened to pay the high amount requested for
the sea-journey. I would like to point out my parents’ remark that
David’s stay in France had had a fateful meaning in his life, he started
to take swimming classes... And so David Stoljar sailed on the Struma and
his fate was to survive and be the sole survivor of the awful tragedy and
the only Struma survivor who is still alive, after the death of Medeea,
who witnessed the horrors of Struma’s last days before the shipwreck.
After the Second World War Stoljar became a businessman in Japan and today
he is 78 and lives in the United States.
III|. The Tragedy of a Survivor: The Story of Medeea Salmovici (Marcovici)
In 1964 my mother, Erna Rubinstein (Gruenberg) traveled to Romania in
order to meet her brother the journalist Dan Barladeanu who was living
in Bucharest. It was an opportunity for her to meet also all her relatives
who were still living there including her cousin whose first name was also
Erna. She told my mother about the sad story of Medeea who was a cousin
of hers and produced a lengthy letter that Medeea had sent to her from
the Istanbul hospital where she was had been under medical care, a short
time before the shipwreck of the Struma.
This letter that my mother read carefully in 1964
– and that contained a realistic description of the bitter fate of the
passengers on the ship, some of whom lost their minds from suffering and
despair and raced about the deck in distress - was eventually destroyed.
Even though the letter was personal rather than political, my mother’s
cousin, fearing the Securitate, decided eventually to dispose of this valuable
document before emigrating. My mother considered taking the letter to the
Embassy of Israel in Bucharest, but she and her cousin were deterred, and
justifiably so, by fear of the Securitate. Several years later my mother’s
cousin was allowed to emigrate to the USA, but she didn’t take the risk
of carrying the letter with her.
As soon as my mother’s journey to Romania was over she returned to
Israel and recounted to me the bewildering content of the ten-page letter.
These were the circumstances in which I became familiar with Medeea’s tragic
story and I was eager to bring her story out for publication. However Medeea
was still alive in Paris and by publishing her story I had no intent to
stir up her tragic past.
Who was Medeea?
Medeea Marcovici was born in 1919 in Bucharest. She was the daughter
of Jean Marcovici, who was a cloth dealer from the town of Targu-Ocna,
and her mother was Cecilia Fischer, the daughter of a fish wholesaler from
Galati. Her parents met in Bucharest and Medeea was their only child. Medeea
was 11 years old when her mother passed away and her fathered remarried
to a woman whose name was Fani. These events were to be a turning
point in Medeea’s life. The new couple didn’t have children probably because
of the father’s age. The stepmother started to behave rudely towards Medeea,
as she was envied her beauty and her sharp intelligence. However Medeea
managed to finish her studies in Bucharest in 1937 and thanks to
her knowledge of foreign languages (she knew English, French and
German) she got a position with an architects’ office and shortly she became
head secretary of the office.
During 1940 Medeea became acquainted with a young Jewish man, whose
name was Nezu Salmovici, they found out that they had a lot in common and
decided to get married. As soon as they made this decision a chain of predicaments
started to happen. Nezu’s mother could not come to terms with the idea
that her son, whose father was a wealthy textile trader in Bucharest, would
marry a poor young lady, who was also an orphan. Although Nezu’s father
and sister (who had become a close friend of Medeea’s) agreed to the marriage,
the mother was bluntly opposed to it and she didn’t come to the wedding.
In spite of all odds, Nezu’s father decided to buy a flat in Bucharest
in the Calea Mosilor, where the couple’s dream of setting up a family became
true. However their life couldn’t go on unhampered. Nezu’s mother never
agreed to the marriage even after Medeea became pregnant. That was why
Nezu’s father who was informed about the departure of the Struma decided
to provide them with the necessary tickets hoping that it would be better
for them to start a new life in Palestine. This piece of good news was
followed by more trouble...
One day before the train departure from Bucharest to Constanta, given
the stress and strain she was at grips with, Medeea’ lost her baby. Before
departing she bid farewell to her cousins, Nini, Erna and Dida and presented
them with some valuable items, namely her crystal glasses and her Rosenthal
china dishes. Before leaving off and probably at the request of Nezu’s
father and sister, they made up their mind to pay a visit to the mother’s
premises and seek reconciliation. A maid opened the door and as soon the
mother was informed who the guests were she told the maid that she was
unwilling to meet them. She also ordered the maid to give them “her good
regards” and the curse she uttered, which words were minutely given by
Medeea in the aforementioned letter to Erna, were to hang like a shadow
over their sea-voyage: “May you suffer from cold, thirst for water and
starve for bread!”
