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[Page 31]
by Yehuda Tennenhaus
Translated by Moshe Devere
According to Freddie Shani (Roth), back in 1939, when he was in the third grade of the gymnasium, his private teacher, Friedel Bogen, told him about a youth movement called “Zionist Youth” belonging to the General Zionist stream, in which there is no obligation (and does not interfere) to be religious, and does not promote aggressive Revisionist ideas. Bogen related that he met with the board member of the Zionist Youth, Berl Shiver from Dorna, who tasked him with recruiting members for a movement that would operate underground. Friedel Bogen did indeed ask Freddie to bring friends to the movement and spoke to his two good friends Freddie (Pachko) Eidinger and Boumi Stettner, who were enthusiastic about the idea. The three of them formed the movement's first group in Suceava. The intention was to operate in small groups of 3-4 members compartmentalized from each other, taking maximum precautions. The activity amounted to reading Zionist material brought by Friedel Bogen to meetings and discussions on the subject.
The situation in Romania was getting worse. New antisemitic laws sprouted up daily, Jewish children and youth were being expelled from schools; a curfew was been imposed requiring Jews to sit at home from 5 PM and wear a yellow Star of David on their clothes. Understandably, it was not possible
[Page 32]
to expand the movement and it remained a small core of Zionist youth in Suceava: Boumi Stettner, Freddie Eidinger, Freddie Roth and Friedel Bogen, until deportation to Transnistria.
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During the three years of exile in Transnistria, Maffi Schaerf, a member of the Movement, met with Freddie Roth and told him that elsewhere in Transnistria, Zionist youth members met and there was even a chance of receiving financial help from Bucharest. However, there was no follow-up and financial support did not arrive. When, in 1945, before returning to Suceava, Freddie Roth and Freddie Eidinger met in Mogilev and planned how to re-establish the movement; this time, no longer underground. When they arrived in Suceava, they met with Boumi, who had come home a year earlier, and Friedel Bogen, who already in 1944 had begun reorganizing the movement and gave them the leadership of the branch, which operated in the Community Center's auditorium. In their efforts to expand the movement, they found a cohesive group of friends, students of the Jewish School, also held at the Community Center, who also joined the movement. They were Emanuel (Manio) Michalovich, Meir Kostiner, Santa Altman, Simcha Weissbuch, Benzion (Boutzi) Fuchs, Martin Rosner, Yitzhak (Isio) Bessler, Israel (Bubby) Huebner, Yaacov (Yanio) Fuhrer, Yaacov (Jacqui) Strominger, Yehuda Tennenhaus and others. Together, they formed the mainstay of the new Zionist youth movement in Suceava. They handled its expansion until it reached about 50 members, becoming an important and respected movement in the city. Suceava was also then an educational center for all Bucovina, thanks to the Jewish school established in the Community Center in the city, with the aim of allowing the students to catch up on the material they had lost during the deportation. Thanks to this, many friends from other cities in the city also visited the branch because of their studies.
[Page 33]
The activity in the ken was varied: studying The Zionist Idea, learning the Hebrew language, geography of Eretz Israel, old and new Hebrew songs, dancing, scouting and hiking in the surrounding area.
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Sitting: Ericha Wagner, Pearly Schnarch, Biette Haber, Santa Altman |
[Page 34]
Typical of our movement's branch was its human composition: Almost all the members were educated boys and girls, and there were hardly any who did not study. Activities were by age groups and divided accordingly, a group of trainees [lit. listeners] (up to the age of 12) under the guidance of Rachel (Lala) Genzler (later Kostiner). The Abba Berdichev Group, first under the guidance of Santa Altman; after she went to the training farm, under the guidance of Benzion Fuchs. The Havazelet Group, led by Meir Kostiner and Simcha Weissbuch and the Carmel Group (composed only of boys) under the guidance of Manio Michalovich and Yehuda Tennenhaus.
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From the right: Standing: Yehuda Tennenhaus, Lexi Neuberger, Akhim Hofmeier, Manio Michalovich; Sitting: Ichio Saldinger, Jacqui Strominger, Bobby Huebner, Richard Bloom |
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[Page 35]
Activities took place twice a week on weekdays and every Saturday afternoon from 14:00 until evening. The Oneg Shabbat included readings in Yiddish and Romanian, songs and dances. Activities were also held during the holidays, a lecture on the meaning of the holiday besides the entertainment program. During Hanukkah they used to have a celebration in the evening for friends where we ate potato-filled kreplach. But one of them was filled with feathers and served as a joke on the one who got it. Of course, we made trips to the Citadel, to Zemka and to Burdujeni Forest. In winter when it got dark early, we would accompany homes those [girl] trainees who lived far away.
