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ABSTRACT
The paper approaches Transnistria ghettos from a social perspective looking to recuperate the networks accessed by those ghettoized. My hypothesis is that networking was instrumental for survival and it was conditioned by local conditions, pre-dispositions inherited from pre-war times and the capacity of those ghettoized to adapt the latter to the former. The approach is both historical and sociological with the emphasis put on Cole’s argument for a spatial dimension of Holocaust survival and Bourdieu’s conceptualization of the ‘social space.’
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Deletant, “Aspects of the Ghetto Experience in Eastern Transnistria,” 16.
2 Arad, The Holocaust in the Soviet Union, 238.
3 See for example, Ofer, “The Holocaust in Transnistria,” 138; Arad, The Holocaust in the Soviet Union, 238.
4 Deletant, “Aspects of the Ghetto Experience,” 23.
5 Jean Ancel, Transnistria 1941–1942, vol. II, doc. 28, 49.
6 Ancel, Transnistria, vol. II, doc. 157, 303–5.
7 Ofer, “The Holocaust in Transnistria,” 141.
8 Carp, Cartea neagră, doc. 211, 392–4.
9 USHMM, R.G.25021, III 1190, Box 037, file 4, f. 19.
10 Note no. 259 from 10 December 1941 apud Ancel, Transnistria, vol. II, doc. 248, 454.
11 See Saraga Report/January 4, 1943, Ancel, Documents Concerning the Fate of Romanian Jewry, doc. 178, 323; See also USHMM Archive, RG-25004, reel 9, file 2710, vol. 33, 106–63.
12 Ancel, Transnistria, vol. II, doc 245, 450.
13 Ibid., vol. I, 353.
14 Ofer, “The Holocaust in Transnistria,” 144.
15 See Note of Transnistria Government from 23 December 1943 apud Ancel, Transnistria, vol. II, doc. 295, 542.
16 Ofer, “The Holocaust in Transnistria,” 143.
17 USHMM, RG-25004, reel 13, file 2757, 39.
18 Sack, Human Territoriality. In Theory and Practice, 1, 26.
19 For the concept of ‘pariah-scape’, see Jackson, The Shaping of Our World, 309, 311, 318.
20 Cole, Holocaust City. The Making of a Jewish Ghetto, 44.
21 Goffman, Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation, 199.
22 A similar theoretical approach with the emphasis put on Goffman conceptualization is followed by Gerlach, The Extermination of the European Jews, 238.
23 Wachsmann, “Lived Experiences and the Holocaust,” 39.
24 Cole, Holocaust Landscapes, 4.
25 Gringauz, “The Ghetto as an Experiment,” 5.
26 Ibid.
27 Bourdieu, “The Forms of Capital,” 46. See also Bourdieu and Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, 97.
28 Bartov, Erased: Vanishing Traces of Jewish Galicia, xiii.
29 Bartov, “Wartime Lies and Other Testimonies,” 487.
30 For the need of an integrated analysis of the behaviors exhibited by perpetrators, bystanders and victims see for example, Barnett, Bystanders. Conscience and Complicity, 128–9; Dean, “Local Collaboration in the Holocaust,” 134; Bartov, From the Holocaust in Galicia, 5. For the need to recognize the diversity of the categories of perpetrators, victims and bystanders see Wiercholska, “Beyond the Bystander,” 269 or Finkel, Ordinary Jews. Choice and Survival, 6.
31 Wacquant, “Bourdieu’s Dyad: On the Primacy,” 17.
32 Bourdieu, “The Forms of Capital,” 47, 51.
33 Interview of David Wasserman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.030.0276.
34 See also the interviews of Pepi Schafler, USHMM Archive, RG-50.030.0712; Mariana Rosman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.493.0058; Felix Garfunkel, USHMM Archive, RG-50.322.0015; Interview of Reyza Weinblat in Moris Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 257. Interview of Clara Kreichman in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 315; Interview of Ilya Bronshtein in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 329; Udler, The Cursed Years, 95; Korber-Bercovici, Jurnal de ghetou, 46.
