|
Blitz Family
The
Blitz family probably lived in Bukachevtsy for hundreds of years but
records only go back as far as the nineteenth century.
This story is told from the perspective of Cipora Blitz, who
has provided the information and the photos that follow.
Moses Hersch Blitz, her
great grandfather, was born in 1833 and died in 1881.
He and Taube
(1829-1894) had the following children:
Abraham, born in
1867, died in 1886; Freutze,
born in 1865, married Israel Aron Holler; Mattismeyer,
born in 1868, sent to Belzec in 1942; and Yankel Blitz, born in 1871.
Mattismeyer and Krassel
Kleinfeld Blitz, Cipora’s grandparents, married in 1891 and
had Meshulam, born in
1892, sent to Belzec in 1942; Moses
Hersch (Morris), born in 1893, left for U.S. in 1912, died 1983;
Isidor, born 1895, left
for U.S. in 1920, died 1973; Tauba
(m. Drake), born in 1900, left for U.S. in 1920, died 1971; Volek (William), born in 1902,
left for U.S. in 1920, died in 1968; Nesha (Norma, m. Radack), born in 1904, left for U.S. in 1920,
died 1992; and Joseph,
born in 1909, died in New York in 2002.
Joseph Blitz, Cipora’s
father, studied classical music at the Lviv conservatory.
While at the conservatory, he lived at his brother
Meshulam’s house. Meshulam,
who lived in Lviv, owned a musical instrument store. Joseph
was the only Jewish student at the conservatory. He and
Meshulam (the oldest and the youngest) were the only ones who
remained in Poland
.
Joseph Blitz and Bertha Faust, from Rohatyn, were
married in 1936. They moved in with Mattismeyer and Krassel in
Bukachevtsy and remained there until 1941. Life was rather
pleasant in a rural environment, where the family business consisted
of dealing with lumber, running a soda factory, kept in the cellar,
and a partnership at a local mill.
Abraham, Cipora’s
brother, was born in May 1937. He was very much adored by
everyone since he was the only grandchild in Bukachevtsy, as all the
other grandchildren were in the U.S. Cipora was born in 1941
and, at that time the family lived with cousins because the Russians
had taken over their house on Pilsudskiego Street.
Cipora’s mother was very proud of the fact that Cipora was born in a
Russian military hospital and not delivered by a midwife at
home like the “common folk.”
Life changed drastically when the Germans arrived in July 1941.
Mattismeyer and Krassel, Cipora’s grandparents were sent to Belzec
and Joseph and Bertha, along with their children Abraham and Cipora,
were forced into the Rohatyn Ghetto and remained until it was burned
in June 1943. They
returned to Bukachevtsy and hid in the Vitan forest until July 1944 and the arrival of the
Russians. Their former maid, Hannu Vervarka, often risked her
life in order to bring them food.
In December 1945, Cipora’s twin sisters were born in Bukachevtsy,
the last Jewish children to be born in town. Deborah was named
after her maternal grandmother Deborah Libba Loew Faust, who was
killed in Rohatyn in 1943 and Chaya was named after her paternal grandmother Krassel
Kleinfeld Blitz, who died in Belzec.
They lived in Poland
and then Israel, until, in
1956, they moved to New York
and were reunited with the rest of the family who had left
Bukachevtsy in the 1920's. It was the first time in thirty-six years
that Joseph saw his brothers and sisters.
Cipora’s Uncle Moishe, who also played the violin and whom
her father remembered from his childhood and whom, at age 11, he
used to call Moishe Fiddle, wanted to know whether her father still
played the violin.
|
The photos below were contributed by
Cipora Blitz on behalf of the family (brother Abraham and sisters Chaya
and Deborah). You can see a larger version and a description of
each photo by clicking on the photo.
|
Blitz House,
2007
| | | | |
From Tomasz Kizny. 2007:
My
grandparents used to rent a flat in the Blitz's family house and it
seems that they were very friendly. My uncle Zygmunt remembers in his
memories Cipora’s grandmother Krassel keeping him on knees and telling
‘Mundziu, Mundziu’ (diminutive name of uncle Zygmunt). He himself
used to address them as ‘grandpa’ and ‘grandma’. He accounts
that grandma Blitz sometimes gave him the salad made from hard boiled
eggs, chicken liver and onions which he remembered as very tasty. Uncle
Zygmunt said that on one of Jewish holidays, probably holiday
Hanuka, Blitz family used to make wine from raisins and once grand
father Blitz had given to him this wine to taste.
My
father telling stories from his childhood used to remember the scene: he
is walking on the main street of Bukaczowce, passing Blitz’s house he
could hear old Blitz calling “Tadziu (diminutive name of my father
Tadeusz), would you like to have “lemene” (lemonade) and giving to
my father a cold drink. As a young boy he must like Blitz’s
lemonade very much since this moment stuck in his memory for good.
Father used to repeat this story or remember it quite often.
|
|
|
|
|
Meshulam and
Pepcha Blitz, 1919
|
Back of
previous photo
|
Krassel,
Joseph, and Mattismeyer Blitz, 1926
|
|
|
|
Joseph Blitz,
1936
|
Blitz and
Faust Family, 1937
|
Berta and
Abraham Blitz, 1937
|
|
|
|
Krassel,
Helen, and Mattismeyer Blitz, 1937 or 1938
|
Krassel and
Mattismeyer Blitz, 1938
|
Abraham Blitz,
1939
|
|
|
|
Blitz Family
and Friends, 1938-1939
|
Cipora,
Joseph, and Abraham Blitz 1945
|
Deborah Blitz,
1945
|
|
|
|
Chaya Blitz,
1945 |
Dina Etta
Kasten and Cipora Blitz, 1946 |
Back of
previous photo |
Back to Main Photo Page
Back to Main Page |