Walzer Family History

Definition

What exactly is "The Great Rambini"? Some may say it's the name of a man. In that you are right on, Brotha. But, some might say it is the name of some sort of action, taken on by someone who may be ridiculed, scrutinized, or persecuted. In this, you may also be right. For it is indeed an action taken on by my mother's uncle, Chaim Walzer, to deceive, lead astray, and possibly cause death to the Nazis of WW2, who had invaded Chaim's homeland, Romania, and also most of Europe, including Italy, where Chaim joined the Jewish Resistance movement. At this time, Chaim changed his name to "Rambini" to appear more Italian. And so my story begins.
WALZER FAMILY HISTORY
In this next part, I would like to expound on the Walzer family history. Except there remains one small little problem. It is a history disjointed, and broken in a myriad of pieces, like a broken mirror, yet told by Nazi records, various Romanian government records, various Jewish Holocaust records, my grandmother's few records as handed down from generation to generation, and my own mother's retelling of my grandmother's escape from Nazi controlled Europe to the United States.

The object of this is not to entertain you, but to educate you, and to help me fill in the huge gaps in my history. Cicero once said "Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum." - To be ignorant of the past is to forever be a child. In order to know who you are, you must first know where you came from. So this is my attempt to stitch up what the Nazis tore apart.

If you look at the bottom of this blog, you will notice a list of links. These will help you, and are helping me recover what had been lost for 70 years. 

According to Dr. Samuel Josef Schulsohn (New York), and as translated by Jerome Silverbush, in the "Immigration and Settlement of the Jews in Bukovina", after the first Jewish temple (Solomon's Temple) was destroyed, Jews began immigrating to the Black Sea area and to adjacent areas now known as Romania. "Moreover, we find that the East Roman Emperor, Justinian (527-565), built among other fortresses on the north side of the Danube one at Turnu-Magurele called the “Jew tower, which points to the presence of Jews in the area." 

My grandmother claimed to have played in the ruins of this "Jew tower" when she was very young. She even called it The Castle.

It is not known whether or not both Walzer parents were alive when my grandmother fled for her life. The only record that they were ever alive can be found in death and burial records, both from the Romanian government and from Holocaust records, and from personal letters which no longer exist. But, even they are not "for sure" proof. All we have are their names: the father was named "Fisman" Walzer, the mother was Sarah Walzer. Sarah or Sara seems to have been a common name among Jewish women of that period. In the death and burial records there are only eight Walzers listed. The date period should be somewhere between the turn of the century and 1940. Out of those eight, there are only five that match that criteria. Of those five, we have three deaths which coincide with the only 2 possible names that match my records: 

• Chaim Walzer - who died in 1907 in what is now known as Chernivtsi / Ukraine. Chernivtsi is on the border with Romania, and the date almost makes sense for an older father of one son and 4 or 5 daughters. His tombstone has hands raised with fingers separated like a good Vulcan (live long and prosper). This hand gesture can only be attributed to a Jewish Rabbi. As far as we know, "Fisman" Walzer was a Rabbi. I have an old black-n-white photo of Mr. Walzer, he is wearing all black with a black hat and a long beard, just as a Rabbinical Jew should look.
• Schimson Walzer - no death date is given, BUT the most striking thing about this death is that the burial was within the last known county associated with my grandmother - Suceava, (based mostly from her 3rd grade report card from school there). The cemetery where the burial took place is the RADAUTZ Jewish Cemetery in RADUTZ, ROMANIA, situated in the southern part of the Bukovina district, which is where my grandmother originated from.  
• But what about the mother, Sarah? It was known through personal letters exchanged with my grandmother and her family left behind, that their mother was still alive, even during the holocaust. So if she perished because of the Nazis, her death date would be between the date of Romanian's occupation by the Nazis, and the end of the war. 1941-1945. BUT, the death records show a "Sara Jetti (Jutta) Walzer" who died in 1917. Too early.

