The house I live in was built by the grandfather from my mother’s side, in 1852. It was given to my mother as a dowry when she got married. But so much did my parents benefit from this dowry that my father had to work his whole life to pay for it and then he died. The house was built with money borrowed from the Land Credit. My father continued paying my grandfather’s installments when he was no more. It was called a dowry, but in fact it was a burden, and he paid his whole life the installments my grandfather had to pay. The house was mortgaged, ant they would have taken it away, so he had to work and pay for it.
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Silo Oberman
That canopy is called hupa [chuppah], and it was up near the pulpit. They perform the religious service and they break a glass on this occasion, a fact that has a certain meaning. For instance, I attended a wedding. At the temple, they had this custom that men and women should be grouped separately. The temple was full and the participants were offered fondants, and small flower bouquets, so as to throw them at the bride. It truly was a solemn event. Afterwards people had a party, they ate, just as they do at the weddings of the other nationalities.
Romania
My parents met through one of those transactions they did in those days. It was a fixed marriage, for that was the custom back then. They married after my grandfather died. They got married at the Synagogue in Braila, around 1913-1914. They organized a wedding ceremony, naturally. That canopy is called hupa [chuppah], and it was up near the pulpit.
My father was recruited in the Romanian army, in the 10th regiment infantry, and he was on the front in Bulgaria, in the 1913 war [4]. [Editor’s note: Bulgaria entered the war in October 1915.] He was decorated, too. Then he deserted. They looked for him afterwards for several years, but he stayed hidden, he didn’t live at home.
My father hadn’t graduated high school, but only some of the high school grades, I believed he attended in Targu Namoloasa.
All I have left is the piano chair. The piano was mortgaged as we were in dire straits, and it wasn’t returned to us anymore, so we only had the piano chair. However, it is a beautiful piece, with a screw, which helps to raise it.
She had attended the Academy for young ladies in Braila. She could play the piano as well, her education was somewhat refined. She had learned to play the piano by taking private lessons.
My grandfather wasn’t a member of any political party. He was a member of a cultural organization, yet wasn’t a member of any political one.
These were the grandparents from my mother’s side, who knew Hebrew extremely well. My grandfather could write in Hebrew and he was a very cultivated, traditionalist man. He had notebooks, notes that also included accounting sheets, and everything was written in Hebrew.
They organized large feasts on Seder, which is to say on Passover, to which they invited friends, relatives, acquaintances, and it was prepared to the letter. I know this from my grandparents, from what they told me. There were the Pesach dishes, there were some special glasses called coise [koyses (cups in Yiddish)] from which people drank wine. I still have a glass or two left. I also had a unique item in the shape of a small prayer house [synagogue], made from silver, something extraordinarily beautiful, which, however, I have sold.
My grandparents were very religious. My grandfather was very strict about religion and they observed all religious prescriptions. They had religious books at home, which are called Siddur. My grandparents celebrated the holidays at home.
My grandparents spoke Yiddish and Romanian.
The clothes they wore had nothing special, they wore regular clothes. Men wore round hats called “joben” [top hat] with a cylinder, for that was the custom in those days. [Editor’s note: “Romanian being the only language in which the high hat has a totally different name, other than the popular name of ‘cylinder.’ The explanation is simple: the person who introduced the prestigious headgear in Bucharest was French, he owned a store on Calea Victoriei St., and his name was Jobin. http://a.weblog.ro/2004-05-20/10047/Victor-Eftimiu.htmlictor”]. Women dressed after the fashion of those days, which is now today’s fashion yet again.
As he was among the leading members of the community, my grandfather had a seat in front, for they were given to members based on a selection system. His front seat was right near the pulpit [bimah] and he had a desk on which his name was carved. My father inherited this seat, with the title of eternal property. Everyone sat in their high chairs, located higher up, near the pulpit, and then there were benches, too. The more the seat was located in the front rows, the more expensive it was, for these were the seats people paid for. Some paid only on holidays so as to have a seat in front.
The house of prayer was the Great Synagogue, which has now been dismantled and bought by Mr. P., on Mihail Sebastian St. in Braila, and is now a hotel, Hotel Corona. It was dismantled – something that wasn’t totally legitimate, yet as they couldn’t afford the maintenance costs, they sold the plot of land and the hotel was built where the synagogue was located. It is, nevertheless, a profanation.
Romania
In his time, my grandfather was a leading figure of the Community. He was a member of the Sacred Society [Chevra Kaddisha], he was the secretary of the burials commission of the Jewish cemetery. He was considered to be a personality.
The Scaffer house is located next to the Community headquarters. It belonged to my grandfather’s cousin, whose name was Herschleib Schaffer, and his wife’s name was Netty Schaffer. They took a loan from the bank and built a high school for post-primary education, namely complementary education, located where the “Ana Aslan” High School stands nowadays, near the Modern Bathhouse. This house was donated as a gymnasium for all nationalities, in memory of their 10 children who didn’t live. That’s how the gymnasium was actually called, “Herschleib and Netty Schaffer,” and was founded in 1912. It functioned until 1948, until the educational reform took place [2], when it was taken over by the state. Then it stopped being a gymnasium and became a high school. There is also the high school’s golden book where all this information is precisely recorded. I donated to the Community the photograph with the gymnasium on its opening day, in which you can also see the mayor in those days, Radu Portocala, the prefect of the city, Serban Raducan, who took part in the inauguration and who were personalities in their days. Schaffer was decorated by king Fedinand [3] with the Cultural Merit first class.
