Uncle Haim Cojocaru and his wife Elca

Chaim and Elca Cojocaru

Haim and Elca Cojocaru

Haim , my Dad's elder and only brother (he had two step-sisters though) had Parkinson's disease in his last years. It's hard to imagine a tall, sturdy person like him being made helpless by age and illness. I remember him when I was a child ,as a strong, upright figure who dominated the street with his presence.

He and his wife were a strange couple when seen together, as she was small and tiny like a bird near him. However, she was the motherly type whereas he was the big 'grown child' in need of her constant care. They were childless , and so they really had only one another .

He was a hard working man in a place which was a combination of flour mill and oil factory. Needless to say that flour and oil heavily stained his clothes and his wife Elca worked hard with the washing and cleaning. In those days, and in a little remote place like Saveni, there were no dry cleaning facilities ,neither washing machines of any kind.

It's from them, or more precisely, from her, that I got my first valuable jewlery items. Aunt Elchi gave me a pair of 14 karat earrings, a ring with a pearl and a pendant with a violet faceted stone. From him, uncle Haim, I got a golden neck chain while he was on a short visit to see us. He was already a widower then. He had lost is wife to depression and nervous disorder that lasted for quite a long period of time.

דודי חיים ואשתו אלקה

הזוג גר בעיירה סווני הרומנית

ולקח חלק בחיי הקהילה היהודית

חיים עבד בתחנת קמח מקומית

אלקה היתה עקרת בית טיפוסית

בארץ גרו בקרית אתא, בצפון

והמרחק משם אלינו לרמת השרון

גרם לנתק שצר לי עליו עד היום

גם אם טוב היה עבורם המקום

לא רצוי שכך יקרה בין אחים

מה עוד שלזוג לא היו ילדים

ואני ואחי היינו שנינו אמורים

למלא לזוג את החלל טיפין

Nene Haim, Tante Elchi

El, inalt,drept si spatos era

Ea mica si slaba ca vrabia

El la o moara de faina lucra

Ea gospodaria o conducea

In tara au locuit in Kiriat Ata

Distanta a 'dat legatura gata'

De plecat mai des la ei in Nord

Era pentru noi cam mare effort

Am apucat sa primesc de la ei

Ceva cadouri: inel, colier, cercei

Pe care le pastrez si pretuiesc

Caci astea de ei doi imi amintesc

Ea s-a dus din Depresie si tristete

El, dupa , cu Parkinson si batranete

Fie ca ei sa se odihneasca-n pace

In lumea cea eterna unde totul tace

SPRINZA GOLDSFARB - My Granny

Sprinza Goldesfarb

Widow Immigrant Sprinza

In June 1907, Sprinza Goldsfarb, the mother of my Mom's father, Hersh Goldsfarb, took her three daughters: Otilia (Ethel), Zussie (Sophie), Mina (Minnie)- the last two still small girls, and left Roumania to embark on the Noordam ship in the dutch port of Rotterdam, towards the unknown. It was the year of the big wave of immigration from Europe to America.

What a courage ! She was then a widow of about 50, with no money and no profession. Her sons ( except my grandfather Hersh who stayed behind in Roumania, and Solomon who, apparently, was already in New York) were to join her later ( Sam followed her a year later, Benjamin and David six-seven years later).

In America, her first name Sprinza became 'Sabina' and the family name lost the consonant 's' in the process of integration in the american society, - becoming 'Goldfarb'. She lived among her children in New -York, Detroit, Cleveland.

Sabina, passed away, in the year of the big economic recession- May 1929, and was burried in the Beth Moses cemetery, Roseville, Mi 48066.

שפרינצה האלמנה

שפרינצה סבתא רבא ממוצא אוקראיני היתה

ב-1907 עם שלושת בנותיה לאמריקה היגרה

בניה יצאו בעקבותיה מרומניה ליבשת הגדולה

ורק אחד, סבי הרש, נותר בסווני עם המשפחה

ניו-יורק העיר היתה התחנה הראשונה

ובהמשך בקליבלנד ובדטרויט התגוררה

עובדת ומסייעת לילדיה כמיטב יכולתה

ב-1929 ,במדינת מיצ'יגאן נפטרה

Curajoasa mea strabunica

Sprinza strabunica mea

Originara din Ukraina era

In 1907, vaduva cu trei fete

A plecat norocul sa-l incerce

In America cea indepartata

Ce promitea o mai buna soarta

La-nceput, la New York a locuit

Apoi la Cleveland si Detroit a trait

Ajuta la copii, lucra la ce se putea

Dorul de Hersh cand si cand o napadea

In 1929, in statul Michigan a decedat

Si acolo corpul neinsufletit inmormantat

My Roumanian-born Grandparents

I grew up without the privilege of knowing any of my grandparents. They passed away long before I was born. All my knowledge of them comes from what I've been told by my parents and my relatives, and that was not much. In fact it was too little and even too late. I have no photo of any of them, no piece of handwriting left, no mementos, nothing... I had to rely only on story-fragments told by others in the family.

