This article is based on results from the on-going
research project „The memory of vanished population groups in today’s East- and
Central European urban environments”, dealing with L'viv and Cernivci in
Ukraine, Chisinau in Moldova and Wroclaw in Poland. The project is running from
2011 to the beginning of 2015 and based at the Centre of European Studies at
Lund University in Sweden.
The
issue of rapid urban changes versus local identity, cultural heritage and
preservation aims
The project deals with problems of rapid urban changes
and what happens with the local identity, with cultural heritage and historic
traces. These questions are especially crucial in cases of war destructions,
changing political systems and forced migrations.
A general issue for city identity is the pace of the
changes, the possibility to keep one’s footing. This includes the importance of
historical traces, memories and cultural heritage. How will such qualities
survive in the future development? There are different opinions about heritage
and future. Some people look at heritage as obstacle for future development.
Others look at is as a quality, a catalyst for future prosperity. This must
also be discussed in a political and economical context. Urban planning is
always an expression of political and economical power. Local identity has also
a national and international context.
A special issue is the way of perception and treatment
of cultural heritage and identity of cities. Many architects focus on “narrow”
architectural historical values or more general on architectural design
qualities. Other professionals may be more interested in the daily urban life
and the functional qualities. A third aspect is the city environment as an
expression of history and memories. But there is a need for a holistic view.
All three aspects are important, and should be regarded together.
In this project we are especially focusing on the city
environment in relation to memories and history. What stories are reflected in
the streets and buildings? Who built the houses? Who used them? How has their
use been changed? Are there special historic events and memories connected with
the city environment? In what way are the buildings expressions of their time
and later history? How are they connected with the political and economical
power ?
The
specific situation in areas ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II
The identity and preservation problems are very
complicated in areas seized by the Soviet Union from Poland, Czechoslovakia and
Romania after World War II. In these areas there are many old and rather well
preserved cities, historically connected with several nations and ethnic
groups. The Jews were the largest or second largest ethnic group in most
cities, having a crucial importance for the city development. World War II and
its aftermaths meant genocide, forced migration and a quite new national and
political context. The old society was destroyed and new inhabitants lacking
roots in the area replaced vanished population groups. They moved into
buildings reflecting the vanished population. How would this affect the notion
of cultural heritage and local identity?
The project deals with three kinds of memory studies:
Lirst, „the memory reflected in the walls”, the old buildings as expressions or
“narrators” of earlier urban life and culture. Second, the „memories in the
minds”, the knowledge, interest and attitudes among the present population of
the city history and earlier urban life. The third theme is the official
treatment of memories and heritages in urban planning, preservation policy, in
media and tourist guides, at museums etc.
This contribution makes some comparisons between
Chisinau and Cernivci (Cernăuţi) concerning how the cultural heritage and
memories were taken care of after 1945. How were the attitudes in Soviet time?
How are they today? Which are the future perspectives?
Chisinau and Cernivci are both old Moldovan towns that
became local capital cities within large empires. Chisinau was the capital ol
the Russian governorate Bessarabia and Cernivci (Czernowitz) was capital of the
Austrian crown land Bukowina. 1918 - 1940 they both were Romanian, as well as
the whole historic Moldova. The Soviet Union ruled both cities in 1940-41, and
anew from 1944 to 1991. Today Cernivci is in west Ukraine and Chisinau, as we
all know, the capital of the Republic of Moldova.
No other single event has had more radical consequences
to the population structure in
Chisinau and Cernivci than Holocaust. Both cities suffered
hard by the Romanian Holocaust, which was very different from the neighbour
countries. It was mainly committed by Romanian forces and above all hitting
Bukovina, Bessarabia and occupied Transnistria – areas were only few Jews spoke
Romanian. After local Transnistrian Jews were murdered with German assistance,
Bukovinian and Bessarabian Jews were deported to Transnistria in order to
perish there. From the end of 1942 this policy came to a sudden stop. No
further Romanian Jews were to be deported, but survived deportees in
Transnistria could not return home. Thus, the Romanian leader Antonescu was
responsible of the death of around 370 000 Jews, but later he „saved” 300 000
Jews from deportation. But 135 000 Jews from Hungary-occupied northern Transilvania
were among the last victims of Auschwitz in 1944.