After a while, we had to leave the branch in the Community Center but we received a room in the Talmud Torah. There, lessons ended at 18:00, after which we had additional rooms to use. The ken was decorated with pictures of Herzl and Weizmann, posters with Zionist content made by our friend Martin Rosner; an artist in this area as well. There were also wall newspapers. The Carmel Group had a magnificent wall newspaper with respectable content as well. Its frame was made by a craftsman.
At the national elections for the Zionist leadership, our members were very active for the Hat'ḥiya (Renaşterea) and the Zionist Worker lists. We also worked for KKL-JNF through fundraisers we sent to weddings to collect donations. Also, for Keren Hayesod: our friends visited Jewish stores and collected money.
In the summer, the national movement held a summer camp where members from all over the country gathered. Our ken was charged with organizing the trip to the summer camp of 1946, called the “Forging Camp” held in “Vadu Crişului.” It was also called the “Camp of the Millennium.” We had to take care of transportation for the branches from Bucovina, Fălticeni and Botoşani. The ride was in freight cars. We filled two cars and took care that at the main stations we would be put on faster trains. Even so, the trip took several days. The camp was in the Transylvania mountains on the edge of a 4 km-long stream that flowed out of a cave. The water was ice cold and was used for drinking, cooking and cooling watermelons. The lodging was in tents or an abandoned house, once used as a cabin for hunters but now it was without doors or windows. We grabbed a room and a large balcony: the room for the girls and the balcony for the boys. We participated in hikes and all kinds of scout games such as Capture the Flag and more.
The trip home was an affair in itself. It took six days and we were all crowded into one [freight] car. The trainees and girls were inside the car. The boys rode on the roofs of the freight cars and on the steps of the cars. The main thing was, we got home safely and full of experiences.
[Page 36]
In 1947, the camp was in Dorna Candrenilor, and in the middle, the Romanian government announced a devaluation and change of banknotes. We received new money in Suceava from Bucharest by sending Coca Fallenbaum on behalf of Hechalutz; rented trucks from Shloime (Shlomo) from Suceava, to return the comrades to Dorna and from there they continued by train to their homes. The movement also held seminars and meetings in Rădăuţi, Botoşani and Colentina, also attended by members from our ken.
One of the great projects in our ken was presenting a play called “The Ash Man” in a theater attended by many of our friends. The lead role was played by Boumi Stettner OBM. It was a great success and we also presented it in Burdujeni and Fălticeni.
Contact with the main leadership in Bucharest was through circulars, letters and visits by the leadership. In the ken, Itzio Herzig (later Artzi), Berl Schieber, Tutyo Yablonover (may he live long), and the emissary from Eretz [Israel], the late Yehuda Sha'ari, also visited our ken. For a while, the leadership sent messengers to counsel and supervise the activity. Mozzie Ribenson, Ikki Shaechter, Nathan Croitoru and Linzi were the emissaries who guided us.
Over time, we also had to vacate the room in the Talmud Torah. We rented 3 rooms on Petru Rareş Street, moved the ken there, and held activities there until the Zionist Movement was dismantled.
Our relationship with the General Zionists, to which we belonged, was through Dr. Fuhrer, Dr. Kupferberg, Avigdor Nussberg and Moritz Liquornik. Romanian Independence Day and on the day of liberation by the Russians, we would march as part of the general parade, as a separate department, under a blue and white flag and dressed in white shirts and dark pants. Our goal was to educate the children about Zionist values and fulfillment in Eretz [Israel]. The movement maintained training farms for this purpose, as a station before emigrating to Eretz [Israel]. Similarly, the movement supported two children's homes where children were raised under boarding-school conditions and from there they were sent to Eretz [Israel].
Our ken leadership (Boumi Stettner, Freddie Eidinger and Freddie Roth) also reached fulfillment. Meir Kostiner, Simcha Weissbuch and Yehuda Tennenhaus were chosen to lead the ken in their stead. After a period of training, the previous leadership was elected to the main leadership and, of course, on their visits home, also visited the ken. Many ken members went to the training farm and emigrated to Eretz [Israel].
Finally, it was also the turn of the new leadership to go to the training farm. And indeed, Simcha Weissbuch moved to counsel at the children's home in Dorna; Meir and Yehuda went for training at the Aiud branch and from there, Yehuda went for training at the children's home in “Gegi” , then to the Barashov branch (for the purpose of absorbing the liquidated Aiud branch), Benzion Fuchs went for training at the children's home in “Gegi” , and then to the one in Dorna.
[Page 37]
The ken in Suceava continued its activities under the leadership of Manio Michalovich and others. Our movement was well-known and a magnificent one in the city.
All this ended at the end of 1948, when the Romanian government banned the Zionist movement. Some activity continued underground, but eventually the entire beautiful Zionist enterprise was dismantled and the activists were ordered to find an arrangement for themselves until they emigrated to Israel. Some did manage to soon emigrate, but others were delayed for a long time. Persecutions began, the leaders were put on trial and sentenced to long prison terms and only later were most of them released and allowed to emigrate.
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