It was clear from the very beginning that gien Medeea’s poor health
she was not fit to travel even under normal circumstances, let alone the
dire conditions the passengers aboard the Struma had to cope with. As the
ship was approaching the Turkish coast she was suddenly taken ill by embolism.
That was the reason why Medeea was the only passenger aboard the Struma
(as far as I know) who was not carrying legal immigration documents and
who was allowed however by the Turkish authorities to disembark and be
transferred to a hospital. The passengers aboard the Struma
who were holding legal immigration papers, namely Israel Frank-Dinari
and his wife Tina, his brother Brett Schneider and the Segals were duly
allowed by the Turks to disembark in the Istanbul harbor. Medeea
insisted that she needed to be accompanied by her husband since she was
so sick, but the Turkish authorities turned a deaf ear to her request.
Her husband remained aboard the ship and perished as did the rest of the
passengers in the Black Sea. As far as Medeea was concerned, she
was taken to the Istanbul Jewish hospital and was looked after by the local
Jewish community. In the atmosphere of general bewilderment caused by the
sinking of the Struma, Medeea was granted an immigration visa through the
Jewish Agency and was able to enter Palestine. She lived in Tel-Aviv
at the “Beit Hahalutzot” hostel and was helped to get a position as a diamond
cutter. Several years later she was remarried to a wealthy businessman
from abroad, left Israel and she passed away in 1996. It seems that her
mother-in-law, namely Nezu’s mother, passed away shortly after her son’s
death. Maybe her death was sped up by the qualms of consciousness in connection
with her son’s death, maybe by the content of the letter her daughter-in-law
had sent from the Istanbul hospital... Medeea wrote down the following
sentence: “Tell her that every word uttered in her curse has been realized.”
The most frightening and awe-inspiring excerpt in Medeea’s letter concerns
the tragic human plight that prevailed among the Struma passengers as the
ship was close to the Turkish coast. Due to overcrowding and the harrowing
shortage of food and water not to mention the frosty wintry weather and
the unbearable sanitary conditions, the people on board were driven to
such degree of despair that a number of passengers had lost their mind...
IV. The Views of a Senior British
Official
during The British Mandate in
Palestine
As a conclusion to the topic of this research paper I would like to
bring forth the views of a senior British official on the tragedy of the
Struma shipwreck.
Edward Keith-Roach was the Jerusalem District Governor before and throughout
the Second World War and he referred to the Struma tragedy in his Memoirs,
published in 1994.
His comments on the Struma tragedy and the rage of the Jewish population
of Palestine are given in a brief cold language, pervaded by little human
understanding and sympathy. The description is even-handed and lacks any
trace of emotion as if Keith-Roach were an outsider or a foreign news-reporter,
not a senior official of the British administration. Given the high position
he held and his numerous connections he could have taken a firm stand in
the matter. For instance he had the option to stand down or threaten that
he would do so, if the women, children and the elderly who were aboard
the ship were not allowed to reach the land. Had Keith-Roach presented
his resignation to the High Governor of Palestine without delay, while
the Struma was on the Turkish coast and the continuation of its journey
to Palestine was denied - his protest would have had a strong impact both
on international relations and on public opinion in Britain and the United
States. Neither Keith-Roach nor any other British senior official or British
cabinet minister ever protested. Therefore one can come to the conclusion
that no British high official either in Palestine or in the British government
could ever claim that he didn’t really have a share of moral guilt in connection
with the Struma tragedy. The fact that the tragedy occurred in time of
war is an easy excuse and it cannot lessen the guilt of a British high-ranking
official who after all was not an army officer. The horrific consequences
of the Struma tragedy could have been avoided if the government of Great
Britain had complied with the commitments it had agreed to in 1922, when
it was granted the mandate over Palestine, that included the free immigration
of the Jewish population to Palestine and the creation of a Jewish national
homeland. In fact the British government had unilaterally cancelled this
decision and limited Jewish immigration from Europe to Palestine in 1939
by enacting the “White Paper”. This policy was carried on throughout the
Second World War although it was clear that by making it impossible for
the Jews of Europe to reach Palestine, they could not escape the claws
of the Nazi terror.