The
fate of the old, „lower” town of Chisinau
In Chisinau, the regular Russian grid-net town was
developed after 1812 alongside the old, irregular Moldovan town. In Romanian
time the population structure was mixed; almost 50 % Jews - rich as well as
poor - mostly speaking Yiddish, Russian or Spaniol. The others were mostly
Romanians, Russians and Ukrainians and there were also smaller ethnic groups.
The old, “lower” town had generally a poor population, mostly Jews, while the
grid-net town was generally better off. Parts of Old Town were destroyed during
the war. The early Soviet plans aimed to demolish the whole Old Town and
replace it by a neo-classic boulevard city. The old Piata Veche and several churches
quite disappeared. The plan, signed by the prominent architect Shchusev, was in
fact an extension of the Russian grid-net town into the old Moldovan town,
erasing both old Moldovan and Jewish heritage. But there was also an aim to
create a special Soviet-Moldovan style -connected to the aim to create a
Soviet-Moldovan nationality, different from Romanian nationality. However,
undoubtedly this architecture had some qualities.
Parts of the Old Town were destroyed in an earth quake
in 1940, and at the abolishing of the ghetto in 1942, but an aerial photo from
May 1944 shows that much was demolished later, by the Soviet power. It would
have been possible to restore old streets, if the authorities had allowed it.
Some early Soviet urban plans reveal still existing buildings, planned to be
replaced by new structures and later demolished, but it is not easy to Hnd
information about buildings, vanished 1942-44. The two maps (figure 1, figure
2) of the Old Town show information found in the project work. Black buildings
on these both maps show the houses from before 1940 that still remain. At the
pre-WW2 map, vanished buildings are shown in grey colour. At the other map,
grey colour shows the new buildings. The changed structure is evident, but also
that there are still some rather well preserved districts of the Old Town. On
the 1944 aerial photo we have found some information about the vanished
buildings, but still it was necessary to do some “qualified guesses”, shown in
light grey colour.
The remaining parts of the Old Town of Chisinau have a
very human scale and an evident local identity. They are mostly still
threatened by demolition, but they have an enormous potential to be integrated
in a future, friendly and human urban structure. They are also important
“memories in stone” of earlier inhabitants and events. The value of these areas
is not yet enough recognized, not even in the important inventory Centrul istoric al Chisindului la începtul
secolului al XX-lea. Repertoriul monumentelor de arhitectură.
Other parts of Chisinau are better preserved. The
grid-net city has many extremely important buildings, such as small palaces of
conac urban type. Very important to the urban image are numerous old corner
buildings. They are well recognized and mostly not threatened by demolition -
maybe by distortion. Also the remaining churches have a significant role for
the identity of Chisinau, and they are not threatened by demolition.
Another important quality is the ensemble of old and
new public buildings in central Chisinau. The proximity between cultural and
recreation facilities, central municipal and national administration, the main
cathedral, hotels, beautiful parks, shops, etc. form an intensive and rich
urban life. This is like a living room for the whole city - and the republic, a
place where everyone can meet, where all social classes and ages meet. This is
an important potential for future development.
Jewish heritage can be found in old synagogues, heder
schools and Talmud schools as well as in small living houses and shops. Archive
material shows the house owners at several streets in 1930, in the Old Town,
and in 1940, in the grid-net town. There is no list of profession or ethnicity,
but names like Rubinstein, Perlmutter, Feldman and Segal indicate that most of
the owners were Jewish.
In 1940, around 50 000 Jews lived in Chisinau. In June
1941, 10 000 people, probably the majority Jewish, were deported eastwards by
the Soviet authorities. After the German attack on June 22, around 10 000
people, many of them Jews, were evacuated eastwards. Around 20 000 Jews fled
eastwards, many of them might have later been caught up by Germans. Immediately
after German and Romanian troops had seized Chisinau, around 10 000 Jews were
killed, and then the remaining; was, around 11 000, were gathered in the closed
hetto around Piata Veche. From there, the Jews were iken to Transnistria, where
around 2/3 perished. In 1942, very few Jews remained in the city.