I claimed the restitution of the house that was taken from us during the 1950 nationalization [1], and I had to provide official papers to prove it.
The great-grandparents from my mother’s side were among the 14 families that were around when the city of Braila was founded, in the 1830’s. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C4%83ila ] They are called vertzener in German. I don’t know their place of origin, for I didn’t look into it. My great-grandparents from my mother’s side, the Schaffer family, traded wool, for I have in my possession some of the documents from those days. Back then, people imported and exported wool strands.
The relatives from my father’s side considered us “the black sheep” as we were poorer. They pushed us away without having any special reasons, but merely because it was a layering due to financial situation. However, after they were persecuted because they had belonged to the higher bourgeoisie, because they were some of the great rich people of that time, they turned to me for help as I was working at the Oil Factory, in the fuel department. One of the brothers was arrested for possession of gold and he hid some of the jewelry with me, valuable items – as he knew no one would come to me to look for them, for I wasn’t rich – which, of course, I returned to him after he was released from prison. Back then, owning gold was a great crime.
Romania
They lived in Bucharest and enjoyed a special financial situation; they had an exquisite house in Filipescu park, on Alexandru Alley, near the quarters of the Central Committee; they took away their house and now they claimed it back. I’ve been in that house myself. They entered a decline after they forced them to have tenants, for they called them bourgeois.
Romania
She was married to Hemann Bernescu, who was a military man. He was the director of the Leonida Society in Bucharest. He was a remarkable manager.
My cousin, Carol Hertanu, had his own office at Chilia Noua. He traded cereals there. He bought cereals and sent them to Braila, but during the days of the free market prices would rise or fall. He went bankrupt and owed money, and, as he couldn’t honor the debt, he chose to shoot himself, he was around 35.
, Ukraine
My father’s sister, Rebeca (born Oberman), was younger than my father, her husband, Moritz Hertanu, was from Bacau, and aunt Rebeca was from Braila. They lived both on Sulina Boulevard, at no. 31, and at no. 20 as well. They had a druggist’s shop at the corner of Cuza St., right by the hotel, on the corner. It was called Venus Druggist’s Shop.
Maurice Oberman was one of my father’s younger brothers. He studied in Germany, he attended the Commercial Academy.
The grandfather from my father’s side had many brothers who, in turn, had children who were the big moneybags of their times. Some cousins of my father’s, the Oberman brothers, had a timber storehouse. Their names were: Kivu, Mandel, Marcu, Avram, and Deborah – their sister. She married her cousin, meaning one of my father’s brothers, Joseph Oberman. Which is to say she was born Oberman and her married name was still Oberman. Both of them were rich, so they didn’t marry for money, but for love. She was beautiful. Not all their houses were confiscated by the state, but ours were, because of the name of Oberman. They had around 30-40 buildings.
My grandparents traded cereals. Their names were Iacob and Betty Oberman.
We observed the same holidays after the war. As a child, I used to go to the Synagogue with my family, but we stopped going there during and after the war. I’m not a religious person, this is my nature, unfortunately. We still go there and occupy seats there like that, as if we were extras.
When my parents died, the religious service was performed by a religious official, as there was no rabbi in Braila anymore by then. As a son, I recited the Kaddish, for that is the custom. It isn’t allowed for daughters to do it.
I performed the Yahrzeit, meaning the commemoration of the dead, within a year of my parents’ death, I observed this custom, but I haven’t performed it lately. You take there some home-made cookies, something to drink. Those who want to do so can also organize a meal in the memory of the dead, which is called sorosides, using kosher food. You aren’t allowed to place cheese and meat on the same plate, but they must be placed on special plates. You bring wine, strong spirits, and there are no restrictions regarding the dishes served at this meal, it can be as copious as you want. The more you give, the larger the meal is and it is in the memory of the person who died. It is a sort of a gathering in the memory of the dead.
I performed the Yahrzeit, meaning the commemoration of the dead, within a year of my parents’ death, I observed this custom, but I haven’t performed it lately. You take there some home-made cookies, something to drink. Those who want to do so can also organize a meal in the memory of the dead, which is called sorosides, using kosher food. You aren’t allowed to place cheese and meat on the same plate, but they must be placed on special plates. You bring wine, strong spirits, and there are no restrictions regarding the dishes served at this meal, it can be as copious as you want. The more you give, the larger the meal is and it is in the memory of the person who died. It is a sort of a gathering in the memory of the dead.
I read the newspaper published by the federation, of course I do, and it is pretty good. Dorel Dorian started running the newspaper on Chanukkah, he is a science-fiction writer, a former editor-in-chief of the Magazin magazine; he has volumes of science-fiction literature. He is a well-read person, of very good training, and he runs the newspaper very competently. At the same time, he is our deputy in the Great National Gathering, so he is a representative figure.