Rahel and Herman Goldesfarb

My mother's parents , Rahel and Hersh (Herman) were a well-known, respectable couple in the small town of Saveni. She was clever and tough; He was kind and knowledgeable. They had to raise six children, and that was no light matter financially.

It so happened that one rainy day, Herman had problems starting the engine of the bus he was driving for Luca, his roumanian employer (bus engine was something very innovative at that time). He got thoroughly wet and caught pneumonia. After a short while he died (in 1930) leaving his wife with five daughters and a son, in big pain and worries.

'Tribul' Goldesfarb

Rachel si Herman Goldesfarb

Au crescut cinci fete si-un baiat

Cinci fete frumoase si destepte

Un baiat capabil si dezghetat

Rahel ingrijea de casa si copii

Hersh se dadea la orice meserii

Fetele - au lucrat la croitorie

Moshe - vanzator de pravalie

Desi traiul nu era deloc usor

Avand talent si mult humor

Au reusit ei sa razbata-n viata

Cu cantec, gluma si -o povata

In triunghiul Saveni-Botosani-Dorohoi

S-a aflat 'tribul' Goldesfarb pana la razboi

Cand acesta a izbucnit, fascistii au navalit

N-a trecut mult , si atrocitatile s-au aratat

Pe evrei la Transnistria i-au deportat

Foamete, batai si moarte

Suferinte zi si noapte

Cand cosmarul sa terminat

Oamenii-au revenit in sat

Distrusi fiziceste si sufleteste

Si dupa un anumit timp

Cand focarul sa mai stins

Au inceput sa se gandeasca

La Palestina s-o 'zbugheasca'

Sperand traiul de-a imbunatati

Copiilor un viitor de-a le fauri

בנות גולדספרב

בעלות עור צח וקול זמיר

אהבו לחלום, לקרוא, לשיר

הן היו חריפות שכל ולשון

הצטיינו, יש לומר זאת, בכל

אלקה, הבת הבכורה

אצילית וחכמה היתה

נישאה לברקו השתקן

ועברה לגור עמו בבוטושאן

בטי ,נמרצת ובעלת קסם רב

קשרה גורלה בדוד ,הספר הנחמד

נטי העסיסית והשנונה התאהבה

בשלום השרמנטי, בהיותה קטינה

מירלה השקולה והסולידית מצאה

בהיניך גבה הקומה, את בן זוגה

משה , 'הנסיך' במשפחה

מקובל היה מאד בחברה

חברים נהגו להתרועע עמו

אחיותיו בבית פינקו אותו

הגיע זמנו, והוא נשא לו לאישה

בחורה מדורוחוי, אנוצה שמה

רבקה, הבת הצעירה והענוגה

נספתה בשואה בטראנסניסטריה

(אנוכי קרויה על שמה)

לפלסטינה, ישראל, הגיעו כמו כולם

והחלו להתמודד עם הקשיים וחוסר המזל

הגברים עבדו במסגרות שונות כשכירים

הנשים היו עקרות בית , ועזרו לילדים

אלקה וברקו בקלו גרו בפתח תקוה

נחומה ושלום חכמו באבן-יהודה

ברמת גן - משה, נוצה והמשפחה

מירלה והיניך קרויטור בצפון

ברכה ודוד קוז'וקרו ברמת השרון

Lea and Shimson Cojocaru

My father's parents, Lea and Shimson also lived in Saveni

Lea was, so I was told, a delicate woman who fell ill and died prematurely leaving her husband Shimson ,the furrier ,with two boys to care for: Haim and David (Dudl). He got remarried to a widow with two grown-up daughters; Zlota and Roni.

These two stepsisters played an important part in the lives of Haim and David (the latter , was to become my father). They took care of the boys until they were apt to stand on their own feet and earn a living. And even then, the two sisters had a strong influence upon the two lads who were shy and quiet by nature.

I remember Zlota and Roni as big, dominant women; Zlota had two daughters (Hanaleah and Serl), and Roni- two sons (Shimson and Aharon).

שני האחים חיים ודוד קוז'וקרו

היה היו שני אחים

חיים ודוד, דוד וחיים

השניים גדלו ללא אם

אשת אביהם טיפלה בהם

חיים גבוה, רזה, ומופנם

דוד, ממוצע קומה וביישן

שניהם היו אנשים חרוצים

ובאופיים הבסיסי מאד הגונים

Fratii Haim Si David

Acesti saveneni, doi frati

Au fost oameni devotati

Harnici, buni si cumsecade

Respectosi fata de toti si toate

Haim - muncitor la moara de faina

David (Dudl) - frizer la cooperativa

Nevasta primului se numea Elca

Si al celui dea-l doilea, Bruha