We can find personal memories of this time. Samuel
Aroni's family found shelter in a small mall t Strada Vlahuta 19. In 1930, Enta
Segal owned this louse. On August 1, youth were assembled, as far as iamuel
Aroni remembers it, at the open green area it the corner Strada Gh. Cosbuc /
Strada A. Hajdeu, or work. Samuel, aged 14, went there, but changed ais mind,
did not register and sneaked away. The souths, more than 400, were shot outside
the town. Most of Samuel’s family, but not all, managed, with aelp from
outside, to escape from the ghetto and deportation. The ghetto photo from Piata
Veche shows buildings of similar type as remain today at Strada Cahul and other
streets, (figure 3, figure 4, figure 5)
Before the war, Samuel lived at Strada Mihai Viteazul
23, present Strada Mihail Eminescu 23. In 1936, his uncle Volf Cervinschi built
the villa at the same street, present nr. 33. It is today declared to be a
monument of architecture. Samuel has provided a list of the inhabitants in
1940. This street sequence has much to tell. Strada Vlahuta is in fact a
continuation of Strada Eminescu.
Memory
treatment and urban planning in Chisinau
The neo-classic Stalinist plan was later replaced by a
modernist plan with large motor roads and high-rise buildings. A new broad
boulevard is outlined right through the best-preserved parts of the Old Town.
This kind of plan is today quite obsolete in Europe, (figure 6, 7) The plan
proposal only leaves the Puskin museum and a few houses near it to be saved. A
brutal change can already be seen in the southern part of the Old Town. The
example of Lund, Sweden, shows that the same kind of old buildings can have a
great potential as comfortable homes. Former poor districts have been turned in
to attractive residential areas by restoring and modernizing old buildings and
adding small flats into larger ones, (figure 8, figure 9).
A movement against demolitions and motor roads in the
Old Town has arisen. This is a very good sign for the future! In Lund the same
kind of movement changed the planning policy around 1970. Although Chisinau has
very good inventories of old buildings, more interest should be devoted to the
potential of old, lower town!
If the Old Town of Chisinau is changed into a
high-rise (but architecturally probably second-class) residential and
commercial area, adapted for increasing motor traffic, it will loose any
attraction for visitors and tourists. Some decision-makers argue that a
contemporary national capital city cannot have a city centre with an
old-fashion small town image. But the historic, small town scale is a crucial
factor for making districts as Plaka in Athens, Alfama in Lisbon and Covent
Garden in London attractive for tourists and for living.
Cernivci
– the multi-ethnic city that became Ukrainian
Cernivci (Cernăuţi, Czernowitz) is much different from
Chisinau. The city developed as a central European outpost, a “small Vienna”. It
was a cultural melting pot with Romanians, Germans, Jews, Ukrainians, Poles and
many smaller ethnic groups. Jews were the largest groups with up to 47% of the
population. No group or language was in majority. German was the largest
language, mostly spoken by emancipated Jews. As in Chisinau, there are an old,
Moldovan, „lower city” and a more affluent, Austrian city uphill.
Viennese architects as Otto Wagner and Fellner &
Helmer influenced Austrian Czernowitz. The most imposing building was the
residence of the Greek-Orthodox Metropolite. It came on the UNESCO world
heritage list in 2010.
The core of the city was Ringplatz - later Piata
Unirii and CentraTna plosca. Old and new pictures show that the buildings are
well preserved, but the signs and advertisements tell about different epochs.
From Katz & Sass and Leo Goldstein to “Long live Komsomol” and the restored
sign „Bellevue” today, (figure 10, figure 11, figure 12, figure 13) Old photos
give much information on shops and other establishments in Austrian and
Romanian times. Most shops had Jewish owners. We have found fewer old photos in
Chisinau.