HISTORY LESSON

According to "The Destruction of the Romanian Jews", In the 1930's Romania had the third largest Jewish population, after the Soviet Union and Poland, but the economy was strongly influenced by the spread of Nazism and soon the entire occupational structure of the Jewish community was about to collapse. On February 12th 1938, King Carol II suspended the democratic constitution, dissolving all political parties, and promulgating a new fascist constitution. In the summer of 1940 Romania succumbed to German pressure and ceded the regions of Bessarabia, and part of Bukovina to the Soviet Union, northern Transylvania was given to Hungary, and southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria. Anti-Semitism was now even more rampant than prior to the cessation.  Jewish homes were looted, shops burned, and many synagogues desecrated and razed to the ground. Leaders of the Bucharest community were imprisoned in the community council building while worshipers were ejected from synagogues by force. On September 6 1940,  King Carol abdicated, and Ion Antonescu was appointed prime minister. Antonescu established a conservative dictatorship and openly embraced the Axis powers, he declared a Nationalist-Legionary State of Romania. The members of the Iron Guard styled themselves "legionnaires" and the "legionary police" was organized on Nazi lines with the help of the S.S.  

There followed a period of anti-Semitic terrorism that lasted non-stop for five months. The Legion increased the level of already extreme anti-Semitic legislation and pursued a campaign of pogroms and political assassinations. The earliest large-scale massacres of Romanian Jews took place before the reoccupation of what became known as the "lost provinces" in Bessarabia and Bukovina. On June 26, 1941 on the pretense of quelling a Jewish uprising, Romanian and German army intelligence officers supported by Iron Guard police began rounding up Jews on the streets and systematically shooting them. Thousands were massacred on the streets of Lasi, and several thousand more were packed into hermetically sealed freight cars and sent on a journey nowhere... The train traveled aimlessly for several days during which 1,400 Jews either suffocated or died of thirst, another 1,194 bodies were removed from a second follow-up train that was also sent from Lasi.

The massacre of Jews in Romania became an everyday occurrence with tens of thousands being herded into ghettos at Kishinev, and were later deported to the region between the Dniester and the Bug rivers from which the German forces had withdrawn and given control over to the Romanians. These deportations included 118,847 Jews from Bessarabia, Bukovina, and the Dorohoi district.  Over 19,000 Jews were killed in the Odessa harbor, and some 30,000 others were deported to Dalnic where they were either shot, killed with explosives, or burned alive. 

In late November 1941 most of the Jews from Bessarabia and Bukovina were herded into ghettos and camps in northern and central Transnistria. Village after village and town after town were emptied in a standard manner: Jews went to bed and after midnight they were awakened by the beating of drums in the streets. People went outside, not knowing what was afoot. Jews were told that they must be at the railway station by 3 a.m. at the latest which meant that they had two hours to put some bundles together, lock up, and leave. At the station they handed over their house keys and their residency papers, and were given in exchange a personal identification number. Then they were put on a train. They did some of the journey by train, the rest on foot, and crossed the Dniester on boats. 

Following the Antonescu-ordered slaughter of the Jews of Odessa, the Romanian occupation authorities deported the survivors to camps in the Golta district: 54,000 to the Bogdanovka camp, 18,000 to the Akhmetchetka camp, and 8,000 to the Domanevka camp. In Bogdanovka all the Jews were shot to death, with the Romanian gendarmerie, the Ukrainian police, and Sonderkommando R, made up of Volksdeutsche, taking part.  In January and February 1942, 12,000 Ukrainian Jews were murdered in the two other camps. Another 28,000 Jews, mostly from the Ukraine, were killed by the SS and German police, with the help of local Germans in southern Transnistria. 

