by Yaron Reshef
About Writing
When writing this book I was describing the developments as they took place, almost in real time. It served as a diary while my personal journey unfolded over some 26 months.
I would like to stress that at any given point the writing describes, or is based upon, the knowledge available to me at the time. As my personal journey progressed, and the story with it, new information was added. I chose not to go back and change the story according to new information I discovered. For this reason the reader may find some inaccuracies or contradictions between earlier chapters and information revealed later on.
Perhaps the book should have been edited differently, and my Aunt Zelda Finkelman-Liebling's diary, as well as Jan Kruczkowski's testimony should have been moved to the end. But I felt that both chapters were important in the way they contributed to my ability to better understand and feel the events that took place in Chortkow during the war. Both chapters played a key role in my growing desire to visit Chortkow, experience it and get to know it.
For the reader's convenience I have added a list of names of family members mentioned in the book, and their relation to me, as well as a family tree.
Family members:
The Kramer family, my mother's family:
Menachem Mendel, my grandfather – murdered in the Holocaust 1890-1942
Fradel, my grandmother – murdered in the Holocaust 1888-1942
Malca (Malia), my mother 1911-2013
Anshel, my uncle – murdered in the Holocaust 1917-1942
Selka, my aunt – murdered in the Holocaust 1920-1942
Moshe, my uncle – murdered in the Holocaust 1922-1942
Pepe, second cousin – murdered in the Holocaust 1922-1942
The Finkelman family, my father's family:
Isak, Itzig, my grandfather 1868-1933
Rivka, my grandmother – murdered in the Holocaust 1870-1942
Ethel, my aunt – immigrated to the US 1889-1958
Chaskel, my uncle – immigrated to Colombia 1890-1971
Zelda, my aunt – survived and immigrated to Colombia 1891-1965
Zigush, cousin – survived and immigrated to Colombia 1929
Dr. Sima, my aunt – murdered in the Holocaust 1899-1942
Shlomo Zvi, my father 1908-1958
Zanka, second cousin (my mother's classmate) –murdered in the Holocaust 1911-1943
Lijuchnia, Zanka's baby – murdered in the Holocaust 1940-1943
Hudel, second cousin – murdered in the Holocaust 1915-1942
Zelda (Liebling), second cousin – survived and immigrated to the US 1918-1998
Eliyahu (Loushu), second cousin – survived and immigrated to Israel 1923-2002
Acknowledgements
My encounter with Israeli bureaucracy began the moment Attorney-at-Law Elinor Kroitoru, head of Location & Information at Hashava, The Company for Location and Restitution of Holocaust Victims’ Assets, contacted my family. It continued through the connection I made with Hanni Amor, at the Custodian General’s bureau of the Ministry of Justice, and ended with receiving compensation equal to the lot's worth from the Israel Land Administration. My encounter with the Israeli establishment was a positive one, to say the least. I would like to thank all the public servants involved for their dedication and empathy, throughout my quest to locate the lot and have it returned.
I would like to thank Ms. Ada Sales of the Technion in Haifa for searching the Technion archives and finding my father's student file from 1932. Without that file I would not have been able to solve the puzzle.
A special thanks to Miri Gershoni for opening a window to a world I didn't know, and infecting me with the "Chortkow bug", for helping me uncover invaluable information about my family, and for her encouragement during this journey.
Marta Goren's book Voices from the Black Forest was of great service to me while writing. Her book provided me with accurate details of Chortkow's tragic history during World War II.
Thank you to Hanna Avni for sharing with me your mother's, Tonia Vermuth testimony about her own fate as well as the fate that befell my mother's family in the Holocaust.
Warmest thanks to Viktor and his family, my partners in my journey in Chortkow, for arranging the trip, for their generous hospitality, for their superb tour-guiding, locating information and setting up meetings with local residents.
A special thank you to Hanan Schaham, my associate, for listening, for his advice and for encouraging me to put pen to paper and document these events. Also thank you to his wife, Idith, for her legal counsel.
A heartfelt thank you to my editor, Simona Hanoch, for her sensitivity, gentleness and professionalism which greatly helped bring together this final product.
Thank you to Lee Oshrat for the cover design.
Thank you to my translation & editing team, Nina Davis and Shira Davis, for their accurate yet lively translation that captures my voice and style.
Thank you to my friend Camilla Conlon for proofreading.
Thank you to my sister, Ilana, for urging me to write down the story so it will not be forgotten.
Thank you to my wife, Raya, for her insights and unfailing support along this journey.
I am convinced that without the considerable help I received from these people, and others, the journey would not have taken place and the story would not be told. For that I am eternally grateful.
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