Happy Hanukkah 2015 !

Warm wishes of joy, good health, peace, and all the good things in life to you and your family!

"Ştibl"

"Undeva, cam la mijlocul cimitirului, se ridică o „ştibl” masivă, de piatră, semn al credinţei celor ce se odihnesc înăuntru, dar şi al avuţiei lor. La exterior, o placă de marmură masivă spune că acolo este înhumată o familie, soţ şi soţie. Textul de pe piatră, potrivit unei legende transmise din generaţie în generaţie, a fost scris de însuşi Rabinul Arie Rosen, tatăl Excelenţei Sale, dr. Moses Rosen, ale cărui rădăcini moineştene sunt deja  ştiute." 

Din articolul  Fundaţia LEOLAM (ETERNITATE) şi un simbol al veşniciei: Cimitirul Evreiesc din Moineşti, Bacău.  Autor: Beatrice Kohlenberg, Toronto 

Cu ocazia evenimentului "Porţi deschise" organizat de Fundaţia Leolam în anul 2014, o placă care era pe acest ştibl a fost adusă în casa funerară şi rearanjată cu ajutorul elevilor care au participat.

   

Traducerea celeilalte plăci  a fost făcută de Sivan şi Orr Sela, cărora le mulţumim.

"Tatăl celui care e inmormantat aici

Baruh Iehiel, care era şi Cohen

A văzut lumina din Buceci (orăşel în Ucraina)

A născut un băiat şi l-a numit după el

Mama care l-a născut a murit în timpul naşterii

A fost foarte religios şi cu fapte bune

Şi a mers după rabinii (vechi) şi i-a apreciat foate mult

Ce-au spus înţelepţii nu le-au luat ca lucruri simple

Când a murit tatăl lui avea 13 ani 

Era bogat şi era foarte respectat

A găsit o soţie foarte buna

Au trăit 55 de ani împreună

Şi  când era pe moarte au venit Cohanimii să-l binecuvânteze

Şi a dat pământ şi după ce a murit

Şi atunci a murit pe 2 Elul.
Toţi fiii tăi vor fi ucenici ai Domnului, şi mare va fi propăşirea fiilor tăi." 

"The sign says Avraham David Cohen and Rivka. He was a Cohen, Rivka might be his wife that is buried beside him and she has her own big sign like he has. The one that is broken and is at the entrance hall. His name was Avraham David son of Baruch Yehiel HaCohen from Buczacz Buchach."

Roots

      "Arrived in Moineşti (Moynesht), my maternal grandparents' native town in Romanian Moldova, for my first visit, the evening of Sept. 24 in torrential rain. The town derives its name from moină, meaning drizzle, but this was no moină.

    The next morning, the weather seemed questionable for a visit to the Jewish Cemetery, the most significant legacy of the town's rich Jewish culture in the late 1800s until the early 1920s. We decided to take a chance. During my drive there, with second cousin Sivan Sela  and her son Orr Sela, the sun started coming out. As soon as I set eyes on the cemetery, with its weathered gravestones, I felt deeply moved and teared up... the depth of my emotions surprised me. Entering the Cemetery House and viewing the religious ritual items, including the platform where the deceased wrapped body was placed prior to burial seemed very sacred to me.

     Upon walking into the graveyard, more tears were shed as I viewed and touched my closest ancestors' gravestones. However, we searched for hours before finally finding my great-grandmother Rebeca's gravestone, which had broken off so the inscription could not be viewed. My nephew Orr Sela lifted it up slightly and read, "Rifka bat Nachman!" Chills ran through my body as we all yelled, "This is she!" Unbelievable how we found it! We cleaned and rested the gravestone face up so she could be honored properly. It was truly spiritual today... the sun coming out, the team work as we found her grave and lifted up the headstone and cleaned it, and then the image of all my 5 ancestors' graves in one picture... truly AMAZING! Thank you from the bottom of my heart Mihaela Rd and Coca, cemetery keeper, for all your help and generosity... and Ggm Rifka for perhaps guiding us your way so we could take care of your grave..."