However in the aftermath of the Struma tragedy Keith-Roach experienced
a feeling of discomfort and he attempted to explain that he could not be
held guilty himself and he put the full guilt on the shoulders of the High
Commissioner of Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael. Keith-Roach quoted
the contents of a leaflet that was widely circulated in Palestine in the
aftermath of the Struma tragedy stating that “MacMichael was responsible
for the assassination of 800 Jewish refugees who had been drowned into
the Black Sea.” It is amply clear that Keith-Roach decided to quote this
leaflet in an attempt to prove in an evasive way that only MacMichael was
guilty of this crime whereas the senior officials of the British Mandate
in Palestine and the British cabinet ministers could not be held responsible
at all.
Annex:
David Stoljar’s Testimony
(included in the article by Avi Shmul, “Looking for Remnants
of the Sunken Struma”,
Haaretz, April 4th 2000)
The only survivor states: “Slowly, slowly, people were getting frozen and drowned.”
The only survivor of the Struma disaster, David Stoljar, 78, lives nowadays
in Portland, Oregon. Yesterday he was interviewed by “Haaretz” and he detailed
the circumstances in which he managed to survive: “The lower level was
metallic and it sank immediately carrying hundreds of passengers. Hundreds
of bodies were drifting on the sea, but Stoljar noticed a wooded beam that
was a remnant of the deck. He clutched it and floated on it. A crew officer
managed also to cling to the beam. We talked, sang and shouted until the
small hours and we feared that if we would fall asleep our bodies would
freeze. The officer could not handle the cold, and in the morning I found
that he had died and I remained the only survivor.”
The most frightening scene, he continued, was the fact that after the
blast hundreds of passengers remained alive, clinging to every remnant
of the ship that was drifting, hovering between life and death. Terrible
shrieks were heard; we noticed the coast in the distance, but no help was
in sight. The hours went by slowly, people were getting frozen and drowned
one by one. Some Turkish fishermen noticed him by chance; they hauled him
up and he was transferred under escort to a hospital. In spite of his weak
health the Turkish authorities imprisoned him for two months. As soon as
he was released from the Turkish prison, he got on the train to Syria and
from there he proceeded to Haifa where he reported at the police station.
Stoljar admits that he had not felt an incentive to commemorate the tragedy,
but on the other hand he cannot understand how the disaster was cast into
collective oblivion over such a long time. “A long span of time was necessary
until people realized that the Struma is in fact a meaningful part of history,”
he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*I would like to give my thanks and acknowledgments to the historian
Zeev- Lucian Herscovici who
kindly read the manuscript, translated it into Romanian and added a
number of meaningful
bibliographic references.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1)N Bethell: The Palestine
Triangle: The Struggle between the British, the Jews and the Arabs
1935-48, London 1979 (pp. 113-120 “The Struma Disaster” and “Hatragedia
Shel Strumah” (The
Tragedy of the Struma),Yediot Haharonot, Tel-Aviv, 20.5.1980, published
in Hebrew)
(2) Dalia Ofer, “Illegal
Immigration to Palestine,” Jerusalem 1988, p. 237-240. Excerpts from
David Stoljar’s statement, brought forth in a literary style, have
been published in Romanian by the
writer Arthur Leibovici (under the pen-name Maria Arsene, his wife’s
name) in the documentary
novel “The Struma”, Bucharest 1972 pp. 367-372. The text of the statement
is probably a
translation from Leib Kupferstein’s book “Meghilath Strumah, Tel Aviv,
1942. See also Mihai
Stoian, “The Last Journey”, Bucharest 1995 pp.166-171.
3) G.I.Vaneev Cernomortzy V Velicestvennoi Voine, Moscva, 1978.
4) See the editor’s
notes in the article: A. Harel , “Struma the Ship that was doomed to
death,Yahadut Romania betekumath Israel( The Romanian Jews and the
rebirth of Israel). Edited by
Paltiel Segal ,vol.1 Tel Aviv 1992, p. 236; see also the article by
Tehile Ofer, “The Russians sank
the Struma ship and so did the Turks and the British,” Maariv,
Tel Aviv, 20.02.1992.