Another large-scale massacre in which the Romanian military authorities of Transnistria were implicated took place in Golta District, Ukrainian policemen and Romanian gendarmes carried out  mass executions. Most of the victims were Ukrainian Jews, but thousands of Bessarabian Jews were also killed. The massacre in Golta  began on the morning of December 21, 1941. The first lot to be massacred consisted of the sick and the disabled, they were herded into horse stables, the Romanian gendarmes scattered hay on the roof  and in front of the entrances, then  poured gasoline. The order rang out to light the fires, and in several minutes the stables and the four to five thousand lives inside, went up in smoke. Despite the pogrom at Iasi, the deportations from Bessarabia and Bukovina, the repeated massacres in those provinces, and the Transnistria genocide, a large segment of the Jewish population of Romania was still alive in 1942. The Jewish population of Moldavia, Walachia, and Transylvania were still alive. This did not go by unnoticed by Nazi Germany, which continued to pressure Romania and its other allies to “solve  the Jewish question." 

Between 1941 and 1944, German and Romanian authorities murdered or caused the deaths of between 150,000 and 250,000 Romanian and Ukrainian Jews in Transnistria. At least 270,000 Romanian Jews were killed or died from mistreatment but it is important to mention that Jews were not the only minorities targeted by Romanians. Gypsies were also affected by the Holocaust, with 26,000 deported, around 7,000 massacred, and another 3,000 were starved to death.

CHAIM RAMBINI WALZER 

*note* the following story was written by my mother when she was in Junior high school. The original piece was typed and was not complete. My notations are given in [brackets].

Chaim Walzer was born in 1898, in Bukovina Romania, to a poor orthodox Jewish family. His father, Fisman, was from Poland and had great hopes for him to become a Rabbi. He taught Chaim how to study the Hebrew books, and sent him away to a Rabbi, [possibly to a Rabbinical school in Germany]. But, while Chaim was away, he started reading the great books by German authors, and lost his interest in becoming a Rabbi. In the meantime he had been supporting himself teaching young children of a rich German family who wanted their children to know [how to speak] Hebrew. He went home to his parents and five sisters only for the high holy days. At home, his family was so poor... but he loved to be home, because there he could spend hours writing poetry, although he would throw most of it away, one of his sisters saved some of it. He would debate with his mother about Jewish religion, the differences of it compared to others, and whether it is really necessary to follow routines. He loved to read his books to his sisters, books like Schiller, and Goethe. Mostly he would read to his youngest sister, Rachel, who loved to listen the most. Sometimes he would leave her a book or two. Back then, it was not proper for Jewish girls to read books. Sometimes he would go away to [town], but there were no public libraries in the town. Later, he went back to Germany and entered the University there, where he [studied] Philosophy and Jewish History. 

 *note* the remainder of the story is missing.

According to my mother's retelling of the story, her mother "Rachel" along with her two eldest sisters and her only brother Chaim, escaped from the Nazis during their occupation of Romania. They hid out during the day, and ONLY traveled at night, until they found their way to Italy, where the girls boarded a ship to the USA. BUT Chaim stayed behind and joined the Jewish Resistance movement to fight against the Nazis. It was then when Chaim changed his name to Rambini. The rest of what happened is very circumstantial because it just cannot be proved. Based on the fact that Chaim had an extensive experience in teaching children, it can rightly be surmised that he may have taken to some sort of performance to children, perhaps as a clown or puppeteer, or perhaps as an opera singer. It is a forgone conclusion that the Italians love opera singers. It must be then able to connect the proverbial dots and summarise this: that during the day, Chaim aka "The Great Rambini" worked as some sort of entertainer in Italy during the day, and at night worked with the Jewish resistance to kill Nazis. [I smell a feature film in here somewhere.]

After the war, Chaim moved to Palestine and helped found the Jewish state of Israel by becoming one of the first professors teaching in the Hebrew University in Safad. He even wrote a book. There he found a nice Jewish girl and got married. They never had any children though. After moving to the old-age home in Jerusalem, Chaim died in November 1975 at the ripe old age of 86. His wife died in November 1979.