                                                                                                                      Andrea Bernard

The Last Witness (English) - By Hedi Enghelberg

Thanks to Hedi Enghelberg that donated three books to Leolam Foundation.

For buying, contact us by email.

***
"The Last Witness" was a Category Finalist in the 2014 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. The Eric Hoffer Book Award was created to promote writers, authors, and independent presses. 

NYC, MAY 3-4, 2014 | I am sad to announce, that Mr. David Stoliar (Z"L), the only sea Survivor of the Jewish refugees ship MV Struma, torpedoed Feb 24, 1942, in the South Black Sea, passed, at age 92, in his sleep, in Bend, Oregon, Saturday, May 03rd, 0:31 AM. He is survived by his wife, Marda Stoliar, and a son. The burial was at the Historic Cemetery in Prineville Oregon, at Noon, May 6, 2014, Pacific Time. Prineville is situated at about 40 miles from Bend and the Historic Cemetery is dedicated to the West pioneers. David Stoliar will be the first Jewish person buried there. The ceremony will be conducted by a Rabbi and about 100 persons will attend. 

David Stoliar was born in Chishinev (Kishinev, actual Republic of Moldova/See Jewish pogroms and WWII killing of 10,000+ Jews by Einsatzgruppen), in 1922. The family moved to France, where his mother has family, and resided there until 1930, when they returned to Bucharest. He studied in France and Bucharest. Due to increased anti-Semitism, after the failed putsch by the Garda de Fier (Iron Guard), a pro-fascist paramilitary group, against Gen. Antonescu government, his father decided to send the only son, away, via MV Struma, to Palestine. MV (motor vessel) Struma left the Romanian port of Constanza on December 15, 1941 with 760-800 Romanian and European Jewish refuges trying to repatriate to Eretz Israel (ACTUAL ISRAEL), then Palestine, under a British Administrative Mandate. Due to a engine problem, the ship was intercepted close to the Istanbul harbor. It remaining at anchor in Istanbul, for more than 70 days, being refused entry in Palestine by the British High Commissioner, until it was forced towed by the Turkish military tugboat Aldemar into the south-east Black Sea and cut adrift. 
MV Struma, at the time, lacked any independent propulsion meanings, it's onboard Mercedes-Benz maritime engine was not functioning. Next day, Feb. 24, 1942, against all maritime international conventions and treaties, the ship was torpedoed, without warning, by the Soviet submarine SC-213, of the USSR Black Sea Fleet. In October 1942, SC-213, on his turn, was torpedoed and sunk with all hand on deck, by costal German U-boat close to the Constanza harbor. Until today, MV Struma disaster, has earned the sad title as the largest civilian loss of life in Black Sea maritime recorded history. All the refugees on board died, except the young David Stoliar, rescued more than 24 hours later. 

FROM HEDI ENGHELBERG_______________ 
Subject: WAS READ AT BURIAL BY MARDA STOLIAR. 
David Stolear is not with us, anymore. ( Per su leyenda vivira con nosotros!) I had the pleasure and the honor to take the last interview with him , before his heart attack on 2013. He died in His home, in Bend, Oregon, with his caring wife, Marda, by his side, at 00:31 AM. But his legend will be living with us, and for many generations to come. We need people like David. His story was linking all the bad, the ugly and good in the WWII, like Nazi Germany, Romania, Soviet Union (USSR), England, Turkey, Israel and United States. 
David is a survivor. We have so few, today. 
David was a courageous person. We have so few today. 
David endured the horrors of the Holocaust. We have so few witnesses today. 
David was an example. We have so few raw models to follow, today. 
David was strong. We have so few strong leaders. 
Will be hard to imagine the world without David Stoliar, because he was the last witness to this great, great injustice represented by MV Struma and the Jewish refugees seeking repatriation. 
COVER: the book cover is the picture of the David Stoliar, from the transport ticket issued by the travel company in Bucharest. The original boat ticket rests at the Yad-VaShem Museum in Jerusalem. 

Hedi Enghelberg, Author

All details on Amazon site are here.