Dear friends, I wanted to let you know that on April 17, my grandmother (Salome) Felicia Baker (née Horn) died after a short illness at the age of 91. She was born on January 27, 1932 in Czernowitz to Benno and Anna Horn (née Spieler). She survived deportation to Transnistria and Bershad, although her father died in the typhus epidemic of winter 42/43. After the war she, along with her mother and sister Selma, walked back to Czernowitz, sleeping in barns along the way. She eventually immigrated to Australia after spending time in Bucharest and Paris. In Australia she married Neville Baker (Bialistocky, from Baranovicz, now Belarus) and had 2 children, who themselves had 5 grandchildren, all of whom carry the legacy of Czernowitz with them.
She always remembered Czernowitz as a place of both great beauty and great trauma. On the one hand, she recalled the cultured, German atmosphere in which she grew up, where literature and theatre were an integral part of life. On the other hand, she never forgot the deep antisemitism of her Romanian neighbours or the burning of the Great Synagogue, which she recalled being forced to watch from the street. One of the few experiences of the war she shared was that, when her family arrived at the Bug, the Romanians wanted to send them across the river into German-occupied territory. Her mother was able to bribe the soldiers with diamonds she had sown into her dress, and thus the family was sent to Transnistria instead. She will be deeply missed. Not only was she a loving grandmother, but she was a living link with the past and with Czernowitz and it’s legacy in particular. Kind regards, Daniel Ari Baker (Geneva, Switzerland) -- Daniel Ari Baker B.A., LL.B. (Hons) (Melb), LL.M. (NYU), Grad. Dip. Int'l Cust. L. (Canb.) ******************************************************************************* This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions expressed in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members or entities connected with this mailing list. The Czernowitz-L list has an associated web site at http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a searchable archive of all messages posted to this list. Beginning in 2021, archived messages can be found at: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To send mail to the list, address it to <[email protected]>. To remove your address from this e-list follow the directions at https://it.cornell.edu/lyris/leave-e-lists-lyris To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