The „Spirit of Czernowitz” („Geist von Czernowitz”)
was unique. The different nationalities lived peacefully side-by-side, having
their own houses of culture and also contacts between them. The German-speaking
Jews were very loyal to the Austrian emperor, regarded as their patron. Their
position was a bit unsafe when the Romanians took over.
There were also churches of many confessions. Most of
them were closed in Soviet time. The large reformed Synagogue - the Temple -
was set on fire in July 1941 and changed to a cinema in 1959. Among other
Jewish heritage can be mentioned the Scala theatre, the Toynbee Hall and the
cemetery.
The lower town kept its old structure. It was
dominated by rather poor people, most of them Jewish. Here are former
Judengasse and the Alter Markt, also called Judenmarkt. Pictures from around
1910 and recent years show that the built environment is mostly well preserved.
This district is very valuable, but not enough high ranked in the preservation
plans. The oldest part of Czernowitz, around Synagogengasse and
Springbrunnenplatz became a Jewish shtetl. The old, large Synagogue and several
small synagogues are preserved, (figure 14, figure 15) Almost all inhabitants
along Synagogengasse / Strada Wilson and in the surrounding district were
Jewish. Here was the closed ghetto located in 1941-42.
Old
documents have much to tell
Documents concerning street regulations around
Synagogengasse in 1910-11 give information on owners, use of buildings etc. of
that time. Based on these documents is has been possible to make a detailed map
of buildings and owners. The address books of 1914 and 1936 are other very
important documents, available on Internet as Excel files. They tell about
inhabitants, their address and their professions. In the lower city were many
merchants, carpenters, masons, plumbers, tailors and shoemakers, teachers. When
restoring buildings, several old wall texts have been found. At Synagogengasse
we can read the names of the sign painter Isak Esikowicz and the merchant Wolf
Mandel. Their names can also be found in the address book from 1936. (figure
16, figure 17, figure 18).
There are also important documents giving the names,
professions and ethnicities of the owners of buildings expropriated by the
Soviet power in 1940. The majority were Jews. Some of them were sent to
Siberia. Another touching document is the order to delimit the closed ghetto on
October 11, 1941.
Synagogengasse led to Springbrunnenplatz, the centre
ol the old Moldovan city. Anita Derman tells her story. They lived here until
1935, and then at Worobkiewiczgasse. (figure 19, figure 20) She still use the
German street names, although there were already new, Romanian names, when she
was born. Her father stored food in the cellar, just n case.... In 1940 he was
sent to Siberia as “enemy i>f he people” but the family stayed in the house.
\nita never saw him again. In 1941, their house was included in the ghetto, but
they had still some ood in the cellar. They were sent to Transnistria, vhere
her mother and brother were shot. Anita, tow aged 91, and her sister survived
and came later o Israel. Her father came back to Cernivci after he war but all
relatives and friends were gone. He ame to Romania and died alone in Botosani
in the 960s. He could never come to Israel, and Anita ould never visit him in
Romania. But the mayor of lernauti, Traian Popovici saved almost 20 000 Jews
rom being deported to Transnistria. He tried to stop Holocaust in his city – he
maintained the „Spirit of Izernowitz”, but he was dismissed from his position,
The old wall texts, found in Cernivci, will as a main
principle be saved. Together with other details, they tell about the city history.
There are also a large number of memory plaques, showing were significant
artists, musicians and scientists lived. Also an increasing number of books and
films tell about life in old Czernowitz.
Memory
treatment
But what about Soviet urban planning of Cernivci? A
thorough check shows that many old buildings were planned to be replaced by
open urban spaces or widened streets - but luckily enough, such plans were not
implemented, due to lacking resources. Urban preservation planning began in
late Soviet time. However, focus was laid on strict architectural values, not
on memories reflected in the buildings.
In 2004, a Russian expert only recognized the
Metropolitan Residence at being recognized the Metropolitan Residence at being
worthly for being UNESCO wolrd heritage. The unique „Spirit of Cyernowity” and
the multi-ethnic heritage, not least the Jewish, were not adequately
understood. But most of central Cernivci was at last included in the „buffer
zone” with protecting rules. After some discussion, Synagogengasse, was also
included. (figure 21). This street has a preservation value, different but
equal to the „upper town”!