5) The fact holds
true with the exception of the volume edited by Josephine Feinstein and
David Safran: Struma, the ship of life and death, Jerusalem 1965. Josephine
Feinstein is a journalist
born in Bucharest whose two sons Mircea and Harry Juster Feinstein
perished in the Struma
tragedy. Her comments deal with the personality of her sons, the reason
of their departure, their
hopes, and mentions the contents of the letters they had sent from
Istanbul and her bitter feelings as a
mother who had lost her sons. Rabbi Dr. David Safran makes comments
on his friend Itzhak
Tercatin from Jassy who was a law student and the leader of the Betar
Zionist youth movement. He
was one of the organizers of the journey and perished himself during
the disaster. Another exception
occurs in some excerpts in Simon Saveanu’s volume entitled: “Save the
Honour of Civilization” -
Salvati Onoarea Civilizatiei - Struma, Tel Aviv 1996, pp.116-171.
6) This field
of study was founded by the Israeli lawyer of Romanian origin Benjamin
Mendelsohn. His research studies started to take shape within the framework
of a correspondence
he was carried on with Sigmund Freud in 1934 on a law court trial that
was held in Bucharest.
Benjamin Mendelsohn brought out the impact of psychological
circumstances in his analysis of the
victims. He later dealt also with research in connection with the Holocaust
victims. See: K.Weiss,
“Victimology in Jerusalem”, International Faces of Victimology : Papers
and Essays given at the 6th
International Symposium on Victimology.
7) According
to the Record of the Struma victims that came out in a full text in the
publication
“Yahaduth Romania bethekumath Israel” vol. 1 p. 264-268 that was already
mentioned on note 4 ,
Mendel Marcus’ age was given as 69. I would like to point out that
my parents do not remember
with accuracy the names of the other members of the Marcus family except
for the younger son,
Aurel whose name was also given in the victims’ record and his age
was mentioned as 28. The
Struma victims’ record was published also in the booklet entitled Struma
,Tel-Aviv 1983 ( it was
published also in Romanian and both versions are alphabetically
arranged) . Another version of the
victims’ record that differed from the previous one was published in
Romanian by I Feinstein and D.
Safran : Struma p. 143-151 . I preferred to rely on the record
provided in the publication “Yahadut
Romania” that will be referred to in the next notes.
8) Their names
are not given in the aforementioned record, note 7. It is likely
that these
names were erroneously registered or given under a different
form.
8A)I hesitated to give this personal rather subjective reference .I
was born January 21st 1941, it was
the night of the terrible Bucharest pogrom. Although I was one year
old my first childhood
remembrance is associated with the picture of “Mos Mendel”. I
remember that as I was lying in bed
a gentleman with a long beard was leaning over and kindly kissed
my forehead. This happened in all
likelihood during the farewell visit that Mos Mendel and his
family were paying at my parents’
place. Although my parents claim that I cannot really remember
and what I do
remember comes from what they once told me I am certain that this piece
of memory associated
with “ Mos Mendel” is a real fact.
9) In the victims’
record (see note 4 ) his family name was spelt incorrectly and given
as
“Gutermacher”. However the spelling of his two first names was correctly
spelt : Smil Zanvil and
Zanvel in the Romanian version ( Zanvil was his grandfather’s name).
The right spelling namely
“Gutenmacher” is also given in the records preserved the Tel Aviv Haganah
Archives , See Record
Files 33/2038 and 39/2155.
10) The aforementioned
victims’ record (note 7) p.264. See also The Tel Aviv Haganah
Archives, Record File 39/2120.
11) The aforementioned victims’ record (note 7) p.265.
12) A military unit
(brigade) operating within the framework of the British army
under the
white and blue Jewish flag, whose soldiers and officers were Jews who
were living in Palestine under
the British mandate.
13) My parents , Natan
and Erna Rubinstein do not remember the first name of Stoleru the
father. It results from his son’s statement that the name was Iacov.
See Dalia Ofer “Derech Beyam
aliah beth betekufath hashoah ( A Journey by Sea: The illegal immigration
to Palestine during the
Holocaust, Jerusaelm 1988, p.240.
14) K.Hitchins : Romania : 1866-1947, Bucharest 1966,p.472-477.
15) D. Hancu, Un Licar in Bezna (A glitter in the darkness), Bucharest,1997, p.7-21.
16) See the interview
given by Israel Frank (Dinari) that was quoted in Simon Saveanu’s
publication “Save the Honour of Civilization” (Note 5) p. 94-96. According
to Saveanu’ s statement
there were five passengers altogether aboard the Struma who were
holding legal immigration visas
for Palestine namely, The Franks (Dinari), Israel Frank’s brother.