35 According to an official document from November 1941, those that crossed Dniester after October 30 had to leave all their belongings in Otachi as all carts of the Ukrainian peasants were requisitioned by the Romanian authorities for agricultural work, Informative Note, 11 November 1941, Ancel, Documents Concerning the Fate, vol. V, doc. 110, 170–3.
36 Interview of Irimia Solomon, USHMM Archive, R.G.-50.106.0027. For a similar idea, see the interview of Sylvia Lovan, USHMM Archive, RG-50.091.0085.
37 Interview of Mikhail Bartik in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 21.
38 Interview of Roza Glinets in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 69.
39 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn ibern deniester.
40 See the postwar testimony of Iacob Davidovici in Pippidi, Vakulovski and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 38.
41 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, 17 July 1942.
42 Interview of Edith Goodman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.156.0016.
43 Gerhard Schreiber, Memoirs, Leo Baeck Archives, ME 1416.
44 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, 10 June 1942.
45 Interviews of Petr Rosenberg and Eugenia Kerzner in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 86, 250.
46 Sofsky, The Order of Terror, 112.
47 Interview of Irimia Solomon, USHMM Archive, RG-50.106.0027.
48 Interview of Ari Fuhrman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.462.0062.
49 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, August 30, 1942.
50 See the interview of Nata Koepakchi, USHMM Archive, RG-50.477.1135.
51 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, February 20, 1943. See also Schreiber, Memoirs, Leo Baeck Archives, ME 1416.
52 A copy of this order is included in Note no. 936 of the General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie from 12 September 1943, USHMM, RG-25021, reel 98, file 1053, 223–5.
53 See for example, Schreiber, Memoirs, Leo Baeck Archives, ME 1416 or the interview of Edith Goodman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.156.0016. These testimonies are confirmed by official documents, USHMM, RG-25004, reel 65, file 18844, vol. III, 791–2; RG-25010, reel 26, file 80/1943, 97–9.
54 See the postwar testimony of Ingeborg Goldschlager in Pippidi, Vakulovski, and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 118.
55 Interview of Ari Fuhrman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.462.0062.
56 Interview of Max Schmidt, USHMM Archive, RG-50.030.0279.
57 See the postwar testimony of Iacob Davidovici in Pippidi, Vakulovski, and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 38.
58 Interview of Leva Greenberg in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 150.
59 Ibid., 152.
60 Interview of Eugenia Kerzhner in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 250.
61 Interview of Reyza Weinblat in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 261.
62 Interview of Sylvia Lovan, USHMM Archive, RG-50.091.0085. For a similar story see the interview of Erica Kurz, USHMM Archive, RG-50.693.0054.
63 Interview of Shelya Weisman in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 273.
64 See the interview of Gertrude Granirer Flor, USHMM Archive, RG-50.030.0296.
65 See for example Baruch, Frozen Mud and Red Ribbons, 75, 77.
66 See for example Korber-Bercovici, Jurnal de ghetou, 101; Baruch, Frozen Mud and Red Ribbons, 77; Interview of Niudea Volkovna Zaindenberg, INSHR-EW Archive; Interview of Erica Kurz, USHMM Archive, RG-50.693.0054.
67 See for example Baruch, Frozen Mud and Red Ribbons, 76; Interview of Raisa Chernsova in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 186–7.
68 See for example the interview of Arkadiy Plotitskiy in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 99 and also Udler, The Cursed Years, 97.
69 See the postwar testimony of Manin Rudich in Pippidi, Vakulovski, and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 99.
70 Interview of Leah Kaufman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.120.0367.
71 See for example the interview of Mikhail Blank, USHMM Archive, RG-50.477.0162.
72 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, 21 May 1942.
73 Altskan, “On the Other Side of the River,” 11.
74 Gerhard Schreiber, Memoirs, Leo Baeck Archives, ME 1416.
75 Interview of Bertha Cioric, INSHR-EW Archive.
76 Interview of Erica Kurz, USHMM Archive, RG-50.693.0054.
77 Korber-Bercovici, Jurnal de ghetou, March 20, 1943.
78 The same idea is pointed by Altskan, “On the Other Side of the River,” 11.
79 Interview of Roza Glinets in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 65.
80 See Korber-Bercovici, Jurnal de ghetou, December 15, 1941.
81 See the interview of Clara Kreichman in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 319 or the interview of Ilya Bronshteyn in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 330.