The current master plan of Cernivci, however, shows
Synagogengase (today Vulycja Henri Barbussea) as an important street for cars,
and its northen side as industrial area! (figure 22). But slowly there is a
emerging understandind of its historic character and narrator of the old Jewish
shtetl.
A main conclusion is that there is a growing interest
of the historical traces and memories embedded in the urban environment, but
there are also different parallel stories and aims. Nevertheless, the memories
among survivors and expelled persons and their children and grandchildren are
declining, and generally the knowledge among the present citizens about earlier
inhabitants is weak.
Summary
and some comparative conclusions
Stalinist neoclassicism had only a significant
influence in Chisinau, but in the late 1950s new, modernist planning ideals
took over. The aim, partly achieved, was to replace the whole Old Town and many
buildings in the grid-net town by new constructions. In Cernivci, a few
neo-classicist buildings, rather well adapted to the site, replaced some
destroyed buildings near Ringplatz.
In Chişinău, there was a negative attitude towards
preservation, especially in the Old Town. In Soviet time this attitude had
ideological and political reasons, and in post-Soviet time mostly financial
reasons. In Cernivci, urban planning most focused on city extension and left
the historic centre mainly unchanged. Also in Chişinău, urban planning has
focused much on external expansion.
The modernist breakthrough in the 1960s strongly
affected urban planning in the both cities, but concerning historic districts,
much more in Chișinău that in Cernivci. There, some street widening were
planned in the city centre, but not implemented.
More than 3/4 of the Old Town in Chisinau has been
demolished since 1940, as well as many buildings at the Stefan cel Mare
Boulevard in the grid-net city and at its side streets. In central Cernivci,
however, only few buildings have been demolished after the war. This
preservation was partly characterised by pragmatism - the use value of the
buildings. The preservation policy as such, has it focus on architectural
considerations rather than reference to earlier urban life, or attention to the
ethnic heritage of the old environment. Preservation in Cernivci has in fact
acknowledged Austrian heritage. Less interest has been devoted to Romanian
heritage, but still the inter-war buildings, in both modernist and Brancoveanu
style, are well preserved. The Jewish heritage as such is very little
mentioned, but still mostly preserved.
In both cities, the present General Plans for future
growth are based on earlier plans. In Cernivci, more than Chisinau, the General
Plan shows a growing interest for preservation and improvement of old
environments. Many books are published about history and heritage of the cities
before World War II, including old photos, maps and literary testimonies. It is
once again allowed to mention Jewish, Polish, German and Romanian heritage. Cernivci
politicians have understood that this is also a way of attracting tourists and
investments from the west. In Chisinau many decision-makers still do not seem
to understand this, but emerging civic groups are working lor rethinking. In
Cernivci, preservation policy is generally enforced and much effort is laid on
beautifying streets and squares with historical references.
Generally, the future prospects of saving cultural
heritage and commemorating vanished population groups are rather good, but
there is still a need for better understanding, not least among investors and
other decision-makers, especially in Chisinau. In both cities, a growing
interest is devoted to Holocaust and persecutions during Stalinist rule. A
monument to ghetto victims has been established in Chisinau. In both cities,
small Jewish museums have been opened. Memory plaques are most frequent in
Cernivci, but exist also in Chisinau. In Cernivci, but not yet in Chisinau,
there is a policy of preserving old wall texts as palimpsests of historical
layer.
Soviet planning on one hand normally recognized mere
architectural monuments, but had less interest of more simple old building
traditions. The Soviet society had a negative attitude to the pre-Soviet
societies and ignored them as well as memories of them.
Today there is a growing interest for preservation,
but mostly in strict architectural sense, and not so much concerning memories
of the old society. Old built environments, not declared as architectural monuments,
are often threatened by demolition, in spite of begin of high historical and
cultural value.
Cernivci has a better preservation policy than
Chișinău, but still the value of old, simple building culture and its memories
is not enough recognized. But in Chișinău there is a strong engagement among
people for preservation. Keep fighting for stopping the boulevard through the
Old Town!