As far as the Segals were
concerned one cannot help noticing an unusual happening. The husband
had been the manager of
the American “Steaua Romana” Petroleum company and strangely
enough it was the ambassador of
Japan who had brought his diplomatic influence to bear by asking the
Turkish authorities to allow
them to land although Japan and the United States were at war
following the Japanese Pearl
Harbour (December 17th ,1944) attack. A sad incident occurred however
in spite of this diplomatic
intervention: the Turkish authorities didn’t allow Segal’s mother to
leave the ship and she perished
following the disaster. In the victims’ record her name was probably
Segal Liba , and she was 58
years old ( Yahadut Romanya betequmath Ysrael , vol.1 p.264-268; See
also Note 4.
17) N. Bethell gives her name among the survivors : The Palestine
Triangle ...p.117 and
Albert Finkelstein provides a similar information Etre ou ne pas Naitre
,Chronique des Crimes contre
l’humanite en Roumanie , Paris ,1997, p274. According to the information
provided by Finkelstein
who quotes the Memoir written by the Chief Rabbi of Turkey and signed
by Henri Soriano who was
the chairman of the Istanbul Jewish Community, there were nine people
altogether aboard the
Struma who were holding immigration visas for Palestine.
18)
A blunt refusal in a similar matter was also given to Brett Schneider’s
fiancee. See S.
Saveanu “Save the Honour of Civilization... p. 94.
19)
In the Victims’ Record his name is given as Salmovitz Simon and he was
24 years old.
It is likely that the name “ Nezu” was just an abridged nickname.(
See note 4).
20)
See Note 17, The registration date of Medeea’s hospitalization, A. Finkelstein,”
Etre ou
ne pas Naitre” p. 247.
21)
Edward Keith-Roach : Pasha of Jerusalem : Memoirs of A District Commissioner
under the British Mandate, London, 1994, p.214.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTES ON THE AUTHOR
Shimon Rubinstein is an Israeli historian born in Barlad, Romania, in 1941
who emigrated to Israel in 1950. He holds a degree from the Hebrew University,
Jerusalem in the field of general world history and political science (1965).
Since 1968 he has been working at Yad Ben Zvi, Jerusalem. He is the author
of books and articles, mainly in connection with the history of Eretz Israel
in the 19th and 20th centuries. He has specialized particularly in research
on the history of Palestine during the transition period from Turkish to
British Rule. His books have been published mainly in Hebrew and include
the following titles:
And Nevertheless Moshe Malal and Yosef Amozeg Were the First Martyrs of
the Yishuv in the Twentieth Century, 1984;
German Atrocity or British Propaganda, The Seventieth Anniversary of a
Scandal: German Corpse Utilization Establishments in the First World War,
Jerusalem 1987;
At A Close Perspective, Reflexions on the Centenary of David Ben-Gurion,
A few suggestions to the historian of 2086, Jerusalem, 1986;
The Negev, The Great Zionist Blunder, 1919-1929, 4 vols. 1988;
German-Turkish Endeavours in the Fields of Engineering, Water Exploration
and Agriculture in the Sinai and the Negev during WWI and the Part played
therein by the (Jewish) Yishuv, 1989;
Crisis and Change, Petah Tikva in transition from Turkish to British Rule
vol. 1-5, Jerusalem 1990-1992;
At the Height of Expectations, the Land Policy of the Zionist Commission
in 1918, Jerusalem 1992;
From Barlad to the Maabarah of Rosh Pina: the first years of an immigrant
family in Galilee 1950-1956, Tel Aviv 1993, Jerusalem 1995;
Despite Birth Pangs and Uncertainty - On the history of the Institute for
the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 1947-1952 (1995);
An Exemplary Rabbi, How the Chief Rabbi of Damascus, Rabbi Dr. Shelomo
Tagger, saved his community during the Druze Revolt of 1925 (1995);
A look at the Jewish Community in Gaza 1870-1929 (1995);
Coinage, Measures and Weights in Eretz Israel from the Beginning of the
19th Century to the Period of Transition from Ottoman to British Rule.
This book is regarded as an important contribution to the research of the
economic history of Palestine during the 19th and 20th centuries. The Gate
to the South, 1998;
A Personal Exchange of Letters with a Hebrew Patriot in the Diaspora 1985-1995,
2 vols., 1999.