82 Ofer, “The Ghettos in Transnistria and Ghettos,” 36–7.
83 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, July 17, 1942, April 28, 1942, July 3, 1942. The same stratification of the ghetto is implied by Miriam Korber in her journal, ee Korber-Bercovici, Jurnal de ghetou, July 16, 1942.
84 Interview Ilya Bronshteyn, Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 331.
85 See Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, July 17, 1942 and also Rosenstock, Die Chronik von Dschurin, 61 apud Tibon, “Am I My Brother Keeper?,” 112. The same image is depicted from post-war testimonies. See, for example, the testimonies of Yakov Helmer, Clara Kreichman, Ilya Bronshteyn in Moris Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 120, 315–6, 330–1.
86 Korber-Bercovici, Jurnal de ghetou, September 11, 1943.
87 Interview of Max Schmidt, USHMM Archive, RG-50.030.0279.
88 See Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, December 9, 1942.
89 Melzer, Jankos Reise. Von Czernowitz durch, 126–7 apud Heinen, România, Holocaustul şi logica violenţei, 171–3.
90 Gerhard Schreiber, Memoirs, Leo Baeck Archives, ME 1416.
91 Interview of Eva Peker, USHMM Archive, RG-50.233.0101.
92 Gold, Timpul lacrimilor secate, 144.
93 Ibid., 159.
94 Interview of Edith Goodman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.156.0016.
95 Korber-Bercovici, Jurnal de ghetou, December 24, 1941; January 12, 1942; September 2, 1943.
96 Interview of Leva Greenberg in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 156–7.
97 Interview of Eugenia Cirulnikova in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 163–4.
98 Interview of Aron Polishuk in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 174.
99 Interview of Fira Safrus in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 199.
100 Interview of Ilya Bronshteyn in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 329.
101 Interview of Mikhail Blank, USHMM Archive, RG-50.477.0162.
102 Interview of Mariana Rosman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.493.0058.
103 Interview of Ester Bartik, in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 27–35.
104 Granovetter, “The Strength of Weak Ties,” 1361.
105 Ofer, “Ghettos in Transnistria and Ghettos,” 45.
106 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, January 27, 1943.
107 Ibid., August 2, 1943.
108 See for example the testimony of Ilya Bronshteyn in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 331.
109 Kunstadt, Traybt men yidn, February 27, 1943.
110 Interview of Ilya Bronshteyn in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 331.
111 See Note no. 453/March 22, 1943, Ancel, Documents Concerning the Fate of Romanian Jewry, vol. V, doc. 184, 344.
112 G. Alexianu, the governor of Transnistria, agreed with this decision on January 28, 1942.
113 USHMM Archive, RG-31004, reel 9, 2255/1/1359, 199–213, 282, 293, 295, 302, 342–75, 397–430, 455–83; 2255/1/1360, 3–13, 24–45, 60–75, 83–90, 95–8, 126–33, 139–45, 157–62, 167–81, 200–4, 214–28; 2255/1/1362, 2–25, 59–79, 91–121, 142–9, 155–7; 2255/1/1363, 4–38, 82–120, 200–43, 273–96; reel 11, 2255/1/1364, 23–52, 82–117, 176, 202, 205, 207, 209, 211, 217–55; 2255/1/1365, 5–42, 94–126, 200–19, 277–300; 2255/1/1366, 7–23, 65–82, 128–47, 184–95, 250–63; 2255/1/1400, 7–19, 56–66, 113–30, 167–76, 209–29; 2255/1/1403, 3, 6–13, 46–55, 106–18, 142–50, 168–77, 200–9, 241–5, 273–81, 353–9, 387–91; 2255/1/1407, 12–20, 52–63, 93–101, 127–39, 164–72, 198–207, 226–38, 268–79, 294–304; 2255/1/1408, 4–6, 32–40, 45–54, 68–77, 112–8.