Rachel Walzer

The following is based solely upon historical documents in the form of: 

• an Ellis Island Inspection Card;
• a U.S. Passport issued in 1964;
• a Certificate of Naturalization to becoming a U.S. Citizen;
• and a Romanian 3rd grade report card, dated 1913.

The dates of my grandmother's arrival into the US, and the dates given by my mother don't line up. Therefore, there has to be an explanation, and perhaps a huge correction submitted to the "retelling" of my family history.

REPORT CARD

According to Rachel's 3rd grade report card, she went to school in:

• Land: Bukovina
• Schulbezirk: Suczawa (Suceava).
• It shows the following: Walzer, Rachel, geboren am 15 February 1904 zu Strojestie in [illegible] Bukovina, [illegible] Konfession in die schule eingetreten: uberhaupt im Jahre 191{illegible] hier am [illegible] 1913. Schulerin [illegible], der III, Klasse 05 Abteilung [illegible] Schuljahre, bewahrte sich wie  [illegible].
• English translation: Walzer, Rachel, born on 15 February 1904 Strojestie occurred in [illegible] Bukovina, [illegible] confession in the school: at all in 191 (illegible] here at [illegible] 1913th Pupil [illegible], III, Class 05 Section [illegible] school years, preserved like [illegible].

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It also appears that Rachel received high marks up to the 3rd grade. Although her report card shows she was born on Feb 15 1904, her US Passport (issued in 1964) shows she was born on November 14, 1904. It's therefore possible that the report card is not altogether correct. But it does indicate she was born in a city or town called "Strojestie".

ELLIS ISLAND IMMIGRANT INSPECTION CARD

Now here's the shocking truth to my story. According to the Ellis Island Immigrants Inspection Card, it shows:

• Port of Departure: Rotterdam
• Name of Ship: Mongolia
• Date of Departure: 6 Jan. 1921
• Ellis Island Public Health Service Date Stamp: Jan 26 1921

So the truth is that my grandmother, at the ripe old age of 17, entered into the USA on Jan 26, 1921. The date appears to be an ink stamp.

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CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION

On my grandmother's Certificate of Naturalization, it shows:

• Age: 23
• height: 4 feet, 11 inches
• color: white
• complexion: fair
• color of eyes: brown
• color of hair: brown
• no visible distinguishing marks, no children
• and she signs it as "Ray Thorn"
• Be it remembered that, Ray Thorn, then residing at number 308 E. 10th St., city of New York, of New York, who previous to her naturalization was a citizen subject of Austria, Romania...
• Dated: Nov. 12th, 1928

So, the missing pieces just keep getting more and more. Apparently, "Rae" changed her name from Rachel to Rae, married some guy named THORN, who I was told he was an author, who caught pneumonia and died one year after their marriage. Rachel Walzer, now known as Mrs. Rae Thorn, became a Naturalized citizen. But, according to a public library reference, there was an author named THORN in New York in the 1920's who did indeed die of pneumonia, and LEFT A SUBSTANTIAL SUM OF MONEY TO HIS HEIRS, whomever they are. All I know is, my grandmother lived a life of poverty most of her life. So where was her widower husband's loot?

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As the world turns, so does this story. According to my mother, "Rae" was having trouble meeting another man to settle down with. So she went to the NYC main Jewish Synagogue to meet her next husband, who just happened to be Luis David Danzis, my grandfather. My mother says that her father mentioned something about a "fire" where he "lost everything", so even HIS past is somewhat of a mystery as well. He claimed he was from Russia, but the majority of Jews in Russia were located in what is now known as the Ukraine. Remember the history lesson about where most Jews immigrated to in and around the Black Sea areas? Bingo. It makes perfect sense that two Jews from almost the same areas would meet and get married. Just think: Walzer (pronounced Waltzer) + Danzis (pronounced Dance zis).

After my mother was born, the letters to "Rae" from home in Romania stopped coming in 1942. That's when it was surmised that the Nazis must be behind it. And the weirdest fact of all is that both my grandfather AND grandmother were killed, separately, by drunken hit-and-run drivers.

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