114 Budy, Cazaciovca, Colcinţi, Hrabivţi, Israilovka, Kradivetzi, Nemenca, Vascauţi, Voitovca, Zatisa.
115 USHMM Archive, RG-31004, reel 9, 2255/1/1189, 64–8, 75–6, 89–91, 103–7, 115–21, 136–40, 169–76, 178–85, 209, 213–4, 220–1; 2255/1/1240, 11, 16, 21–2, 28–30, 62, 121–32, 156–67, 207–14, 237–42, 255–60, 278–81, 294–301; 2255/1/1359, 388, 446–7, 495–501; 2255/1/1363, 55–61, 140–4, 165–74, 264–72; reel 11, 2255/1/1364, 53–63, 131–8, 267–75; 2255/1/1365, 58–69, 141–9, 229–31, 337–45; 2255/1/1366, 35–7, 86–7, 158–62, 208–11, 271–3; reel 12, 2255/1/1400, 39–42, 80–3, 139–42, 186–9, 236–9, 253–5; 2255/1/1403, 25–9, 67–72, 95–8, 157–9, 186, 215–7, 256–7, 289, 369–71, 399–402; 2255/1/1407, 31–3, 72–4, 114–6, 148–9, 183, 218, 245–7, 286–8, 315–7; 2255/1/1408, 8, 22–3, 84–7, 108–10; 2255/1/1410, 10–6, 21–7.
116 Daghani, Groapa este în livada cu vişini, 46.
117 USHMM Archive, RG-31004, reel 9, 2255/1/1240, 123–4. Korn family receives money on two other occasions, 11 September 1942 and 10 February 1943. Both times Arnold and Anişoara are missing. See USHMM Archive, RG-31004, reel 9, 2255/1/ 1363, 170; 2255/1/1240, 129.
118 See Alpern, No One Awaiting Me, 67, 103, 107.
119 Ibid., 66.
120 Ibid., 90–1.
121 See Udler, The Cursed Years, 146.
122 Palty, Evrei, treceţi Nistrul – însemnări din deportare, 89.
123 See the postwar testimony of Manin Rudich in Pippidi, Vakulovski, and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 99.
124 See the testimonies of Mikhail Bartik and Mikhail Barishnikov in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 22, 242.
125 Testimony of Ester Bartik in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 34; See also 37 for the same information in Reyza Roytman’s testimony.
126 See the interview of Esther Gebelman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.120.0047.
127 See Carmelly (Steigman), Shattered! 50 Years of Silence!.
128 See Liviu Beris, interview in Pippidi, Vakulovski, and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 211. And also, Liviu Beriș, interview by Petru Clej, August 25, 2015, INSHR-EW Archive.
129 See the interview of Pepi Schafler, USHMM Archive, RG-50.030.0712.
130 See the interview of Gertrude Granirer Flor, USHMM Archive, RG-50.030.0296.
131 See the interview of Klara Birman, USHMM Archive, RG-50.477.0010.
132 Schreiber, Memoirs, Leo Baeck Archives, ME 1416.
133 See the interview of Nata Koepakchi, USHMM Archive, RG-50.477.1135.
134 Goffman, Behavior in Public Places, 19.
135 Alpern, No One Awaiting Me, 44 and also Pippidi, Vakulovski, and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 73.
136 Palty, Evrei treceţi Nistrul, 76–7.
137 Bianca Idel, interview in Pippidi, Vakulovski, and Goşu, Holocaustul evreilor români, 73.
138 Alpern, No One Awaiting Me, 44.
139 See the testimony of Arkadiy Plotitskiy in Bronshteyn, Dead Loop, 102.
140 Palty, Evrei treceţi Nistrul, 76–7.
141 Heinen, România, Holocaustul și logica violenței, 170 and also Ofer, “The Holocaust in Transnistria,” 145.
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Notes on contributors
Ana Bărbulescu
Ana Bǎrbulescu, PhD, Senior researcher and head of the research department at Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Bucharest, Romania. Associate professor, University of Bucharest, Department of Jewish Studies. Research interests: the social history of Transnistria ghettos; forced labor of the Romanian Jews; antisemitism in interwar Romania; Holocaust public memory in post-communist Romania.